Chapter 41: A Tale of Two Companies
Chapter 41: A Tale of Two Companies
< Mirae Motors >
Back in college, Mirae Motors was my dream company.
A conglomerate so far out of my league I couldn't even dream of it with my qualifications.
The salary was high and the benefits were great, so I applied, but I was rejected at the document screening stage.
“To think I’d come here like this.”
Arriving at the Mirae Motors headquarters, I looked up at the skyscraper.
For the 20-year-old me, just getting hired here would have felt like I had conquered the world.
“Let’s go in.”
Ten minutes before our appointment, I entered the lobby with my bodyguards to find Jin Yoo-kyung already waiting.
“Welcome.”
The receptionists and the Mirae Motors employees crossing the lobby glanced at Jin Yoo-kyung.
“Isn’t that Managing Director Jin Yoo-kyung?”
“What’s going on? For her to greet someone like that here?”
I could almost hear the employees whispering.
If Mirae Motors were a kingdom, Jin Yoo-kyung would be its princess.
She stood straight and spoke.
“We can’t let documents containing our company’s management information leave the premises. Would it be acceptable for you to review them here in the office?”
“That’s fine.”
I followed Jin Yoo-kyung into an elevator and up to her office on the 19th floor.
Her private office was filled with books and documents.
The window offered a clear view of Gangnam and the Gyeongbu Expressway below.
A managing director at the corporate giant, Mirae Motors.
I had made a lot of money, but I wondered what it felt like to work in your own office with a title like that.
“Here you are.”
Jin Yoo-kyung handed me a thick file.
It seemed to have been printed out on paper to prevent any external leaks.
“Would you like some coffee?”
“Yes. An instant coffee mix, please.”
“Instant coffee mix?”
“I got used to it from drinking it a lot while traveling abroad.”
When I was tired from my travels, nothing hit the spot like an instant coffee mix.
Early in the morning, or late at night.
Even while camping on a night with a sky full of stars, nothing replenished my sugar levels quite like it.
Jin Yoo-kyung boiled water and made the coffee herself.
“Thank you. Do you usually make your own coffee?”
“Of course. I really don’t like asking my secretary to do it.”
There was a certain firmness in her tone.
I took a sip of the coffee; it was too watery.
In any case, I started reading the documents. Mirae Motors considered Nikola a fraudulent company based on various pieces of evidence.
It was well-known that they had never done a live demonstration of the vehicles they’d unveiled, and that they prevented reporters and officials from getting close.
It could have been a paranoid reaction to prevent technology leaks, but there were internal documents concluding that many of the technologies and plans Nikola had announced were bluffs—like the Badger hydrogen truck whose release was announced right after Tesla's Cybertruck reveal, their innovative battery technology, and a non-existent solar power facility.
The sections with detailed technical specifications for the unveiled vehicles were filled with mathematical formulas, and the design documents were packed with incomprehensible, detailed analyses, so I skimmed through them.
Jin Yoo-kyung sat in front of me, watching until I had turned the last page.
She seemed to be observing me very intently as I worked.
‘Is she worried I might steal the documents or take a picture?’
I placed the file back on the table.
“I’ve read it all.”
Jin Yoo-kyung, who had been staring blankly, seemed to snap back to reality.
“I assume this fulfills the conditions of the deal regarding the acquisition of the Aurora shares?”
“Of course. This was a huge help.”
When you want to understand a company, the ones who know it best are its competitors.
The documents were substantial, as they were based on judgments from within the same industry and grounded in hydrogen technology.
Nikola’s stock had risen a lot.
It could go higher since it was getting media attention and attracting investors.
But not every startup that succeeds in developing technology becomes a success.
Production and market dominance are entirely different issues, and the gains it had made so far were enough.
My business was concluded, so I was about to get up.
“Whew.”
Born with a silver spoon.
Jin Yoo-kyung, who was born with money and beauty, let out a sigh.
“Did you know I just turned 30?”
“I did not.”
It was hard to guess a woman’s age.
I was generally clueless about that sort of thing, but these days, with good cosmetics and diligent skincare, it was even harder.
“I’m 30 and I don’t even have a boyfriend.”
“...”
“Do you have plans this evening? Would you like to have dinner? We could have drinks, too. I’m a pretty good drinker.”
“I’m busy.”
I declined quickly.
Otherwise, I might get tied up until late.
* * *
Jin Yoo-kyung escorted Kim Shin back to the first-floor lobby before returning to her office.
She felt a little disappointed.
In her office, which she had briefly left, a middle-aged man with respectable white hair was sitting on the sofa.
“Father.”
“You had a visitor, I see.”
Jin Myeong-il.
Her father, who had inherited the position of Chairman of Mirae Motors three years ago.
A man who, after graduating from high school and university in the United States, was now spearheading a massive reform of the traditional manufacturing giant, Mirae Motors.
“How did you know?”
“My secretaries reported it. It’s rare for you to go down to the lobby to greet someone, isn’t it?”
Jin Myeong-il had several sons, but he doted on his only daughter.
She had been cute and lovely since she was a child, and she had never disappointed him when it came to company business.
“I asked him to come because of the matter I reported to you earlier.”
“Aurora?”
“Yes. You said it was a company you were determined to invest in.”
“That’s right. Our company’s research institute has established itself to the point where it doesn’t lack in the fundamental areas of vehicle manufacturing compared to global companies, but we are a bit short on creativity.”
Like most R&D centers in large corporations, they were quick to catch up on major technologies but lacked the ability to create something new.
Jin Myeong-il was trying to breathe new life into Mirae Motors by addressing this through mergers and acquisitions of startups.
“The person who owned the Aurora shares was Kim Shin, you said.”
“You even knew his name.”
“One should know about a man that wealthy in South Korea.”
“He has far less money than you, Father.”
Jin Myeong-il’s publicly disclosed assets alone were five times greater than Kim Shin’s.
Her statement also took into account the slush funds and overseas assets he had accumulated over decades of corporate activity.
“Well. He may have less money than me, but…”
Jin Myeong-il smiled.
Among the many pieces of information a group chairman possessed was that one of Nikola’s major shareholders was Asian.
Since it was an unlisted company, its shareholding structure wasn’t complex, allowing for a degree of speculation.
‘If it’s the same person…’
Jin Myeong-il kept his thoughts to himself and continued.
“And the deal?”
“He agreed to sell half of his shares. I don’t think there will be any problem establishing a cooperative relationship with Aurora.”
“I see.”
As the chairman, he was satisfied with yet another successful outcome, but as a father, he had another question.
“How close are you with that fellow?”
“We just meet for business?”
“No personal contact?”
“No. None at all.”
Jin Yoo-kyung didn’t want her father pulling her strings just yet.
She had even asked him for a drink today, but he had simply slipped away, saying he was busy.
“He’s young, but he’s been divorced once.”
“That’s probably because he married early. It’s normal for a man and a woman to meet, and if things don’t work out, they can break up.”
“He has no parents…”
“But he grew up so well, with such a good feel about him. Isn’t that even more amazing?”
He felt a hint of disappointment in his daughter's reaction.
She usually called the men from the business world old-fashioned or obnoxious, so he never expected to see her defend someone so earnestly.
* * *
After leaving Mirae Motors, my next destination was Gwangmyeong.
The location of Biolife’s research institute.
The research that had started in several rented officetels had, thanks to investments over the past two years, moved to a large building on the outskirts originally intended as a logistics center.
Guards stood at the entrance, and inside the building, researchers in white lab coats moved about busily.
“Janice.”
“Ah, Mr. Kim Shin. You’re here.”
I met with a researcher who had followed Dr. Lee Ho-yeon from the United States.
“Where is Dr. Lee Ho-yeon?”
“He’s conducting various tests on the collected samples. Should I call him for you?”
“No, I’ll just take a look around the lab for a bit.”
I didn’t want to disturb his research.
This wasn’t just any research; it was on the infectious disease currently rampant in China.
“Then I’ll give you a tour. Most of it is a Level 3 containment facility, so you can only enter wearing a protective suit. This is where we cultivate the virus for testing and molecular analysis. And this is the microbiology lab, the scanning electron microscope room, centrifuges, and so on.”
I observed the labs Janice pointed out through the windows in the hallway.
Two or three researchers were assigned to each machine, engrossed in their work.
“And Dr. Lee Ho-yeon?”
“He’s in the infectious disease lab.”
Just a brief tour of the institute was enough to feel the grim determination of the researchers.
Even Janice’s face was pale, and her eyes were bloodshot.
“Does Dr. Lee Ho-yeon get any sleep?”
“He’s barely slept since the outbreak in China. He says he has to help in any way he can.”
“It’s been well over a month, hasn’t it?”
“The doctor probably won’t sleep properly until a vaccine or treatment is developed. He says he wants to prevent others from experiencing the pain of losing family. That’s just the kind of person he is.”
I walked down the corridors of Sector A and B of the institute, looking inside.
I didn’t feel it was right to go in wearing a protective suit, as I knew nothing and would only be a hindrance.
“It looks like you’ve expanded your staff quite a bit.”
“Yes. Thanks to your active investment, we’re acquiring more equipment and personnel. Dr. Lee Ho-yeon is an authority on infectious diseases, so many people are gathering here. Professor Paul Lesser has also agreed to come.”
“The professor from Johns Hopkins University?”
“Yes. He said this outbreak seems incredibly serious and came to offer his support. And news broke two hours ago that dozens of COVID infections are surging in Daegu.”
She said the severe local transmission in Daegu had thrown Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and administrative agencies into chaos.
Although there had been sporadic confirmed cases in Korea from the outbreak in China, this was the first instance of large-scale community transmission.
“I see.”
The 20 billion won I had invested over two years, and the 60 billion won I invested this time.
It was a good cause, but I hadn’t had high expectations. I had even thought some of the research funds might go to waste, but now I felt I needed to reconsider.
‘If everyone is working this hard, it won’t be money thrown away. It seems like it will help the world in some way.’
Biolife.
I was the company’s majority shareholder and the person who could provide immediate help.
The government could offer various forms of support, but that would require procedures and time.
And it wasn’t as if Biolife had a proven track record.
“What do you need right now?”
“There are a few more pieces of equipment we need. And beds.”
“Beds?”
“For the researchers to sleep on. Right now, they’re taking turns sleeping in a cramped space with just a single blanket.”
“I see.”
Before my investment, Biolife had primarily focused on AI development.
They had moved to a large building as they acquired labs and equipment, but the researchers were eating and sleeping on blankets in the break room.
She mentioned that most of the 60 billion won from the recent investment had already been spent on equipment purchases and rental contracts.
“I’ll have accommodations set up for the researchers immediately.”
“Thank you.”
“What else do you need?”
“We need a lot of computing resources. The faster the AI can analyze more data, the faster we can develop a vaccine or treatment.”