New York at Year’s End (1)
To take over Link Labs, David headed personally to Chicago, Illinois, where the company’s headquarters were located.
The founders, still rattled after Facenote’s acquisition plans had fallen apart, were stunned when Continue Capital made its own offer.
[They said they wanted to meet CEO Lucas first and talk over the contract.]
The reason Link Labs’ founders were willing to negotiate over Facenote’s acquisition wasn’t just money. They wanted continued investment afterward, and the kind of synergy that only came from being tied to a larger parent company. Naturally, they were curious whether Snow Crash could really play that role.
“Take the founders to Snow Crash. I’ll let Syd know.”
It hadn’t happened in my first life, but I didn’t worry about it in the slightest.
Syd was a genius among geniuses.
He wasn’t especially versed in brains or neuroscience, but when it came to computers, he was an expert who knew more than anyone else. He’d probably be a huge help to Link Labs’ technical development, too.
If Dr. Cameron Hawkins and Dr. Vincent Swanson met Syd, they’d probably decide that being acquired by Snow Crash was a far better outcome than being swallowed by Facenote.
I contacted Snow Crash and explained the situation.
After hearing me out, Syd was delighted like a child.
“Wait! You’re really acquiring Link Labs?”
“I told you I’d buy it.”
I wasn’t just saying that to make myself look good.
I was planning to have Snow Crash, not Continue Capital, acquire Link Labs and keep it as a wholly owned subsidiary.
In effect, it would be his.
“Nothing’s been decided yet, so talk to them properly.”
Syd sounded thrilled. “Got it. You really are the best, big bro.”
“It’s nothing.”
That was me, all right.
Before I knew it, December had arrived.
The weather kept getting colder, but New York itself had grown brighter and livelier with the approach of the holidays. Carolers filled the streets with song, and trees and multicolored decorations glittered everywhere.
By this time of year, companies were busy wrapping up their annual accounts.
Continue Capital was no exception.
I opened the year-end profit report and looked it over.
“We made a lot.”
Morris Pearson clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“Even while writing it up, I could hardly believe the numbers. If someone had told me these were the returns they’d made, I would’ve assumed they were lying.”
A lot had happened over the course of the year.
I’d brought down Hanjeong Group, saved Blackwood from ransomware, built the O'Connor Burger franchise, acquired Legends Games, exposed the rigged gacha rates of Brotherhood M, and helped Chairman Samara escape Japan.
As expected, the biggest profits came from the investments in GL Chemical and GL Entech.
Those two alone had brought in about $25 billion.
Add the $18 billion I’d made from the Facenote short, and Continue Capital’s cash holdings had swelled to $60 billion.
And that was after paying Alex Preston the remaining balance and acquiring other companies.
Even more to the point, that figure didn’t include the profits from the Rush Fund.
PIF would settle that side on its own.
I called Sung Yoon-ah after that, and for a while we just talked.
“I heard you went to the U.S. and completely turned Facenote into a wreck.”
“What did I really do? They did it to themselves.”
“Wasn’t it you who brought it to light?”
“That was the job of the whistleblower. I barely did anything.”
“Tch. Liar.”
Again, it would have happened even without me.
Even after I explained that, Sung Yoon-ah still didn’t seem to believe me at all.
“How long are you staying in America?”
“I still have a little work left, so I think I’ll be back next year.”
She sounded disappointed. “Then I guess we won’t get to see each other for Christmas.”
Come to think of it, I’d spent last Christmas with her.
We’d gone shopping at a department store together. And that was where we’d run into Ju Hyeon-jin.
I wondered if he was doing well.
After the Hanjeong Mulsan shareholders’ meeting, Ju Hyeon-jin was arrested for drug possession in the act. I’d seen an article saying he’d gotten out on probation, but I had no idea how he was living after that.
Not that I cared.
I had hated him enough to want him dead once, but now I had completely forgiven him.
I sincerely hoped he would cast off every shackle and burden of being a chaebol heir and find real happiness for himself.
After I hung up, I muttered to myself, “So Christmas is here again already.”
Continue Capital was in a festive mood as well with Christmas just around the corner.
In America, where so many people were Christian, Christmas was an especially important holiday.
Americans usually spent it with their families. But I was a foreign worker, which meant I had to sit alone in my room, far from home.
To be precise, I’d be in the JR Blackwood suite. At least the room itself was nice, which made it bearable.
Just then, David came back from his business trip.
“What do you do for Christmas?” I asked.
As if the answer were the most obvious thing in the world, he said, “I go see my daughter.”
“Ah, right.”
Since I didn’t have anything else to do anyway, I asked him, “Could I come with you?”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’d like to see Maggie again after so long.”
“You’d be welcome. There’ll be a lot of people there that day.”
The hospital where David’s daughter was staying had the largest pediatric ward in New York.
Since Christmas was such a meaningful day for children, the staff and volunteers gathered to hold a Christmas party and various events.
“It feels a little rude to show up empty-handed. Is there anything I should bring?”
David thought for a moment and said, “How about O'Connor Burger?”
“Hamburgers?”
“Yes. Maggie told me there are a lot of kids who want to eat them. The staff and volunteers will like them too.”
“Ah! That’s a great idea.”
Hamburgers were American soul food.
There might be Koreans who disliked kimchi, but there was no American who disliked hamburgers.
O'Connor Burger was already making an enormous name for itself around Silicon Valley, but in its home city of New York, it was sold through the pub, so it wasn’t exactly easy for kids to buy.
I’d have to ask Mr. O'Connor whether a bulk order was possible.
I walked into the O'Connor Pub.
“Hello.”
“Welcome! The O'Connor family’s benefactor!”
Mr. O'Connor beamed and gave me a fierce hug.
The smell of a stranger’s body was enough to make me feel smothered, so I really wished he’d stop doing that.
It was still before opening, so the place was empty.
“Here for a hamburger? I’ll make one right away.”
“That too, but I actually had something I wanted to discuss.”
“And that would be?”
I was about to explain when Trish came in.
“Oh! Miru, you were here.”
That timing was perfect.
I explained the situation to Mr. O'Connor.
“...So, for Christmas, I’d like to place a large hamburger order for sick children. Would that be possible?”
Hearing that, Mr. O'Connor thumped his chest hard as if to show off.
“For something that good, I’d never sit it out! We’re closed on Christmas anyway, so I can make as many as you need.”
Trish raised her hand.
“I’ll go too.”
“You too, Trish?”
She winked at me.
“Yes. I’d been wondering what kind of Christmas article I should write. A party at New York’s pediatric ward sounds perfect. I’ll need to contact the hospital and get permission to cover it.”
Christmas Eve.
I rode with David to the hospital where Maggie was staying.
“How’s Maggie been lately?”
“She’s been in good shape, so I’ve been able to breathe a little easier.”
“The treatment costs aren’t a problem, right?”
“Of course not.”
When I first recruited him, I had promised him a salary of $100,000 a year, doubled every ten years.
That meant his salary for this year would be only $200,000.
But that wasn’t really all he got. With all the allowances and performance bonuses, he’d receive around $10 million.
Compared to the money he brought in, that was still nothing. In fact, there were plenty of investment firms waving blank checks and asking him to come work for them.
The car he drove was a midsize model about ten years old.
Apparently, he’d bought it used and was still driving the same one.
He did have a company car, of course, but he never used it for anything personal.
Couldn’t he at least replace the car? Surely he wasn’t short on money.
“Come to think of it, what do you usually spend your money on, David?”
“That’s a secret.”
The fact that he called it a secret only made me more curious.
“Don’t tell me you don’t trust me? We’re not just any kind of relationship, you know.”
“Then what kind of relationship is it?”
“Hmm. Another family, maybe?”
“...”
David thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Thank you for thinking of it that way.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“I’m telling you this only because it’s you, boss. Please don’t tell anyone else.”
“Of course.”
“The truth is, aside from Maggie’s treatment expenses, I’ve been supporting sick children.”
I was stunned.
“Oh! Really?”
Then David asked back, “Is that so surprising?”
“Well, I mean...”
It had never been revealed in my first life, after all.
Apparently deciding there was no reason to hide it anymore, David even said he planned to establish a foundation later to help pay for treatment for sick children.
America was undeniably the greatest country in the world, but compared to other developed nations, its welfare system was hardly well built.
Even though it was a nation with a per-capita income of over $60,000, nearly twenty million people lived in extreme poverty.
Medical welfare, in particular, was effectively left to the private sector.
What made up for the state’s shortcomings was charity.
In a way, it was as if the government collected taxes and then left the actual work to private individuals.
The fortunate thing was that the culture of donation was deeply rooted in the U.S.
Unlike Korean chaebols, who would use every trick in the book to cling to their wealth and pass it to their children, many American super-rich chose to return their money to society while they were still alive.
Come to think of it, it wasn’t actually that unusual for a cold-blooded businessman or investor to run a charity.
That was true of Aaron White, the world’s biggest investor, and even of NS founder Bill Gates.
Some people founded their own charities and publicized every donation themselves, while others kept everything completely secret.
From the sound of it, David was the latter.
I had always thought of him as a ruthless, cold investor, but I never would have guessed he had this side to him.
If we hadn’t been close, I probably would’ve never known.
“But why keep it a secret?”
“If people know who the donor is, wouldn’t the children receiving help end up being grateful to the donor?”
“I guess so.”
“I’d rather they feel gratitude toward society as a whole than toward any one individual.”
“Ah...”
So that was the depth of his intentions.
No wonder it had never been exposed in my first life.
“What are you planning to do with all that money, boss?”
“Honestly? I haven’t really thought that far ahead yet.”
In general, it was much easier to spend money than to earn it.
But once you got past a certain amount, the equation changed.
Making ten trillion versus spending ten trillion.
At first glance, the former looked much harder. In reality, though, the latter was far more difficult. Even if you bought gold, unless a company was doing it for investment purposes, spending ten trillion purely as consumption was almost impossible.
Buy houses, buy cars, buy a private jet, buy a yacht, buy luxury goods—would I even manage to spend a trillion doing that?
I’d already earned enough money that I could spend a lifetime and still not run out, but the reason I kept investing was because that was my goal.
Just as athletes chase better records, I only chased greater returns as an investor.
One thing was certain...
“I have no intention of handing it down to future generations for a thousand years to come.”
I had earned this money myself, so I could have this kind of wealth without shame. My children wouldn’t be in the same position.
I’d give them enough to pursue whatever they wanted, but not so much that they’d never have to lift a finger.
Well, I wasn’t even married yet, so for now I’d keep earning and think slowly about how to use it later.
In the center of the pediatric ward, a Christmas tree had been set up and decorated with colorful ornaments.
Drawings the children had made were displayed on the walls, and in front of the tree a choir and an instrumental group were singing carols.
Volunteers dressed as Santa Claus, Rudolph, and various other characters moved from room to room, handing out small gift bundles to the children.
There were even middle and high school students still young enough to count as kids themselves, and families who had come out together to volunteer.
For tonight, the pediatric ward felt less like a hospital and more like a party hall.
As I looked around, David asked, “What is it?”
“Nothing. It’s just a little amazing, that’s all.”
I’d always thought Christmas was for spending time with your girlfriend or getting drunk with friends, but here were people dedicating themselves to volunteer work instead.
As expected, there was still so much in the world I had to learn.
When we stepped into Maggie’s room, she shouted happily, “Daddy!”
“You’ve been good, sweetheart?”
David grinned from ear to ear and hugged his daughter.
All trace of his usual cold precision vanished, replaced by a dopey smile that made him look like nothing more than a doting father.
Maggie recognized me and greeted me brightly.
“Hello, mister.”
“Hi.”
Her soft blond hair, round face, chubby cheeks, and big blue eyes made her unbelievably adorable.
If I had a daughter like that, I’d probably turn into a doting father too.
A little later, Mr. O'Connor and Trish arrived with the truck.
Mr. O'Connor, together with the staff from the pub, handed out hamburgers to the children.
The kids were ecstatic.
“Wow! It’s O'Connor Burger!”
“Thank you!”
“I’ll eat it with gusto.”
They then handed them out to the staff and guardians as well, and everyone ate happily.
Trish busied herself taking photos of the children.
“Aren’t they just adorable? They look like little angels.”
“They really do.”
Seeing how happy the children looked, I found myself thinking that spending Christmas in a foreign land wasn’t so bad after all.