The Launch of ID Group
The launch ceremony of the rule-breaker ID Group became the talk of the town. Government and corporate commemorative events are usually dull. They try so hard to project authority that the atmosphere turns stiff and lifeless. ID Group was different. The event felt more like a grand opening for the general public—lighthearted and energetic. They had even flown in programmers who had been working in Silicon Valley, along with administrative staff and flagship store employees, so there was no trace of rigid Korean-style hierarchy. Numerically, the American employees numbered 120 while the Korean staff totaled around sixty, so the American atmosphere quickly took over. A select group of media outlets had also been invited, most of them foreign correspondents.
The proceedings were practical and swift. Yoo Jae-won’s inaugural address was brief; he simply declared that 1991 would be the year of the internet and that ID Group would lead its development. Yet because he had clearly outlined the group’s business direction, that moment stood out in the press coverage. After the speech, he vigorously waved the large company flag emblazoned with the bold “ID” logo. Then the real party began. Food ordered from the hotel was served, and invited singers took the stage, delivering fiery performances. Jae-won had wanted to bring in Michael Jackson or Madonna, but both were resting after their world tours. As a next-best option, they secured the terrifyingly talented newcomer Mariah Carey. While other major artists were busy with year-end schedules, her calendar aligned perfectly, allowing her to perform.
After enjoying the festival in Seoul, the employees and Yoo Jae-won rested for a day before heading to Jeju Island for a three-day, two-night membership training session—commonly called MT. Not only Korean media but outlets around the world reported on ID Group’s every move with great weight. It was difficult to find a country where the story did not appear as top news. ID Technology and ID Investment, the two pillars of the group, together held more than nine billion dollars in cash. The formal launch of such a massive conglomerate, whose owner was only a second-year middle school student, was simply too sensational to ignore.
Once the official ceremony ended, the employees returned to their hotel rooms. However, a separate meeting for Yoo Jae-won and the executives remained. After a short break, they gathered again in a small conference room.
“ID Group will be built around two core pillars: ID Technology in the IT sector and ID Investment in finance and investment,” Chief of Staff Choi Kang-wook announced, beginning the presentation projected on the screen. Speaking fluent English and wielding a laser pointer with practiced ease, he continued his briefing. The year of intensive English conversation study had clearly paid off. Executive Secretary Kim Dae-seok watched him with envy. Both men had studied under the same tutor with the same materials, yet Choi Kang-wook could already speak and understand English comfortably, while Kim Dae-seok still struggled with both speaking and listening. Writing was out of the question. Still, he refused to give up. Determined to become someone who could fully carry his own weight like Choi Kang-wook, he focused intently on the presentation.
Choi Kang-wook continued. “ID Technology will focus on developing core IT technologies and will acquire smaller companies related to IT as subsidiaries. Currently there are two—Nextcom and ID Software—but the number may grow depending on the chairman’s investments.” At this point he signaled Kim Dae-seok with his eyes. Kim Dae-seok advanced the slide, and Remington’s face appeared on screen.
“I hereby appoint Vice President Remington as President of ID Technology.”
In a government setting there would have been an official appointment document, but ID Group had no such formality. Remington rose and bowed in the Korean style, and everyone applauded. The appointment had not been announced beforehand, yet no one was surprised; he was the obvious choice. Even Remington himself showed no shock.
“ID Investment will have no president. The chairman will personally oversee all investment decisions. Instead, I appoint Investment Manager Vincent Greenhill as vice president to assist the chairman and handle day-to-day administrative matters.”
Stock selection was the heart of investing. In this area, Yoo Jae-won held an advantage even over George Soros, nicknamed the “wicked savior,” and Warren Buffett, the “Oracle of Omaha.” Whether through value investing, gut instinct, or the newly popular keyword analysis, nothing worked against Yoo Jae-won. What he needed was someone reliable to execute the acquisitions and investments he designated. Vincent Greenhill had already proven himself. During the oil futures trades he had moved enormous sums without misappropriating a single cent. Although Choi Kang-wook had installed safeguards to prevent embezzlement, greed could always find loopholes—yet Greenhill had followed Yoo Jae-won’s instructions with unwavering loyalty. He was exactly the person the chairman required.
“I look forward to working with all of you,” Vincent Greenhill said, rising to greet the others and receiving applause in turn.
Choi Kang-wook’s presentation continued. With the launch of ID Group, Nextcom was also being established as an independent company. Nextcom already employed more than fifty people across Korea and the United States, and its service had reached a stable trajectory. Paid subscribers in Korea exceeded fifty thousand, while the U.S. figure surpassed one hundred twenty thousand. Convinced that the company could sustain and grow on its own, they made the bold decision to spin it off.
“I appoint Henry Samuel as President of Nextcom.”
Because Nextcom was newly independent, there were no internal candidates for promotion. They had therefore recruited an external expert. Henry Samuel was a specialist in computer technology and telecommunications network systems. He had been preparing to launch his own company when Yoo Jae-won and Remington’s information network caught wind of the move and brought him aboard. The company he had originally planned to found was a telecommunications firm named Broadcom, which aligned perfectly with Nextcom’s character. While Nextcom currently focused on PC communications and internet web services, its true core business would be the network hardware needed to build the internet. The network equipment market was still in its infancy, with no dominant player. Although Cisco had made a name for itself, it had yet to release an overwhelmingly superior product. Even as a late entrant, Henry Samuel’s Broadcom would succeed for precisely this reason. That he had accepted the presidency of Nextcom instead of pursuing his own venture owed much to ID Group’s vast capital and the generous compensation package including stock options, but also to the vision Yoo Jae-won had shown alongside Tim Berners-Lee in ushering in the internet era.
“ID Software will retain its existing structure. However, to create a more efficient development environment, we will significantly increase the table of organization and establish a new support unit for President John Carmack.”
John Carmack had been too busy to attend the ceremony. The release date of Doom, the next title he had spent over a year preparing, was only days away. ID Software’s employees were pouring every ounce of effort into raising the game’s quality to the highest possible level. Doom would once again be released through Electronic Arts. Hawkins, the president of Electronic Arts, had already witnessed the success of Wolfenstein and, after seeing the preview version of Doom, had placed an enormous bet on it. While the revenue split for Wolfenstein had been fifty-fifty, Doom’s split was sixty-forty in ID Technology’s favor. It was a considerable concession, but Hawkins had become completely captivated by Doom’s magic. He had every reason to be. With ID Technology’s full support, Doom’s quality had reached an extraordinary level. The graphics were vastly improved, gameplay was strengthened, and the multiplayer features in particular had been dramatically enhanced.
Up to Wolfenstein, multiplayer had been limited to computers connected via intranet within the same computer lab. While anonymous internet play was technically supported, players had to know each other’s IP addresses, and the P2P connection often resulted in severe lag depending on conditions, making normal play difficult. Doom’s multiplayer broke away from the P2P structure. With Nextcom serving as the central server, connection speeds became extremely fast. Up to sixteen players could participate in a single game, smoothly running an 8-vs-8 team deathmatch. Because the multiplayer servers were provided by ID Technology, anyone who purchased Doom could enjoy multiplayer even without a paid Nextcom account.
Electronic Arts was already running a massive promotional campaign, and gaming magazines that had played the preview version were showering the game with praise, stirring excitement among gamers. Yet Doom carried an even greater significance: it would also be available for purchase and download through Nextcom. As the first title offered via Electronic Software Distribution, Doom marked the debut of the ESD service. Although Electronic Arts’ distribution network was overwhelmingly strong in North America—bolstered by the back-to-back home runs of Keyboard Warrior and Wolfenstein—there were still many regions it could not fully cover. The United States was simply too vast a country. Moreover, when stock ran out, gamers had to wait with bated breath until additional copies could be printed. Impatient players inevitably turned to illegal copying, a fatal blow to software companies once users developed a taste for piracy. The ESD service eliminated this weakness entirely. Users could download the game directly to their computers via telephone lines or high-speed connections such as ISDN. Because no physical packaging was required, the price could also be slightly lower.
Hawkins had fiercely opposed the ESD service, arguing that it would completely replace Electronic Arts’ role. After mutual concessions, they agreed to offer Doom through ESD. Had they not done so, the revenue split would have been seventy-thirty; instead, they accepted a smaller share in exchange for providing the ESD service. The download price on ESD was set equal to the package price. Yoo Jae-won agreed. While demonstrating a new use for the internet through ESD was desirable, he had no wish to dampen the golden age of PC game packages that was just beginning. Furthermore, the true advantage of the ESD model lay in its ability to offer aggressive discounts. Physical packages faced spatial and temporal constraints and could only be sold profitably for about a year before sales plummeted and losses outweighed gains. ESD had no inventory concerns. When sales slowed, bold discounts could instantly revive purchase rates.
For reference, Nextcom’s ESD payment methods included adding charges to monthly billing statements sent via giro and online credit card payments. Creating the online card payment system had required considerable effort in negotiations with card companies. While one-click purchasing was still not feasible, Doom could be bought using Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. Yoo Jae-won found himself genuinely curious about how many people would purchase Doom through the ESD method.
Meanwhile, Choi Kang-wook’s presentation continued. Two new offices had been added directly under Chairman Yoo Jae-won: the Strategy Planning Office and the Audit Office. Together with the existing Secretariat, this created three director-level positions. However, the three offices were not equal in hierarchy despite all reporting directly to the chairman. On the organizational chart, Choi Kang-wook’s Secretariat was positioned closest to Yoo Jae-won, while the Strategy Planning Office and Audit Office sat one level below. Choi Kang-wook remained Chief of Staff, yet he had effectively been confirmed as ID Group’s undisputed second-in-command, ranking above the heads of the other two offices. Even so, he could not exert pressure on the Strategy Planning Office or Audit Office. Regardless of who led them, they reported directly to Yoo Jae-won and had no need to go through Choi Kang-wook.
“Finally, there is the ID Group Foundation. The chairman’s father, Yoo Bong-man, has been appointed as its chairman.”
The foundation—also known as ID Foundation—was a social contribution organization overseeing culture, welfare, and scholarship programs. One hundred billion won had already been allocated as initial capital. Through this, the foundation would begin various public-interest and scholarship activities, including support for Yeoju Middle School. The school lunch program for Deokjin Elementary School, previously supported by ID Technology’s Yeoju branch, had been transferred to ID Foundation, and the lunchroom staff had become official employees of the foundation. The lunch support program would continue to expand. Yeoju Middle School, being much larger in scale, would receive broader assistance. Starting next year in 1991, the school would begin providing free lunches across the board. For students from low-income families, support for tuition and uniform costs was also under consideration. Although the current focus was on schools in Yeoju, the foundation planned to increase the number of supported schools as ID Group grew. Through the foundation, they would clearly demonstrate that one could earn money like mad and spend it like a gentleman.