Chapter 38: Representative Kim
Chapter 38: CEO Kim
In a capitalist society, success meant earning a lot of money.
Business, technology, sports, culture.
You succeed in any field, gain financial rewards, and become the envy of others.
The difference in my case was that I started by making money first.
“What do you think of this office?”
“It's nice. But I'm not too fond of the view.”
I toured the offices in Sangam-dong with the staff from Jeongyeon Real Estate.
An area where broadcasting stations and entertainment companies gathered.
Compared to Gangnam, Sangam had cheaper rent and many spacious offices.
After checking several places myself and securing an office for the production company, Jeong Beom-tae joined me.
He looked quite surprised when I told him we'd be using the 5th, 6th, and 7th floors of a new building near the subway.
“CEO Kim. Are you starting with such a nice office right from the beginning?”
“Ahem.”
CEO Kim.
I had earned a lot of money, but this was the first time I'd taken on a position of responsibility.
I couldn't help but smile.
“Yes. I want my employees to work in a good office.”
Since my middle and high school days, I had long dreamed of working in a clean, spacious office.
It would cost a bit more to run the business, but I could save money by not indulging in hobbies like buying expensive yachts.
I wasn't sure if that was sound logic, but if I didn't spend at least this much, I wouldn't be able to do anything.
“Then I'll start hiring employees.”
“Yes. Please start right away.”
I selected the office staff through a process of reviewing applications and conducting interviews.
I hadn't realized it when I was the one looking for a job, but the applicants had high educational backgrounds, and their résumés were packed.
A good education and English proficiency were a given, on top of experience studying abroad and various social activities.
Jeong Beom-tae emphasized that I should hire a separate secretary to assist me.
“A secretary?”
“Yes. The company is of a certain size, and she could help you, sir, since you are not familiar with this industry. She could gather materials or handle communications.”
I interviewed quite a few people for the secretarial position and made the decision myself.
Yoo Seon-ah.
While the choice was based on her education and abilities, she didn't lack in the looks department either.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“The pleasure is all mine, sir.”
After establishing the company's basic framework, I arranged meetings with variety show producers and writers from terrestrial and cable broadcasting stations.
“I will offer you a higher salary than what you're making at your current station. And I'll provide additional incentives based on viewership ratings or program sales.”
Jeong Beom-tae and I negotiated with them directly.
I met with producers and writers I had always admired and offered them contracts.
I promised a compensation system that matched their skills and performance, with good treatment as a baseline.
Since I expected producers would be hesitant to join a new production company, offering talented individuals three or four times their current salary wasn't much of a burden.
After all, the salaries at terrestrial broadcasting stations weren't that high compared to the work they did.
If you included the incentives for successful projects, the compensation was incomparable.
“I intend to make you feel like a partner while working at the company. I will also give you full authority over your own team.”
To get talented people, shouldn't you offer them a commensurate salary and authority?
Nevertheless, even with the offer, no one readily signed a contract.
‘Nothing is ever easy. It's their livelihoods on the line, after all.’
Still, a few famous producers showed considerable interest.
“You can give me the same salary as the other producers. But I would like you to promise support for production costs and incentives.”
“Yes. Of course, those terms will be in the contract.”
“I'd like to be able to assemble the best actors and staff.”
“That's what I want as well. I'll ensure you can create any program you desire.”
I decided to gather exceptional talent and support them so they could do anything.
Even after hiring the production team, preparing and producing a program would take a significant amount of time, so it wasn't something that could be done immediately.
Jeong Beom-tae proceeded with his main job: film investment.
“I'm currently analyzing the scripts of films in the pre-production stage.”
“Yes. Go ahead.”
Doing something new made me feel the joy of being alive.
* * *
- China, Surge of Patients with Pneumonia of Unknown Origin in Wuhan
- Wuhan City, Unidentified Pneumonia Spreads, SARS Fears Grow
- Pneumonia Spreads Rapidly in China, Health Authorities 'Cannot Conclude It Is SARS'
- Hong Kong, Wuhan Pneumonia Cases Rise to 15
- Domestic Case of Unexplained Pneumonia Symptoms, 36-Year-Old Chinese Woman
- WHO Announces China's Pneumonia of Unknown Origin Could Be a New Virus
While I was setting up the production company, the infectious disease that originated in China showed no signs of abating.
When MERS broke out, failures in initial response and concealment of information had resulted in South Korea having the second-highest number of infected people in the world.
As a result, the Korean media and public were paying close attention to infectious diseases.
- Kim Shin: Is it as dangerous as MERS?
- Lee Ho-yeon: We'll have to investigate, but so far, the mortality rate isn't high.
The mortality rate for MERS was 38%, and for SARS, it was close to 10%.
- Lee Ho-yeon: The spread between people seems dangerous. And they say this pneumonia from China appears to be a novel coronavirus.
- Kim Shin: I see.
Even while exchanging text messages with Lee Ho-yeon, I didn't take the pneumonia of unknown origin too seriously.
The number of SARS infections worldwide was around 8,000. MERS was far less, with only about 1,300 cases.
However, the emergence of this infectious disease was causing the stock prices of pharmaceutical companies to soar.
- Lee Ho-yeon: We plan to analyze samples as soon as we acquire them.
- Lee Ho-yeon: But that will require immense computing resources.
- Kim Shin: This is the perfect time to test the artificial intelligence.
Utilizing the AI required a lot of computing resources.
In the past, I would have had to set up a server room, but now there was another way.
- Kim Shin: Myeong-woo.
- Oh Myeong-woo: Yeah.
- Kim Shin: I want to sign up for Amazon's cloud computing service. How do I do that?
Through Oh Myeong-woo, I signed a contract with Amazon to get support for high-performance computing.
All that was left was to wait and see what kind of results it would produce.
* * *
- Korea's 18th Richest Person, Kim Shin. Total assets: 2.3 billion dollars.
It was Forbes, which loves to rank people in various fields.
The list of the richest people had been dominated by the owners of large corporations and second-generation chaebol heirs.
For the past few years, various types of wealthy individuals, such as heads of gaming and pharmaceutical companies, internet firms, and private equity funds, had been climbing the ranks.
This time, my story was featured in Forbes.
[ South Korea's new rich, who hit the jackpot with cryptocurrency.
Kim Shin, a former pharmaceutical sales representative, became a billionaire with a fortune exceeding 2 trillion won.
“I enjoy traveling and living my life investing here and there.” ]
He is also very interested in investing in American startups and is a major shareholder in Nikola, a developer of hydrogen-electric trucks.
This was followed by an explanation that he also held shares in Netflix.
Since the interview was published online, it was accompanied by a photo.
It was a picture of me sitting in a chair, legs crossed, talking with the reporter, Pamela.
I hadn't noticed during the interview, but Pamela was sitting unusually close, smiling warmly.
“Wow. I look like a totally successful person.”
The photo came out really well, very charming.
* * *
Few Koreans read Forbes, but the news spread quickly through articles in the domestic media.
- The Birth of a 32-Year-Old Billionaire.
- How a Pharmaceutical Company Employee Became a Billionaire.
- The Midas Touch?
- From Coins and Nasdaq to Startup Investments.
It wasn't just major news outlets; online newspapers were competitively publishing articles.
The popularity was so immense that my story consistently topped the most-read article rankings on major portal sites.
Normally, it wouldn't be this popular, but the combination of cryptocurrency and my age piqued people's interest.
- Team Leader An Myeong-guk: I knew you had made a lot, but I am still jealous. In this world, the person with the money calls the shots. From now on, that is you.
- Lee Jong-yeop: At your service. Call me anytime you need anything. The sushi last time was truly delicious.
- Kim Sang-gi: Please don't forget me. If you have any investments, let me in on them. I'm not asking for some huge tip. You know, just some trivial thing you could throw away without a second thought. Just toss one of those my way!
People I used to work with at Arcor sent me playful texts.
The sales team, support team, technology team.
Even Lee Min-young, the secretary I had forgotten about.
- Kim Dong-gil: It's your uncle. I was so surprised when I saw the article. I haven't been able to look after you since Jeong-woo passed away. Jeong-woo would be so proud of you.
A text from my uncle came too.
He and my father often fought and weren't on good terms, but he bought me a computer on the day I started middle school.
‘His younger brother was drowning in gambling debt, so it was only natural for the older brother to curse him out.’
He pitied me and would slip me a few ten-thousand-won bills as allowance.
Telling me to never give it to my father.
I still remembered the image of my uncle at my father's funeral, downing two bottles of soju with tears in his eyes.
- Kim Shin: I'm sorry for not keeping in touch. I'll come visit you soon.
- Kim Dong-gil: Come anytime you're free.
And then, countless other people contacted me.
Elementary, middle, and high school classmates. University peers.
Seniors and juniors from the military.
- Joo Gwang-man: This is your senior from the army. Remember how well I took care of you? I got you out of all the annoying duties. I'm going through a tough time these days...
There were also blunt requests for money.
- Goo Hyung-seop: This is the director of Balgeunsiya Hospital. Is the person in the article really Assistant Manager Kim? The Assistant Manager Kim from Arcor?
Calls and texts also poured in from doctors who hadn't deleted my number yet.
‘I thought I didn't have many connections in Korea. Was it this many?’
The calls and texts poured in, even from people I would never meet again or people from so long ago I couldn't even remember them.
‘I really need to change my phone number.’
I had been using the same number for a long time; it seemed I'd have to get a new one.
But the most convenient change was related to my business.
The content production company, Dream Art Rainbow.
Variety show producers started transferring over, and investment inquiries for dramas and films flooded in.
‘Fame really does make it easier to do business.’
* * *
The second and third-generation chaebol heirs of South Korea were feeling a sense of relative deprivation.
“They're always looking down on us for being in traditional industries. But in reality, we're the ones creating jobs and paying taxes.”
“Tech companies? They're mostly internet firms, and their revenue and net profits aren't even that high.”
“Now even gaming companies are climbing the corporate rankings. It's just...”
To the chaebol heirs, the news about Kim Shin was just about some lucky guy who made a fortune, but for one person, it was different.
“So this is Kim Shin.”
Managing Director Jin Yoo-kyung of Mirae Motors saw the article.
The man who, ahead of the great mobility transition to autonomous driving and electric vehicles, had preemptively invested in Silicon Valley's vehicle-related startups.
The person they had tried to find in the US but couldn't, a figure who hadn't emerged from Korea's business circles either.
“And he was the person I talked to.”
Advertisements and equity investments.
He was the one who had kept her company when she was on edge from handling important matters.
“He's become quite handsome.”
Jin Yoo-kyung stared blankly at the photo of Kim Shin in the online article.
She had taken a liking to him two years ago.
She was a member of a chaebol family, and she had thought of him as just a commoner with a bit of money.
Or perhaps a commoner who had diligently saved up mileage points to fly first class.
But now, two years later, she was in a position where she had to contact him for business.
Mirae Motors was more aggressively pursuing acquisitions of promising startups, after all.
“This man and I...”
Jin Yoo-kyung thought for a moment. No matter how she looked at it, everything pointed to one conclusion.
“Sigh. I guess this is what they call an undeniable fate.”
