The Comfort of the One Left Standing
They had begun to draw suspicious looks from inside the family. The wives of the chairmen were starting to wonder whether their own husbands were guilty of the same thing, and once that seed was planted, they went digging. As a result, every affair that had lasted until now had to be cut off.
The cause of it all was Choi Jeong-san, and the many mistresses exposed through the press. At first, it seemed as if the articles about his affairs had been contained, but women who claimed to have once met him kept turning up one after another. In places that guaranteed anonymity, they spilled intimate details about Choi Jeong-san, and some netizens began counting them. By the most recent update, the number of women linked to him had climbed past 30.
“Chairman Choi had too many. However many there were, he should’ve stopped before he got past five fingers.”
“What does it matter whether it’s one or ten?”
Even if it had been a hundred, it would not have changed anything. James found it hard to understand how a man could hold another person in his arms when he already had someone he loved.
If he weren’t married like Colt, I’d understand it a hundred times, a thousand times...
“That’s right. A man has no business wandering off when he has a beloved wife waiting at home.”
“That’s why I respect you, Chairman Kim.”
“Ha ha ha.”
It was not flattery meant to score points with Chairman Kim.
A person who has built himself up from nothing and still manages to control his instinctive desires is rare.
For a man to want a woman belonged to the realm of instinct. Of course, in ordinary relationships, it was only natural for men and women to keep faith with one another, but in chaebol families the opposite was often true.
In a chaebol family, it’s even more remarkable.
Especially with the way conglomerate families could ignore legal restraints and outside pressure, they tended to behave with considerable freedom in that regard. Yet Chairman Kim, despite having everything, remained a faithful man who looked only at his wife.
“You said there were a lot of people from your wife’s family who entered the legal field, didn’t you?”
“I’m not doing this because I’m afraid of that!”
“I never thought that.”
“Hmph. Anyway, thanks to you, the ST Group has escaped a major crisis.”
“I’ve already received my reward for that. Say any more and I’ll be too embarrassed to come back, Chairman.”
“Heh. Maybe because Su-ji took over the company, her eyes have changed lately.”
“I’ve noticed that too. It seems she’s feeling the weight of the responsibility.”
“I’d heard that position makes the person, but I never expected it to apply to my daughter too.”
“Ability is separate from gender.”
“Still, in Korea, it isn’t easy for a woman to run a company. Especially not a huge one like our ST Group.”
James also did not want Su-ji to inherit the ST Group.
“If that’s what you think, Chairman, then I believe that’s the right answer.”
She says she’s busy even now and can’t see me, so if she takes over the ST Group...
It would not be strange if he went on living without seeing her face at all.
“You always sound sincere, even when you’re flattering people.”
“I’m telling you exactly what I feel.”
“Heh. In any case, if you end up swallowing the TY Group, then Su-ji won’t have any reason to covet the ST Group, will she?”
Chairman Kim took it for granted that James would swallow the TY Group.
“That reminds me. Chairman, I wanted to ask about that. Could you share the progress of the operation?”
“You’re curious how much we’ve secured on our side?”
There were two kinds of shares James could verify. Some were traceable through Director Park, and others belonged to the Vatican National Wealth Fund. In particular, the Vatican National Wealth Fund’s holdings were information anyone could verify through disclosure, even without going through Father Stefano. But the shares ST Group had secured in secret were impossible to know unless Chairman Kim told him.
“Yes, Chairman.”
“It’s not hard to tell you, but... now I’m curious how capable our future son-in-law really is.”
He wanted to know whether James could take TY Group without relying on the shares he himself had secured.
“I’d forgotten that you’re the kind of man who knows how to use his own weapons most effectively.”
“Ha ha ha. That sounds half like an insult.”
The value of the shares held by ST Group would depend on the shares James had secured.
“Given the current situation...”
James spoke slowly, as if he had nothing to hide.
“If you add Chairman Choi Tae-yeong’s 20 percent in TY Group to the 10 percent held by his children and grandchildren, the enemy side’s stake comes to at least 30 percent.”
“True. But wouldn’t it be better to leave out the 1.5 percent held by the eldest son of Chairman Choi Jeong-san? He was arrested in the U.S. on drug charges, so he won’t be able to exercise his voting rights.”
Choi Tae-jin had crossed to the United States and secretly taken up drugs again. James had helped him make contact with a Mexican cartel, and then used magic to help the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration catch him. But this information had not yet reached Korea, so even Choi Jeong-san did not know. It was a fact James intended to reveal at the most advantageous moment.
“...You had already figured that out?”
“Tracking the enemy’s movements is basic for a hunter. Even 1.5 percent isn’t a small stake.”
“Having an ally you can trust really is reassuring.”
“Now, stop changing the subject and tell me how much you’ve secured.”
At Chairman Kim’s words, James smiled faintly and said, “With that level of intelligence, I’d expect you’ve already guessed how much Director Park and I have secured.”
“Ha ha ha. Aren’t you overestimating the ST Group’s strategy office?”
But in truth, Chairman Kim had already grasped most of the nominee accounts Director Park managed.
“As you already know, the shares secured by Director Park come to around 26 percent.”
“Oh. That’s considerable.”
In fact, even after securing a substantial 26 percent, Chairman Kim did not seem especially surprised.
“But that still doesn’t reach 30 percent, does it? Ah! Better to subtract the 1.5 percent and compare it to 28.5 percent. But then we should also count the treasury stock TY Telecom has recently begun buying back, shouldn’t we?”
Recently, TY Telecom had decided to buy back its own stock in order to stabilize the share price and enhance shareholder value. It was now aggressively accumulating shares through the market.
“For us, that’s actually good news. Treasury stock can’t exercise voting rights. Besides, no matter how much they buy back, it’ll be hard for them to even reach 1 percent.”
“Still, there’s no denying that a red light has come on for share acquisition. It’ll be difficult for you to secure any more shares going forward.”
“You’re right. Securing additional shares has become difficult.”
Competition had become so intense that there were no TY Telecom shares coming onto the market.
“Then that means that without the shares I’ve secured, you can’t get past 28.5 percent. Am I right?”
Through this affair, Chairman Kim intended to completely wash away the debt he still felt over the Duojardin investment.
“Well... not exactly.”
“What?”
“I mean only the shares secured by Director Park total 26 percent.”
“......”
James opened his phone and showed him the shareholding breakdown for TY Telecom from last year.
“Excluding management and related parties, there are only two shareholders holding more than 5 percent.”
Chairman Kim squinted at the small screen, then turned back to James.
“In any case, there’s nothing we can do about these two.”
The shareholders shown on the screen were the National Pension Service and Citibank.
“Not the National Pension Service, but Citibank was possible. I believe I already told you that?”
“!”
So that wasn’t included in the 26 percent they’d secured?
“The stake secured here is a little over 6 percent.”
Already 30 percent...
If 6 percent were added to 26 percent, bringing the total to 32 percent, the value of the shares Chairman Kim himself had secured would drop sharply.
“But if the National Pension Service, which holds 7.5 percent, were to side with TY Group’s management...”
“They’re already disappointed in TY Group’s management.”
“Pardon?”
“Politicians never miss opportunities like this. When an outside force appears and drives out immoral chaebol management, they can’t go around taking the side of the company. The crumbs that fall during the process are one of their favorite meals.”
“...I don’t plan to feed those bastards money.”
“Then the enemy side should be counted at 36 percent.”
“With the shares you’ve secured, I think we can get past that. Haven’t you already secured more than 4 percent?”
“We barely made it to 5 percent. But if you antagonize the government, I won’t be able to step in easily either.”
That meant if the government began throwing its weight around, the fallout could also hit ST Group.
“Then in the end I’ll have to get past 36 percent on my own.”
“I doubt there’s time left to secure any more shares...”
“I have one more card left.”
James changed the phone screen and showed him the disclosure notice for the sovereign wealth fund that had recently declared war on TY Telecom.
“If the side that acquired more than 5 percent backs us, then our side reaches 37 percent. That gives us a 1 percent lead.”
...So this one had been left out of the calculations too.
“I’m not particularly eager to bring in outside forces. They’re not trustworthy.”
“You mean we’ll have to split the spoils after the war is over?”
“Exactly. And after the shareholder meeting, the bonus is that they won’t be able to run TY Telecom as they please. Foreign interests will interfere with everything.”
“...The matter after that has already been discussed.”
“So it’s already decided?”
“Yes, Chairman. The stake they’ve secured will back us at the shareholder meeting, and they won’t ask for any spoils.”
Chairman Kim’s heart sank when James grinned at him.
Just how far has this kid prepared things?
“Your future son-in-law is a little too thorough when it comes to preparation, Chairman.”
“Hmph. Then unless something unusual happens... I suppose we can say the TY Group’s future is over.”
At Chairman Kim’s words, James said, “If you don’t think you can move because of the government’s mood, why not dump your shares on the market now?”
“Hm. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth to step back before I’ve even joined the fight.”
“You should also think about how the rest of the business world will see it. If anything, it’s better for you not to have a direct hand in it if you want to turn them into allies.”
“Mm. That’s true enough.”
To join his future son-in-law’s corporate hunt and attack a chaebol family he had known for years would have a considerable impact on Chairman Kim Seong-oh’s standing in the business world. And with the public’s view of the business elite already sharp, he had even more reason to keep a low profile.
The government’s reaction has been too sharp lately too.
Watching the government’s mood was part of the same calculation. Since the eldest son of TY Telecom had fled overseas before the prosecutors could investigate him, the prosecution was now determined to make an example of the first person it could catch.
“It might be better to dispose of the shares you’ve secured so far quickly and step back.”
“And what if TY Group ends up securing those shares?”
“You seem to have forgotten for a moment who it is I’m working with.”
“Ah... since Director Park is handling the actual operations...”
If Director Park didn’t buy them, TY Telecom would have no way to secure those shares.
“Even if you dump your shares, they won’t end up in TY Telecom’s hands.”
“I’ll have Director Ma coordinate with Director Park and handle it.”
“If you do that, it’ll be more certain.”
“And another thing: it looks like the future son-in-law’s spare cash is about to run dry. If I dump 5 percent, can you even take it?”
“I still have plenty of room to spare, Chairman.”
The 4 billion dollars Choi Jeong-san had invested in Duojardin still remained intact in James’s account.