The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 13



Only Krnovel

Episode 13. Talent Recruitment (3)

Taewoo Group Scholarship Foundation handled the work at a rapid pace.

Before a month had passed, 100 students were selected and scholarships were awarded, and nearly 300 million won was withdrawn from the foundation.

The foundation’s capital was 20 billion won, so 300 million won was not that much money.

However, the scholarship processed this time was only the first round, and I had already selected the third round of scholarships, and I reported this to my grandfather today.

“Huh, so that means we will spend a total of 1 billion won by next quarter. “Roughly 2 billion won will be spent per year, so the foundation’s capital will dry up in 10 years.”

“There is something wrong. “We are planning to use up to 4 billion won per year instead of 2 billion won.”

“Hehehe, I didn’t know my grandson cared so much about others. “From your point of view, I should praise you for being great, but I am the manager of Taewoo Group before I am yours.”

Grandfather frowned.

My grandfather always showed me a smile, so I could sense how angry he was right now.

Of course, I knew that my grandfather would be angry if I reported something like this.

And I also brought a way to relieve my grandfather of his anger at once.

“And I have one more agenda item to report. “There are people and organizations who want to donate to the Taewoo Scholarship Foundation.”

“Did you ever meet with the subcontractor owners? “No matter how much money subcontractors make by receiving work from us, I cannot tolerate squeezing them.”

“Why would I meet the subcontractor owners? “If you look at the list of donors, you can see that it has nothing to do with subcontractors.”

Only then did my grandfather check the list.

There wasn’t even a name in Korean on the list.

“The CEO of Quantum Fund? “Why do these people want to donate to the Taewoo Scholarship Foundation?”

“I met him when I was studying in the United States. “They seemed to think favorably of me at that time and said they would willingly donate.”

“No matter how much I thought of you favorably, does it make sense to donate a whopping 10 billion won in donations?”

Grandfather asked with a voice full of doubt.

In fact, there is absolutely no reason for the Quantum Fund to donate 10 billion won to me.

Of course, 10 billion won was money from SAVE Investment Company, and Quantum Fund only lent its name.

“I decided to intern at Quantum Fund every vacation season.”

“What does this have to do with internships and donations?”

“It means that I am a talent worthy of receiving 10 billion won in donations.”

“I can’t understand what kind of appearance you had to make that decision.”

“Grandpa just looks at me like I’m a child. “I think there is absolutely enough to receive an investment of 10 billion won from the Quantum Fund.”

I knew it was a ridiculous excuse.

It was obvious that the grandfather would not be able to erase his suspicions and would begin an investigation through the chief secretary.

This was also planned with the hope that it would do so.

“Hehe, I guess they gave away so much scholarship money with the intention of receiving 10 billion won in donations. “Now that you understand, go to your room and rest.”

“My grandfather may think I’m a child who doesn’t know the value of money yet, but I know the value of money well. “Please know that.”

I left those words behind and left the study.

I watched the situation while drinking a cup of coffee in the living room.

As expected, I was able to see the chief secretary hurriedly entering my grandfather’s study.

* * *

Chairman Kim Tae-joong showed the list of donations to Chief of Staff Kim Taek-hoon.

“The CEO of Quantum Fund says he will donate 10 billion won to the scholarship foundation. “To be precise, they say they are investing in Minjae, not the foundation. What do you think?”

“I heard a report that you often met people on Wall Street when you were studying in the United States. However, I don’t know if the CEO of Quantum Fund is willing to invest 10 billion won.”

“How much will it take to figure it out exactly?”

“It may take some time because it is a Wall Street matter, but we will find out as much of the facts as possible within 15 days.”

Chairman Kim Tae-joong’s face was full of worry.

Although he knew and believed that his grandson was better than anyone else, the world was not such an easy place.

“Could it be that Minjae was approached by Wall Street to work on Taewoo Group?”

“That’s not very likely. According to Taewoo Economic Research Institute, Wall Street is currently at war with Britain.”

“Ugh, I guess I just put a lot of effort into it by sending it to America for no reason.”

“The master I have seen is not such a small person. “Sometimes I feel like he is not a teenager but an executive in his 50s who has gone through many hardships.”

Chairman Kim knew very well that he was not the type of person to talk nonsense.

However, concerns did not go away due to the large donation of 10 billion won and the value of the name Quantum Fund.

“Thank you for taking good care of Minjae, but he is still a minor. “Please investigate as closely as possible.”

“I will go to America myself.”

Director Kim boarded a plane to the United States the very next day.

As soon as I arrived, I went to talk to the securities people who worked at Taewoo Securities.

Instead of stopping there, I met with Quantum Fund officials and listened to stories about Minjae Kim.

Director Kim’s personal connections were quite powerful.

Although it may not be more so than in Korea, we have made connections all over the world to support Taewo Group, which has entered the global market. There were quite a few connections on Wall Street as well.

Director Kim collected all the information and returned to Korea 15 days later.

Without stopping for a moment, he reported the contents he had organized to Chairman Kim Tae-jung.

“Quantum Fund never approached Taewo Group or Mr. Young. Rather, it is said that the master approached the Quantum Fund first and even offered help.”

“Minjae, what kind of help did that little guy give to a huge hedge fund like Quantum Fund? “Tell me in detail.”

Director Kim explained all the information he had collected in the United States.

In particular, Kim Min-jae’s college entrance exam essay, which he received from a former Taewoo Securities employee, was highlighted.

“You wrote an essay for the Harvard entrance exam about the Gulf War. It is said that he expected that the moment the United States entered the Gulf War, the war would end quickly, and that he had a conversation with the Quantum Fund to obtain related information. It is said that during this process, the representatives of the Quantum Fund recognized Mr. Master’s excellent perspective.”

“Minjae predicted the situation of the Gulf War?”

“In particular, it is said that they predicted that oil prices would change rapidly.”

“Hehe, I don’t know whether to believe this or not.”

“It seems that the Quantum Fund has determined that the value of receiving you as an intern during school vacation is more than 10 billion won.”

Chairman Kim burst into laughter.

He knew that his grandson was outstanding, but he never expected that he would show his excellence in this way.

“I hired a few employees from a securities firm to help me learn financial acumen, and it ended up getting the attention of Wall Street. “Do you think this makes sense?”

“More time is needed to obtain more detailed information. “We will send experts to the United States to thoroughly search.”

“Don’t do that. “It’s not that Minjae did anything bad, and if you monitor him excessively, bad misunderstandings can only build up.”

“Actually, I was thinking that too. The masters I have seen so far are different from other second- and third-generation chaebol families. “I think it is better for you to watch from afar rather than spying.”

The affairs of the business owner’s family are usually handled by the chief secretary.

This was Director Kim, who had seen many chiefs of staff from other companies scrambling to resolve the mishaps of second- and third-generation chaebols.

That’s why Director Kim liked Kim Min-jae, who never had an accident, and when he entered Harvard with excellent grades, he was even more compared to the third generation of conglomerates from other companies.

“Even if we say yes to surveillance, we should deploy more security personnel just in case.”

“We will recruit several talented individuals from American security companies and take action to prevent any untoward incidents.”

Donation: 10 billion won.

Although it was still something he did not understand, Chairman Kim Tae-joong trusted his grandson, Kim Min-jae.

And although 10 billion won was a large amount, it was not that big of an amount to the person who led the Taewo Group.

* * *

A snack bar near the foundation.

I was soaking kimbap in ramen broth and chewing it with pleasure, and across from me, a team leader was just fiddling with his ramen.

“Why aren’t you eating? “Do you have no appetite?”

“You seem to eat ramen too often, Master. Even when he was in America, he ate it four times a week.”

“It’s a precious food, so you should eat it often.”

“You mean ramen is a rare food?”

I realized through my past life how precious ramen is.

When I was a third-generation chaebol, there was no need to eat ramen, but when my grandfather was taken to prison, the National Tax Service took away all his assets.

After my grandfather passed away, I was stabbed by people I trusted and lost all my remaining assets.

At that time, I really didn’t have money to buy ramen.

Although he could get money by expressing his regrets, he still had the pride of being part of a conglomerate family, so he did not go to the extent of begging.

When I happened to have money, I started by stocking up on ramen.

Even then, if I had money left over, I would buy a roll of kimbap and eat it with ramen, and the most delicious food I ever had was ramen and kimbap.

“America’s affairs were resolved better than that, right?”

“As expected, Director Kim came to the United States in person. “Things went according to the script we had prepared in advance.”

“It takes a lot of effort to make things go that way, so of course it has to go that way.”

Donation: 10 billion won.

This was not simply to secure funds for the foundation.

I created this script to inform my grandfather, who still sees me as a child, about my growth.

That way it will be easier later.

In order to join Taewoo Group and change the company according to my wishes, I had to let my grandfather know that I was an outstanding person and not just a grandson.

Of course, it is difficult to imprint it all at once.

So, I planned to create a few more scripts like this and proceed with them step by step until I graduated from college.

“And how is the fund business going?”

“David clearly has a knack for winning people’s hearts. “He doesn’t communicate well, but strangely, when David comes forward, things tend to go smoothly.”

“There is a reason why high salaries are paid.”

“Currently, about 30 people have signed up for the fund. “It wasn’t that difficult because it was simply a matter of signing up for a fund rather than receiving kickbacks.”

Signing up for a fund is definitely more comfortable than a slush fund.

You may have signed up for the fund with such an easy mind, but what happens if the money you put into the fund increases tens or hundreds of times later a few years later?

“You will soon realize that signing up for a fund is actually a donation to the line.”

“When that time comes, we will all be clamoring to join the fund instead of just asking people to join the fund. And if the actual owner of the fund gets to know you, he will also know that Dong-A Line is the golden Donga Line.”

“There is no need to announce it now. Still, I need to provide some help to fund subscribers. “It would be difficult if I got kicked out of the organization because of a conflict.”

“If that happens, we will report it immediately.”

The work to create my own line is steadily progressing.

I am working hard to save Taewoo Group.