The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 237



Only Krnovel

237. The process of becoming a butterfly (1)

First presidents meeting in 2005.

Was it six years ago when I first attended a presidents’ meeting?

Compared to then, quite a lot of people have moved out.

The proportion of foreign CEOs has also increased considerably.

Overall, the age of the CEOs was also significantly lower.

I just turned my head to see the faces of the affiliate presidents.

The CEOs who made eye contact with me lowered their heads or smiled awkwardly and were nervous.

“Let’s start the president’s meeting.”

“I would like to receive a report from Taewoo Electronics. Are you ready? President Lisa.”

“Please wait a moment. I will run the interpretation system and report back.”

Interpretation system?

President Lisa started reporting only after putting on a headset-like device.

“Before we start reporting, we will first make sure the system is working properly.”

She looked at the screen and spoke in English.

On the screen, her words were translated into Korean in real time and appeared as subtitles.

“It’s working properly. Is this a program created by Team Manager Cheon Min-jeong?”

“That’s right. They say they created this system to make it difficult to talk to me.”

What a great person.

I knew that he was creating an interpretation algorithm, but Cheon Min-jeong had already built a perfect system.

I was once again impressed by Cheon Min-jeong’s abilities.

But right now, President Lisa’s report was my priority, so I focused on what she said.

“I will report on Taewoo Electronics and semiconductors. First of all, Taewoo Electronics’ sales have increased by 31% compared to the previous year. Sales in overseas markets and in the domestic market are rising rapidly.”

“That’s not a bad performance.”

“Through our collaboration with Apple, our share of the TV market has increased significantly, and thanks to our collaboration with the Arnor family, we have gained a luxury image. In some areas, we have ranked first in domestic market share.”

Taewoo Electronics’ growth has not slowed down.

Through collaboration with Apple and the Arnor family, the company continued to change its image and was receiving positive reviews from customers.

“What about Taewoo Semiconductor?”

“The supply of semiconductors is increasing significantly due to the expansion of the smartphone market. And as more semiconductors are being used in home appliances, semiconductor sales have increased by 40% compared to the previous year. And we expect it to increase even more this year.”

Everything looked good at Taewoo Electronics and Semiconductor.

In particular, since most of the semiconductors used in Taewoo Electronics were supplied by Taewoo Semiconductor, it was a virtuous cycle.

Although it was such a good situation.

Lisa’s boss was frowning as if she didn’t like something.

“Do you have anything else left to say?”

“The scale of Taewoo Semiconductor is too small. We need to expand the factory at least twice the size of the current size and dramatically increase semiconductor production!”

[Hmm.]

Coughing sounds were heard here and there.

In particular, the CEOs who had worked with my grandfather for a long time were all clearing their throats.

The reason they cleared their throats was simple.

This was because too much money was needed to expand or build a semiconductor factory.

Securing land, facilities, and even equipment.

In order to expand the semiconductor factory as much as President Lisa wanted, an initial investment cost of at least 3 trillion won would be incurred, so the presidents were clearing their throats and expressing concern.

[I also agree with the construction of a new semiconductor factory. However, I am opposed to doubling the factory.]

[It is unreasonable to expand twice as much at once.]

[The semiconductor market is not bad, so it seems better to expand.]

[It’s not a bad idea to look into the market situation a little more before deciding.]

The presidents added their words.

They spoke with confidence because they thought I would be opposed to the expansion of the semiconductor factory.

But I had the exact opposite idea from them.

“If we are going to expand the factory, shouldn’t it be about five times the size, not two times?”

“I would like to increase the size by more than 5 times, but the cost was too high, so I decided to reduce it to 2 times.”

“If it were to be five times that, it would cost approximately 10 to 15 trillion won. Can you afford it with the sales of Taewoo Electronics and Semiconductor alone?”

“It is quite possible. There is no need to pay the entire amount at once, so it is possible to invest 1 to 2 trillion won every year.”

President Lisa’s words again brought out coughing sounds from all over the place.

I wanted to tell them to at least drink water, but since I had not yet become president, I decided to persuade them.

“Please explain in detail how Taewoo Electronics and Taewoo Semiconductor will raise funds.”

“Apple and other electronics companies receive huge royalties every year. That amount alone is enough to cover construction costs.”

“How much did you receive in royalties last year?”

“It is 1.2 trillion won. Apple is responsible for 50% of the amount received as royalties, and many companies that manufacture smartphones are paying the remaining royalties.”

Taewoo Electronics and Technology Research Center were still applying for many patents.

Thanks to purchasing patents and making smartphones before they were even released, literally astronomical royalties were coming to Taewo Group every year.

“If there is no royalty income, can we raise construction costs?”

“No problem. Taewu Semiconductor’s operating profit is over 3.4 trillion won. Taewu Semiconductor’s surplus alone is enough to cover construction costs.”

It was Taewo Semiconductor, which was full of losses.

However, it has now grown into a cash cow that represents Taewo Group in name and reality, and has been able to make more operating profits every year.

“I don’t think anyone will say anything if Taewoo Semiconductor invests the profits it earned. Shareholders will not object either.”

“Then, let’s create a detailed plan and plan!”

They used the name of shareholders to silence the presidents.

I own more than 60% of Taewo Group’s shares, and what I said was the same as what more than half of the shareholders said, so it was not a lie.

“I will receive your next report.”

Starting with Taewoo Electronics, reports were received sequentially in order of best sales.

Taewoo Communications, Taewoo Motors, and Taewoo Construction.

All of them were booming affiliates, and not only sales but also operating profits were very high.

However, not all affiliates were making a profit, and in particular, Taewo Trading Co., Ltd., which aggressively carried out a mining rights purchase project last year, recorded the worst deficit.

“The mining rights have been purchased, but actual mining has not yet occurred, so no sales are being generated. Other than that, sales can be considered the same as the previous year.”

“Raw material development is not a business started with the intention of seeing sales in a short period of time. It is a business that has been in progress for more than 10 years, so you do not need to fret if sales are not occurring right away.”

It was Lee Jong-soo, the president of Taewo Trading Co., who was very nervous.

He was even more nervous, perhaps because he was a new CEO who became CEO last year.

But his abilities were not bad, so I spoke to him as if encouraging him.

“We are doing our best to proceed with mineral mining as quickly as possible. We are also cooperating with Taewo Engineering & Construction and Taewo Chemical, and the speed of progress is not bad.”

“How much money has been spent to date to purchase raw material mines?”

“Excluding Wall Street funds, Taewoo Group alone has over 10 trillion won.”

“Hasn’t that been all you’ve bought yet? I remember that in the plan, Taewoo Group alone was supposed to invest 20 trillion won.”

10 trillion won was an amount that was more than enough to purchase a decent company.

It was also close to half of the surplus that Taewo Group had last year.

However, the surplus that had been used through the efforts of various affiliates was quickly recovering, and Taewo Group had the balance again.

If you think about it, the surplus in trillions was not that large of a sum.

Before returning, Samjin Electronics had accumulated a surplus of 150 trillion won in its bank account.

This was partly because they could not find a suitable place to invest, and partly because they wanted to avoid repeating the same shameful history as the IMF.

But Taewo Group didn’t need to do that.

Since I knew for sure which business would become the future food source, there was no reason not to invest.

“We are in negotiations with several countries. There are already many foreign companies with deep roots in the mining development business, so time is stalling.”

“Then we need to pioneer a new country. How about Mongolia? Isn’t it a place famous for being rich in underground resources?”

“However, Mongolia’s underground resources are almost monopolized by China.”

Mongolia was one of the top 10 countries in the world with underground resources.

However, it was also a country that was unable to make a lot of money from underground resources.

The main reason was geographical location, and since there was no way to export underground resources except to China, the underground resources had to be handed over to China at a low price.

“Mongolia’s geographical location is the worst. It is a continental country, but it is located in a place worse than an island country.”

“That’s right. Russia surrounds it above, and China blocks it below. And the distance from the sea is so far that there is no good way to transport underground resources.”

Transportation of underground resources had to be done by land or sea.

However, the land route was blocked by communist countries and it was far from the sea, so no matter how many underground resources there were, there was no suitable way to sell them.

“If we have the consent of China and Russia, wouldn’t we be able to bring Mongolia’s underground resources?”

“It is possible, but there is no reason for China to do so. Why would they want to share Mongolia’s underground resources, which generate enormous profits?”

“I will try to solve that problem. President Lee, please create a plan for the development of Mongolia’s underground resources. I would like two versions, one using Russia and one using China.”

“We’ll make it as quickly as possible!”

China and Russia.

I have very good relations with both countries, so there was a way to resolve it.

Of course, it was true that both countries were anxious as they were countries with high uncertainty, but underground resources were important enough that they had to proceed even with risk.

“I will stop listening to the report. In order for Taewo Group to become a group that leads the future, it must constantly break away. It must seek to change from a focus on manufacturing to high value-added manufacturing and service industries. Even if it becomes complacent, Taewu Group will not go bankrupt. “They are healthy, but that doesn’t make them the best group in the world.”

The best in Korea has already been achieved.

Of course, my next goal was the world’s best group, and I needed to let the presidents know what I was aiming for.

“To become a butterfly, it is necessary to molt by shedding the shell more than five times. Moulting is an act that carries risks, but if we succeed, we can become a butterfly flying on the world stage. We can become a caterpillar crawling on the narrow stage called Korea. Let’s not become complacent.”

While there are CEOs who agree.

There was also a CEO who was dissatisfied with my way of making too aggressive investments.

However, I had no intention of immediately firing the president who opposed me.

Because they were people who would follow me as long as I showed them the results.

Of course, if I react the same way then as I did now, I will have to pass the position to the next person.