Hwaan Group’s Spoiled Brat (4)
Heo Min-woong met with Brad Button, the CEO of Thomas Motors.
He was a broad-shouldered middle-aged white man wearing glasses.
“Welcome.”
“Good to meet you.”
The two men shook hands.
This was their third meeting. Brad Button’s expression and gestures radiated confidence.
Unlike Heo Min-woong, who had been born and raised in a chaebol family, he had built a $4 billion company from the ground up.
$4 billion.
Hwaan Group ranked seventh among South Korea’s major conglomerates.
All of its listed affiliates combined were worth about 60 trillion won, yet this automotive company, which had never sold a single car, had already broken past 40 trillion won in market capitalization.
Was that really normal?
Once he let himself doubt it, everything started to look wrong.
Heo Min-woong asked another question.
“How is the mass production plan for the T1 coming along?”
“It’s progressing according to schedule. We’re planning to hand over the first production batch in the first half of next year.”
“Construction on the factory is still underway, isn’t it?”
Brad Button answered as if it were nothing.
“Like Tisla did, we intend to proceed with production alongside construction. As you know, GM has acquired a 10 percent stake in Thomas Motors and agreed to cooperate with us on manufacturing. GM is currently building a production line for Thomas Motors, and that will let us bring forward mass production significantly.”
“I see.”
It really did sound plausible.
If he hadn’t seen the factory site, where even the groundwork wasn’t finished, he might have believed it.
Seeing the look on Heo Min-woong’s face, Brad Button shifted the conversation.
“The T2 FCV we’re unveiling this time has a longer driving range and better performance than the T1 FCV. We already have preorders from logistics companies like Walmart and FedEx. If you consider the economics of hydrogen trucks, I believe hydrogen vehicles will capture forty percent of the entire truck market within the next three years.”
He went on and on, extolling the T2 FCV.
If his explanation was to be believed, the truck would turn all its competitors into chumps. Listening to him made it feel like he should be making another investment right this second.
“Would it be possible to take the T2 FCV for a spin?”
Brad Button’s face immediately turned troubled.
“We’re still preparing it for display. It’s scheduled to be unveiled on the day of the event.”
“Then could I at least take a closer look at the vehicle?”
“There are technologies in it that haven’t been made public yet. If you need any materials, I’ll have them organized and sent to your company later.”
He said this and that, but the answer was the same: no.
“About the driving footage of the T1 FCV you released last year.”
“Yes. What about it?”
“Could you tell me where that video was filmed?”
“Why do you ask?”
As he asked, Heo Min-woong studied the man’s face closely. Brad Button kept his expression as calm as possible, but he couldn’t hide the slightest tremor in his gaze.
Heo Min-woong smiled. “The background looked really nice in the video. Since I’m here in the States anyway, I thought I might go there sometime and drive the car myself.”
“I don’t really remember the exact location. If you like driving, I can recommend some better spots. Alabama alone has plenty of beautiful places.”
Brad Button quickly steered the conversation elsewhere, and Heo Min-woong laughed to himself.
Look at his eyes shaking, the son of a bitch.
If the truck had truly driven itself under normal conditions, there would be no reason he couldn’t say where it was filmed. The only reason to hide the location was one thing.
They had really rolled it downhill.
Through that alone, Heo Min-woong could confirm that Han Miru had been right.
So this bastard had been lying his ass off the whole time?
Just how stupid did he think people were, to sit there and tell lies with not a single change in expression?
His hands itched to grab the man by the collar on the spot, but he held himself back.
If he rushed in trying to kill the other side too soon, he could end up dead alongside him.
“We have very high expectations for this partnership.”
“As do we.”
The two companies were planning to build hydrogen production facilities and hydrogen charging stations all across the United States.
More precisely, it was a structure in which Hwaan Energy and Hwaan Solution would jointly invest in a business led by Thomas Motors.
After completion, operations were to be handled by Hwaan Energy.
It would require enormous upfront capital, but if things went as planned, they could receive government subsidies and recover the investment within three years.
If things went as planned.
What was the point of building hydrogen charging stations in earnest?
There was no hydrogen to put into them, and no hydrogen cars to use them.
“If everything proceeds according to plan, both companies will secure a leading position in the hydrogen energy sector.”
In other words, if everything proceeds according to plan.
The discussion among the working-level teams was finished, and only the signing ceremony remained. The agreement was to be signed before the PureCell Day event and announced there.
For now, he had to buy time.
“Would it be possible to postpone the signing ceremony until after the event?”
“For what reason?”
“There are a few matters on our side that still need review.”
Brad Button asked, sounding puzzled. “Didn’t the working-level teams already finish the negotiations? Is there some kind of problem...?”
Heo Min-woong smiled and waved a hand.
“Ah! No, nothing like that.”
The more shameless the con artist, the quicker he usually picked up on things.
Before the other man could grow suspicious, he hurriedly came up with another excuse.
“As you know, President Button, the hydrogen infrastructure agreement isn’t just important for Hwaan Energy. It’s a matter of great significance for the entire group. It’s something Chairman Heo would want to receive a direct report on.”
Brad Button nodded. “I understand that. That’s why we were planning to announce it at this event, wasn’t it?”
“This event is for the unveiling of a new vehicle, isn’t it? Then there’s a good chance the media will focus more on the car than on the business agreement. That’s why I think it would be better to make a separate announcement afterward, at another venue.”
Brad Button still looked unconvinced.
If we announce the new vehicle and the hydrogen infrastructure agreement together, it would create a much bigger splash. Why wouldn’t they want that?
Before the other man could object, Heo Min-woong pinned it down like a nail.
“My father wants it that way too.”
At that, Brad Button nodded as if he had no choice.
“If Chairman Heo says so, then I suppose there’s nothing to be done. Understood.”
* * *
After the meeting ended and he returned to the hotel, Heo Min-woong yanked off his tie and shouted, “What the hell! Is this bastard taking me for a sucker? Do I look like an idiot?”
Incredibly, everything Han Miru had said was right.
The hydrogen truck had not actually driven at all; it had simply rolled downhill. The factory had not even broken ground yet.
They had installed a full spread of solar panels on the headquarters, but hydrogen production still hadn’t started, and the inverter and motor they claimed to have developed in-house had been bought from a German company called Carmen.
And, as expected, they had refused to let him see the new vehicle at all.
He had come back with plenty of evidence that it was a scam, but he had still believed there would at least be some core technology behind the hydrogen vehicle.
No. He had wanted to believe that.
But everything was false.
If this became public, how would the market react?
Investors would flee, and the stock would collapse. The problem was the hydrogen infrastructure partnership. What was the point of building charging stations and production facilities if there was no vehicle to use them?
When he first met Brad Button and acquired the stake, it had been his older brother, Hur Min-hong, who handled it.
But as the business areas were adjusted, Hwaan Energy became the main party in the partnership, and the responsibility passed to the second son, Heo Min-woong.
Until now, he had thought this was his chance to take ownership of the next generation’s energy business. But now it looked like nothing more than a poisoned chalice.
Do they think I’m just going to die here?
The hotter his anger burned, the colder his mind became.
Heo Min-woong might have a rotten personality, but he wasn’t stupid.
Someone might think he could simply scrap the cooperation, sell off the stake, and walk away. But it wasn’t that simple.
The entire group was investing in hydrogen energy.
If he handled this clumsily, he would end up carrying all the blame himself. He needed to find some way to survive.
After a long stretch of thought, Heo Min-woong picked up his phone and called the number written on the business card.
* * *
A call came in from an unknown number.
“Hello?”
The question came straight away.
“What do I need to do?”
Just from the voice, I knew who it was. His tone was as rude as ever, but the anxiety in it was easy to hear.
“Did you meet the Thomas Motors CEO?”
“Why ask when you already know?”
That was probably why he was calling me in the first place.
“What did you decide about the hydrogen infrastructure agreement?”
“Like you said, I postponed it until after the event.”
“Good.”
“Enough with that. Just tell me what I’m supposed to do.”
He sounded terribly impatient.
I didn’t waste time and told him the method right away.
“Sell everything and say you’re canceling the hydrogen infrastructure partnership.”
Heo Min-woong snapped back irritably.
“Do you think that’s the kind of decision I can just make that easily?”
“It’s only a matter of time before Thomas Motors’ true nature becomes public. We’ll release the report to the media first. Say you made your decision after seeing that.”
Heo Min-woong was startled.
“What? You’re going to release the report first?”
“We’ll put it out without proof materials attached, so don’t worry. Nobody will pay attention to it at first.”
The market was flooded with thousands, even tens of thousands of reports every day. Who would care about a sell-side report from a company nobody had even heard of?
“We’ll really blow it open at the PureCell Day event.”
“Wait. Isn’t that too soon?”
“Something that big needs an event that can make it explode properly, doesn’t it?”
He seemed to think it over for a moment before speaking again.
“Can you really blow it up that hard?”
I knew what he was worried about.
If he canceled the partnership and sold first, but Thomas Motors suffered no real damage, then he’d just end up looking like a fool.
“I need a little help.”
“What kind of help?”
“Make sure one reporter and about five of our people can get into the venue. It’d be good if they can ask questions too.”
Only invited reporters were allowed inside the Thomas Motors event venue. And even then, they were only allowed to ask prearranged questions.
It was a rigged game.
For reference, Thomas Motors wasn’t the only company that did this; most companies holding events used the same kind of setup.
What host would welcome someone who came to ruin the feast?
“As for Hwaan Energy, fine, but what about Hwaan Solution?”
Hwaan Energy held 4.3 percent of Thomas Motors’ stock, while Hwaan Solution held 4.2 percent. If you were thinking about the group as a whole, it would be better for everyone to sell together.
Honestly, I didn’t much care what happened to Hwaan Solution.
“Hwaan Solution was the one that first signed the contract with Thomas Motors and acquired the stake, right? Then Hwaan Energy took over from there.”
“So?”
“I’m just wondering which company should take responsibility for this mess. I don’t even really know what Hwaan Solution does, so handle it yourself.”
At that point, he should have understood what I meant.
Heo Min-woong said, “Then keep not knowing. I’ll take care of it.”
With that, he hung up.
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