Samwoo Construction Is A No-Go (1)
The moment Ryu Geun-tae heard his uncle’s stern, uncompromising reply, his mind snapped back to reality. ‘Ah, I shouldn’t have phrased it like that…’ The pressure to live up to Yoon-gi’s expectations had caused him to blurt out something almost elementary.
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about. Sell the company? What kind of nonsense is that? Are you planning to run the business yourself?”
Watching his uncle fire questions at him, Ryu Geun-tae felt a wave of relief, yet he swallowed hard and steeled his resolve. ‘It’s only because he’s my uncle that I’m still sitting here. If he were the CEO of some unrelated SME, he would’ve kicked me out the door by now. Get a grip. Being overwhelmed is no excuse for a slip of the tongue.’
A major mistake. But because the target of that mistake was a relative, Ryu Geun-tae learned a valuable lesson.
“Uncle, I’m sorry. I spoke too abruptly.”
“Did you talk to other companies like this, too?”
“Oh, no. You’re the first one I’ve approached at a corporate level.”
“I heard you’ve been wandering around individually, though. What exactly do you need? Are you really thinking of starting a construction firm?”
Ryu Geun-tae took one last breath to steady his nerves before beginning his explanation.
“Uncle, you know I work in the Samwoo Group secretariat, right?”
“I do. I thought that since our family finally produced a Korea University graduate, you’d be joining the main conglomerate, but I learned through you just how high the regional barriers are in this country.”
With a bitter expression, Kim Jeong-seon lit a cigarette, exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, and looked at his nephew with the cigarette held between his index and middle fingers.
“Is that why you’ve been practicing your Seoul accent, Uncle?”
“That’s true. It’s not easy to run a company relying only on local construction projects. Anyway, is that all you have to say?”
Ryu Geun-tae shook his head.
“No. I recently moved from the Chairman’s secretariat. I haven’t told you this yet, have I?”
“What, were you demoted?”
“No, it’s not a demotion. I’ve been assigned to be the exclusive secretary for the Chairman’s eldest grandson.”
“The grandson, not the son? Is the Samwoo Chairman that old? To have his grandson so deeply involved in management that he needs a secretary?”
“No. The Chairman’s eldest grandson is a minor.”
Kim Jeong-seon looked puzzled.
“Did they parachute a middle-school graduate into the position?”
“Not a middle-schooler. He’s ten years old.”
For a split second, Kim Jeong-seon dropped his cigarette without realizing it.
“They gave a Korea University graduate to a ten-year-old brat as a secretary? Has the Chairman lost his mind?”
Ryu Geun-tae hurriedly shook his head.
“No, I’ve actually hit the jackpot.”
Kim Jeong-seon stood up.
“Hey! That’s nonsense. Did the Chairman tell you, ‘I’ll take care of you later’? The people in this world who say they’ll take care of you later are the ones you should never trust. It’s the same as acting as a guarantor! Just quit! If you work under your uncle for five years, I’ll give you a department head position!”
Watching his uncle rant and rave, Ryu Geun-tae felt a warmth in his heart, but he picked up the dropped cigarette and handed it back to calm him down. Kim Jeong-seon sat back down and put the cigarette back in his mouth, but his expression remained grim.
“The young master isn’t your typical ten-year-old. His general studies are already at a late middle-school level… no, he’s at a high-school level. His English is near-native, and his knowledge of business administration is at a junior-year university level.”
“A ten-year-old…? Is that for real? If it’s true, that’s just a genius…”
“I’m telling you. Even I thought it was a demotion when the Chief Secretary gave me the order. After all, I only got into Samwoo Group through a friend’s connection.”
“But once you got down there, the kid turned out to be the real deal?”
“Yes. I’m telling you this because you’re my uncle, but if things go well, the succession of the Samwoo Group might skip a generation.”
At his nephew’s passionate explanation, Kim Jeong-seon let out a scoff.
“Hey, even if he’s a genius, that’s impossible. His father might step aside if he says his son will take over, but doesn’t the Chairman have other children? It’s absurd.”
“That’s not it. The young master already owns a business and is a CEO in his own right.”
“Hey, that’s obvious. Some chaebols pass down inheritances to their grandchildren early. He’s a CEO in name only, a puppet.”
“I’m telling you, he’s not. Look at these.”
Ryu Geun-tae pulled out the documents he had prepared from his briefcase. His alumni had all flatly refused before he could even pull them out, so his uncle was effectively the first person he had shown these to.
“What is this?”
“The young master’s current assets.”
“How much?”
“A little over 400 million won.”
It was a significant amount for a ten-year-old, equivalent to over 3 billion won in modern terms.
“It’s certainly impressive, but… jumping into company management with that money is a different story. From what you’re saying, it sounds like the young master wants to try running a construction firm, but I’m not going to risk my life on a chaebol kid’s business game.”
A very realistic answer. At the same time, it was a gentlemanly response only possible because it was his nephew’s request.
“Uncle, I’m telling you to look at this closely.”
Kim Jeong-seon was honestly a bit annoyed, but out of concern for his nephew, he skimmed the documents pushed in front of him.
“Microsoft? What is this?”
“It’s a small company in the States.”
“So what if it’s a small company.”
“The CEO is planning to invest 200,000 dollars now, for a total of 700,000 dollars.”
“In a small company? 700,000 dollars?” Kim Jeong-seon frowned. “Look at this company’s revenue.”
“A small company’s revenue, no matter how high…”
Normally, Microsoft’s 1976 revenue should have been 100,000 dollars, and 1978 revenue 1 million dollars. However, the chart on the paper Kim Jeong-seon was looking at showed the graph skyrocketing starting from the summer.
“It’s been doing strangely well since the summer?”
“Yes. That’s when the CEO made the investment.”
Thanks to Yoon-gi’s massive investment, Microsoft was able to settle its lawsuit with MITS a year early. Normally, it would have taken until 1978, even with parental connections. Because of the quick resolution of the trial, Microsoft’s contact with IBM accelerated, and revenue in other areas also rose sharply.
“Hmm… are you saying that young master made this investment entirely on his own?”
“I’m telling you. I’m watching in real-time right next to him that I wasn’t demoted.”
The look in Kim Jeong-seon’s eyes as he looked at his nephew changed slightly toward a business perspective.
“Then let me ask again. What exactly is your young master trying to do by acquiring or establishing a construction company?”
“Architecture, obviously. But I can’t tell you the details. The time the CEO gave me is two years, so we’ll have to wait about 20 months for a clear outline.”
“What? 20 months?” Kim Jeong-seon let out a scoff, as if it were absurd. “Building a construction company isn’t something you can just do by bringing in rookies. That’s why the CEO gave me two years. But there are things that won’t work no matter how much time you have. My alumni have no intention of coming to Samwoo, and we can’t just staff it with novices… That’s why I thought of you, Uncle.”
“So that’s why you were so desperate to ask me at the start.”
“…Yes.”
Watching his nephew blush, Kim Jeong-seon sighed.
“Geun-tae.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“Let’s say, as you asked, our company goes under that young master.”
“Yes.”
“Then, what are we supposed to do for 20 months?”
“Well, until the work starts in earnest, you’d do your usual business, and once the project kicks off, we’d stop taking external work…”
Seeing his nephew explain it in a way that kept the company itself intact, Kim Jeong-seon immediately threw out a new question.
“Sure, let’s say we operate that way as you say. Then, in the future, this kid—the young master—buys our company, and what if he buys it and fires us all?”
It was what happens when one entity’s stake exceeds 50 percent. This was exactly why Microsoft had agonized over Yoon-gi’s massive investment, and why they had accepted it. Yoon-gi’s aspiration had seemed genuine. However, Yoon-gi hadn’t yet shown that same aspiration toward the construction side, and Kim Jeong-seon’s suspicion was reasonable.
“If that young master isn’t looking for a long-term business but a short-term one, why don’t you just have him commission us instead? Since it’s your introduction, I’ll lower the unit price as much as possible.”
It was the greatest concession he could make, considering his relationship with his nephew. Ryu Geun-tae knew his uncle was making many concessions, but he thought it was too good an opportunity to back down now.
“Why don’t you meet the CEO in person?”
***
“My uncle’s company?”
At Yoon-gi’s words, Ryu Geun-tae bowed his head deeply.
“I am truly sorry. I didn’t do this to build connections, but because this was the only method I had available.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes… At first, I thought of my alumni, but to be honest, they had absolutely no interest in Samwoo Group.”
Ryu Geun-tae spoke honestly, trusting in the personality of Yoon-gi he had judged.
“That would certainly be the case.”
“Next, I thought of people who had left Samwoo Group, but I judged that if we absorbed them, it would create friction with Samwoo Group personnel later when your business grows.”
“Hmm.”
Yoon-gi nodded, considering Ryu Geun-tae’s reasoning rational.
“The subcontractors currently dealing with Samwoo are the same. Most subcontractors smile in front of the main office staff, but behind their backs, they chew them up until they’re nothing but dust… because we do the same thing when we’re the subcontractors.”
“You’ve thought about this in many ways.”
Ryu Geun-tae nodded with difficulty.
“Yes… If we’re to hire people, we have to pull them from the outside, and the only people who would listen to the end are those with connections… so I ended up going to my uncle’s company first.”
“But you’re saying my uncle is a rational person, and I need to meet him myself.”
“That’s right. If my uncle meets you in person, his mind will change.”
Ryu Geun-tae’s address for Yoon-gi had changed from ‘Young Master’ to a title. It was because he had decided on his stance in his heart back when he was defending Yoon-gi at his uncle’s company. Yoon-gi, who had been thinking that he would need to redefine their titles soon, was satisfied that Ryu Geun-tae had changed it himself.
“Good. Let’s meet. I’ll have to see with my own eyes if the choice made by Secretary Ryu… no, Uncle Geun-tae, was correct.”
It wasn’t a statement that he would pass his uncle’s test, but a declaration that he would test his uncle. At that arrogance and the confidence that transcended it, Ryu Geun-tae swallowed hard without realizing it.
***
The meeting between Yoon-gi and Kim Jeong-seon took place at Kim Jeong-seon’s office. In other words, it meant Yoon-gi had traveled a long distance. Since Kim Jeong-seon still didn’t fully trust his nephew’s words, it was natural, and Yoon-gi also revealed no emotion on his face because he knew this would work to his advantage later.
“You’ve… no, have you arrived?”
Kim Jeong-seon had been about to speak informally, thinking of Yoon-gi as a ten-year-old, but he remembered he was the eldest grandson of Samwoo Group and switched to formal language. Furthermore, Yoon-gi’s appearance—his Westernized features made him look two or three years older than his peers, and his striking looks, inherited from his mother, worked positively.
“Yes, thank you for arranging this.”
“It’s at Geun-tae’s request. Please, have a seat.”
At Kim Jeong-seon’s guidance, everyone sat down, and after a short while, an employee placed appropriate drinks on the table and left, marking the start of the real conversation.
“I don’t think there’s any need to drag out time with this and that in the current situation. Please ask what you’re curious about. I will answer everything I can.”
At Yoon-gi’s words, Kim Jeong-seon also nodded. After all, Kim Jeong-seon had no intention of wasting time either.
“I like that you’re quick. Very well. Why is it that you aren’t doing business with Samwoo Construction?”