A New Investment (5)
In short, investors had one hydrogen-truck nightmare hanging over them: the Thomas Motors disaster from last year.
After Brad Button’s fraud came to light, skepticism toward hydrogen vehicles surged. But Nextrogen has now wiped away those doubts cleanly by succeeding in this test drive.
The CEO of Thomson Daily said in an interview, “Thomas Motors rolled a truck down a hill and tried to pass it off as proof, but HY07 completed its test run successfully under a wide range of real-world road conditions. HY07 is equipped with two hydrogen fuel cells, can deliver up to 490 horsepower, and can travel as far as 500 miles on a single charge. Unlike an electric vehicle, it can also reach 80 percent charge in just 15 minutes.”
He then explained Nextrogen’s strength: “We’re not an automaker; we’re a hydrogen vehicle platform company. Rather than competing with carmakers, we work with them, which means we can use existing factories and ramp production up quickly. What kind of truck gets built on our platform depends on each manufacturer’s own capabilities.”
Nextrogen Signs 10,000-Vehicle Deal with GM and Ford
Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund Adds Another $500 Million Over Three Years for Factory Expansion
AMZ, Walmart, FedEx, and Other Logistics Companies Place 6,000-Unit Preorders
The article was more than enough to shake the market.
Hydrogen economics had been forecast in one way or another for years, but most people still thought it was premature. By and large, companies were preparing for a horizon about five years out.
Now, with Nextrogen’s success, that timeline had been pulled sharply forward.
Shares of hydrogen-related companies rose across the board.
The stock expected to benefit most of all was Hwaan Energy.
Once Nextrogen’s production plan was announced, Hwaan Energy shot all the way up to the daily upper limit.
After the Thomas Motors scandal, a lot of companies pulled back from the hydrogen market. Public sentiment had been so bad that nobody dared make a large-scale investment.
And yet, even in that climate, Hwaan Energy had been building hydrogen charging stations across the United States while also setting up a distribution network to collect and transport byproduct hydrogen in cooperation with petrochemical plants.
The reason they could do that was simple: just before the Thomas Motors disaster broke, they sold out of their stock position entirely and booked more than 150 billion won in profits.
They weren’t borrowing money or doing a rights offering. They were saying they’d fund it with money they had already made, so the shareholders were willing to watch and wait.
And now the investment they had made all that time ago had struck gold.
The shareholders cheered wildly.
The Korean business ranking of Hwaan Group had originally been seventh. But after being recognized as a leader in the hydrogen economy, it jumped a spot and was now sixth.
Hwaan Group’s flagship affiliate was Hwaan Solution.
It had subsidiaries in solar panels, petrochemicals, advanced materials, and even department stores.
Hydrogen energy was not a rival to existing green energy; it complemented it.
Because energy generated by solar or wind power could be converted into hydrogen and stored, Hwaan Solution was also climbing after Nextrogen’s announcement.
Even so, the company atmosphere was gloomy.
The reason was that Hwaan Energy had overtaken it in market capitalization.
Originally, Hwaan Solution’s market cap had been more than twice Hwaan Energy’s. But after the Thomas Motors scandal, the gap had gradually narrowed, and now the two had flipped.
The shareholders’ complaints came pouring in.
Senior Dongho stared at the articles as they kept coming in and let out an impressed whistle.
“Wow! Nextrogen really hit it big. I’ve even heard people saying its market cap could go to $50 billion. You didn’t sell it off to Rush Fund for nothing, did you?”
“We got the Saudi investment out of it, though.”
Besides, half of Rush Fund was ours anyway.
The market’s dominant force in eco-friendly cars was still the electric vehicle.
But hydrogen cars had a clear advantage in commercial vehicles. If you considered the rising cost of battery materials like lithium and cobalt, the economics were strong too.
Building the vehicles was only half the job. To make them truly useful, you needed hydrogen infrastructure.
Fortunately, Hwaan Energy was already busting its ass on that front.
“Hwaan Energy’s at the daily limit. Maybe I should’ve bought some.”
Apparently Heo Min-woong had called earlier, full of excitement.
Hydrogen infrastructure didn’t translate into immediate profits, and until you built scale, it kept eating cash.
But what mattered was that people had started believing in the potential of the hydrogen economy.
Whereas before it had been an industry nobody knew would ever make money, now people were convinced that it would.
If investors became convinced that profits were coming down the road, they’d be willing to wait.
“Where did our vice president go?”
“He’s been running around the entertainment companies.”
Not for music work, but for investment consultations. Now that he had money, he was scooping up unlisted entertainment stocks that looked promising.
Kim Beom-seok, who had stopped by his agency around lunchtime, came in late.
He was carrying a mountain of snacks in his arms.
Senior Dongho blinked in surprise. “What’s all that? Planning to open a convenience store?”
“Fans sent them to the company.”
“Huh? Who even sends you stuff like this? I thought your fan base was broad as paper but thin as rice paper.”
Kim Beom-seok nodded.
“Not my fans. Jiyu’s fans. They said they were thankful I helped make their singer number one.”
“Ah...”
A few days earlier, Jiyu had released a new song.
The title was The Girl Who Searches for Her Dream.
The song was written by Kim Beom-seok. The featuring was Kim Beom-seok too. The moment it dropped, the track shot straight to number one on Mongoose and every other chart.
“If I eat all this, I’m going to get diabetes.”
He said that, and then immediately kept crunching through the snacks anyway.
It was perfect timing, since I was hungry too.
We sat around together, happily snacking, when a call came in from an unfamiliar number.
[Hello. Is this Han Miru?]
“Yes. Who’s this?”
[This is Heo Min-hong of Hwaan Solution.]
He was the eldest son of Chairman Heo Seonghun of Hwaan Group, and Heo Min-woong’s older brother. I had never really met him before.
“What can I do for you?”
[If you have a moment, could we meet briefly?]
I happened to be free.
“Sure.”
I met the man at a hotel café.
He was tall, wearing a gray suit and a beige Burberry coat. His hair was neatly slicked back, and he wore gold-rimmed glasses.
He resembled Heo Min-woong in the general shape of his face, but his overall impression was calmer and softer.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Heo Min-hong.”
“Hello. I’m Han Miru.”
We exchanged greetings and sat down.
“I’ve heard your name many times, but this is the first time we’ve met in person. I heard your latest investment was a huge success. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
Crushing a chaebol group and stripping it for parts wasn’t exactly easy.
And yet I had already done it twice.
The first was Hanjung Group, and the second was GL Group. GL was still intact as a company, at least, but Hanjung had exploded into pieces.
For the record, Hanjung Group was his wife’s family.
“I hear you’re close with Min-woong. You’re the one who told him about Thomas Motors’ rot, right?”
I nodded.
“That’s right. I was the one who told him.”
“I’m only asking because I’m curious, but why did you tell Min-woong first instead of me?”
I answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Because it was Min-woong who came to the United States at the time. If it had been you, I would’ve met you and tried to persuade you instead.”
Back then, I had been in a hurry too. I needed to acquire Cooloud as fast as possible, and the CFD trades were still bleeding cash every day.
So I had to drive Thomas Motors into the ground as quickly and as completely as possible.
From my point of view, as long as I could make the stock crash, I didn’t care whether it was a black cat or a white cat.
Heo Min-hong gave a wry smile.
“If I’d known that, I should’ve gone to the U.S. myself.”
That was how it should have been in the first place.
But he was careful to a fault, the sort of man who tapped the stepping stones before crossing the river. He would have avoided anything that carried even a hint of risk.
“The reason I asked to meet you today is that there’s one thing I want to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Is Continue Capital backing Min-woong?”
I understood what he was getting at immediately.
“The fact that you’re asking me that tells me Chairman Heo Seonghun’s retirement can’t be far off.”
“...”
He looked genuinely surprised.
I knew what was coming down the line, more or less.
He might look like a man who could go another few decades, barking at executives and cracking the whip, but in truth Chairman Heo Seonghun’s health wasn’t great.
The reason was hereditary.
His father, the founder Heo Seongtae, had died young of acute myocardial infarction without even leaving a will. That same cardiovascular weakness had been passed right on to Heo Seonghun.
The best preventive measures were simple: avoid overwork, eat well, sleep well, and keep a healthy routine.
But that was easier said than done when you were running a chaebol group.
The chairmen you saw in dramas seemed to spend all day golfing and gallivanting around, but the actual workload of a chairman wasn’t even in the same universe as that of an ordinary employee.
One small decision could move hundreds of billions of won, sometimes trillions, and the stress was no joke.
Even if he was taking extra care of himself, he probably already felt that his body was starting to fail him. He wouldn’t retire right away, but he’d be preparing to give his successor more and more power.
I looked at Heo Min-hong and said, “I think you’re misunderstanding something. We have no real interest in Hwaan Group. Whoever becomes the heir is not something we intend to meddle in.”
But Hwaan Energy was working hand in hand with Nextrogen, and behind Nextrogen stood Continue Capital.
To everyone else, it would look as if Continue Capital was simply throwing its weight behind Heo Min-woong.
“Still, if I were to give you a piece of advice, I’d say you’d be better off giving up on the idea of taking Hwaan Energy for yourself.”
Heo Min-hong’s expression stiffened slightly.
“Hwaan Energy is one of the group’s core affiliates. And Hwaan is the largest shareholder.”
Hwaan’s stake in Hwaan Energy stood at 28.2 percent. Add Heo Min-hong’s 5.3 percent, and the total came to 33.5 percent.
When you added the shares held by other affiliates, the total went past 40 percent.
Heo Min-woong had emptied his personal assets to buy Hwaan Energy, but even then his own stake was only 6.5 percent.
But...
“The minority shareholders won’t stand for it.”
Strictly speaking, Heo Min-woong wasn’t even the president of Hwaan Energy. He was a vice president.
And yet, when people thought of Hwaan Energy, they thought of Heo Min-woong first. That was partly because he was the chairman’s son, but more importantly because he was the person most responsible for sending the stock price soaring.
Would the minority shareholders be happy if they tried to force out someone like that?
At the same time, giving up Hwaan Energy would be like giving up half the group. And because the affiliates were so tightly interconnected, even splitting the group up wouldn’t be easy.
I looked at Heo Min-hong and thought to myself that, from his point of view, he did have reason to feel wronged.
Unlike Heo Min-woong, who had been running wild since childhood with drunken driving, assault, and one disaster after another, Min-hong had followed his father’s wishes, married Hanjung Group’s eldest daughter Ju Hyejin early, and devoted himself faithfully to the company.
He, and everyone else, had assumed without question that he would naturally become the group heir.
In fact, under normal circumstances, Hwaan Group would have fallen into Heo Min-hong’s lap without any fuss at all.
And yet now, one wrong move could leave him watching his younger brother take the group away from him.
To think that something I did for my own benefit would lead to a result like this.
That’s what makes life interesting.