Shareholders’ Meeting
The end of the cold winter was near, and it was the end of March, just before spring arrived. Around this time every company was busy closing out the year and announcing its results. It was also the season when ordinary corporations held their shareholders’ meetings. It was the time to report the year’s performance to shareholders, obtain approval, and handle major matters such as the retirement and appointment of inside directors and auditors.
“This is kind of nerve-racking.”
“As expected, Colt looks good in a suit.”
The tailored suit, white shirt, and blue tie with just the right accent made Colt, already handsome to begin with, look even more like a polished office man.
“So today’s the day I get hired by a Korean company?”
“Call!”
Through the information James had fed him, Colt understood that today was the day they would hunt down the giant known as TY Telecom.
“And I’m making my debut as a company CEO too?”
“Of course! The announcement saying Colt Evans has been listed as a new CEO candidate is already out.”
“Phew. I still can’t believe it. I never thought I’d get to run a company in Korea, of all places.”
“I told you, just trust me and everything works out. Heh.”
Near the TY Telecom shareholders’ meeting hall, partner attorneys from the law firm who would notarize today’s results and resolve the legal issues were already waiting, fully equipped with all the proxy forms for the shares James had prepared so far. They had even readied the people who would be newly appointed as audit committee members, so all Colt had to do was go in and raise his hand at the right moment.
“Ugh. I’m nervous. Do you think I can really do this?”
“If it’s not Colt, nobody’s getting appointed CEO. So steel yourself and turn the whole thing upside down.”
“Heh. That does make me feel better.”
“Ho-jung still doesn’t know about today, right?”
“You told me absolutely not to tell her.”
James had warned him in advance not to tell Ho-jung about today’s plan either.
…How was I supposed to know she’d be my cousin?
Only recently had James learned that Choi Ho-jung was Choi Jeong-pil’s daughter.
* * *
It was the day he met Su-ji, who had finally managed to take a day off after a long time.
“Do you know anyone around you who has anything to do with TY Group?”
Su-ji was the daughter of ST Group, so James had asked on the off chance that she might know friends connected to TY Group.
“Uh...…”
“So there isn’t anyone?”
“How did you know?”
“…What?”
“You weren’t asking because you already knew?”
“What is it? Does Su-ji know someone in TY Group?”
Up to that point, James had only thought there might be a small social connection among the children of chaebol families.
“…You really didn’t know?”
“Who?”
“Ho-jung. Choi Ho-jung.”
“……”
James knew Ho-jung shared his surname, but he had never imagined she would be part of TY Group. There were simply far too many Choi families in Korea.
No way. It can’t be...
The founder had two sons, and the one who held a grudge against James was the elder, Choi Jeong-san.
“…She’s a distant relative, then?”
Could she really be direct family?
He had asked the question hoping she would be as distant a relative as possible, but Su-ji shattered that hope.
“Ho-jung’s dad is TY Group’s second son... Ho-jung has two older brothers, and she’s the youngest in the family...”
“……”
The rest of the family history didn’t even register. If Ho-jung was the daughter of TY Group’s second son, then she was, in the end, a close relative of his.
...Damn it. This is messed up beyond belief.
Thanks to that, he hurriedly asked Colt not to leak anything to Ho-jung, and since Colt was constantly being told not to blab to outsiders, he had managed to keep it from Ho-jung so far as well. But none of that changed the outcome.
My plan to swallow TY Group whole isn’t changing.
* * *
Colt scratched his head and said, “But... Ho-jung did ask about it.”
“About what?”
“Seems like she saw the announcement under the name Colt Evans. She asked if maybe that was me...”
Since Choi Jeong-pil, Ho-jung’s father, had been listed as a CEO candidate, she had naturally looked at the other names as well. Seeing her boyfriend’s name there must have seemed strange.
“So?”
“I said I didn’t know anything and denied it flat out. It helped that the fabricated history was in there too.”
It was true that Colt had graduated from the Ivy League, but he had no real work history to speak of, so he had needed help from a member of the Las Vegas VIP Club. Of course, there was still some potential trouble because his record of working with James was visible to the outside world, but since his role in the magic shows was mostly as the host in the late evening, they could frame the rest as work done during other hours. The help of Charlie, the head of the Las Vegas VIP Club, had been crucial. Because he ran an entertainment company, he had vouched for Colt’s background.
So Colt’s history was false, but it was not false either.
“Good work! Colt, colt!”
“But why is Ho-jung interested in this kind of thing? What does she have to do with TY Telecom?”
Because Ho-jung is the daughter of Choi Jeong-pil, TY Group’s second son!
But there was no need to tell Colt that yet. If he learned that one of the candidates was the father of his girlfriend, it was impossible to predict how he would react.
“I’ll explain everything later. Let’s just finish the important part properly first. Colt.”
“Call!”
“I’ll have the car waiting. CEO Colt, please come down.”
“Oh. Jimmy. We’ll be late. Bring the car around already.”
Colt put on a grand air, but James only smiled and answered, “Yes, sir!”
“Hahaha.”
The white SUV carrying the two of them cut across the road.
* * *
This TY Telecom shareholders’ meeting had drawn intense public attention. That was because the company had been the source of countless headlines over the past year. In particular, the son of TY Telecom’s President Choi Jeong-san was currently on the run overseas despite serious suspicions of drug use and distribution, while Choi Jeong-san himself had become gossip fodder for the press over his affair. Articles also continued to surface about how Choi Jeong-san had pushed TY Telecom into crisis through reckless management.
On top of that, an attempted hostile takeover by an overseas fund had sent small shareholders rushing in, and the domestic media had also staked out the venue to confirm the outcome of the meeting.
“Jeez. So many people showed up. I don’t know what they’re hoping to get out of this, causing such a scene...”
“It’s a miracle we even made it into the parking lot, Jimmy.”
Just getting through the crowd of reporters and civic-group protesters into the parking lot had been difficult.
“Colt. There’ll probably be more on the way up too. If you run into reporters, don’t panic. Just pose naturally.”
“That, I’m good at.”
One of the reasons James had chosen Colt was his polish built up through years of stage experience, as well as his striking face.
“You know how it is in the shareholders’ hall too, right? There’ll be a lot of people attending. Don’t brush off the small shareholders. Win them all over.”
“They’re all in the palm of my hand now.”
“Well, Colt does get more than half the way there just by showing his face.”
Colt’s handsome face was enough to inspire trust in anyone. People judged others by appearance more than by inner character.
“Jimmy. The notarizing lawyers are ready?”
“The hired muscle too. Perfectly.”
Because the TY Telecom shareholders’ meeting was drawing such public attention, it could not be held behind closed doors, so it was set to take place openly in the large auditorium of TY Telecom’s annex. Small shareholders, already having their identities confirmed, were entering the building, and some members of the press were also showing their credentials and taking their seats in the reporters’ section.
“Hired muscle?”
“A shareholders’ meeting can twist our thoughts and claims around depending on who’s in charge of the proceedings. So...”
The person presiding over today’s meeting had been chosen by TY Telecom. But James had prepared another way.
“We needed hired hands to set up a separate microphone and speaker system.”
“Then who’s going to hold the mic?”
James pointed to himself.
“This time, I’m the moderator, and you’re the one standing on the main stage.”
“Ohhh. I’m the star?”
“I’m just the supporting act, making sure the star shines even brighter.”
The two of them greeted the lawyers who were ready and walked with confident steps toward the shareholders’ hall. Behind James and Colt, the attorneys in their suits stood like folding screens, yet the two acted as if they didn’t know each other at all. As they passed through the crowded corridor and headed to the entrance desk, an employee asked to compare their names against the shareholder register.
“May I ask your name?”
“Colt Evans.”
“!”
“And the shares you hold are...?”
When Colt turned back, one of the lawyers stepped forward.
“Mr. Colt Evans has been entrusted with proxies from the Vatican National Wealth Fund and 27 other shareholders, giving him a total of 31 percent of the voting rights. Here is the supporting documentation.”
“!!!”
The legal team member standing beside the guide immediately examined the papers. After studying them for a while, he set them down, breaking into a cold sweat.
“All the documents are... valid.”
“May we enter, then?”
“One of our staff will escort you.”
As Colt went inside with several lawyers in tow, James soon arrived.
“I’m James Kane. My voting rights are...”
This time, too, a lawyer stepped forward.
“Mr. James Kane holds 1 percent in his own right and, by proxy from seven shareholders, a total of 6 percent of the voting rights.”
“…6 percent.”
The staff member quickly realized that adding the newly arrived 31 percent and 6 percent meant the voting rights exceeded those of the existing largest shareholder, and hurried to relay the information to another employee.
Go report this to the chairman immediately.
Yes, Team Leader.
“We’ve verified the documents. Please go in.”
“Thank you.”
James took the materials on today’s agenda handed to him by the staff member and entered the hall.
At last, the day I show my face.
James was stepping through the open auditorium doors with a feeling of unusual significance, but all the attention inside the meeting hall was focused on one person.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Cort.”
“Are you the CEO candidate for today...?”
“Yah. It’s me.”
A bright smile and a graceful wave were all he gave, yet Colt shone as if he were the only one under a spotlight.
Thanks to that, every camera in the reporters’ hands was aimed at Colt.
Shutter-flash, flash-flash-flash.
The cameras went off nonstop.
“……”
With Colt drawing all the attention, this is going to be easier.
James quietly signaled to the hired staff who had come in with the lawyers.
“Set up the microphones quickly.”
“Yes, understood.”
The group that had arrived with James hurried up the steps in front of the hall and quickly set up the microphones, even installing two large speakers. But TY Telecom was not about to sit still for that.
“What do you think you’re doing? Take that down right now!”
“We’re just doing what we were told.”
As a scuffle broke out between the people James had brought and TY Telecom employees, James stepped in.
“You there. What’s your name?”
“I’m the TY Telecom strategy team member in charge of moderating today’s shareholders’ meeting...”
“We can’t recognize the moderator put forward by TY Telecom. That’s why we’re setting up our own microphone and bringing in our own moderator.”
“...If you cause a disturbance at a shareholders’ meeting, the rules allow us to order you out, you know?”
“It looks like you’re the one causing the disturbance right now. Then would it be fine for us to kick you out?”
From here on out, it was a contest of force.
Large hired staff stood beside James, radiating intimidation, while polished TY Telecom employees faced them from the other side.
“……”
“……”
When the dispute flared up, one man quickly stepped in to stop it.
“Manager Im. Let it go. This isn’t the time to make a scene.”
“Ah. Assistant Manager Park. That man over there...”
It was the appearance of Park Jin-tae, a man who was thoroughly on James’s side. But the two of them spoke as if they did not know each other at all.
“Excuse me, may I ask your name...?”
“James Kane.”
James and Park Jin-tae met each other’s eyes.