The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 351



Only Krnovel

351. Two Track (5)

Cheshire Peak Energy headquarters building.

I visited the company building as Chairman of Taewoo Group.

There was a huge placard hanging in the center of the office building. From the entrance, two lines of executives stood to welcome me.

“It is truly an honor to be able to collaborate with Taewoo Group.”

“I am honored. I don’t know what to do because I have received so much hospitality.”

“I know that no business has failed because of collaboration with the Taewoo Group. I know that not only Apple but even luxury brands will prosper if they join hands with the Taewoo Group. I just hope that this business will be the same.”

Cheshire Peak Energy Chairman Richard Donovan.

I couldn’t bear to look at his face, which welcomed me so warmly.

Contrary to his wishes, it was clear that this collaboration would fail.

Moreover, while Taewoo Group suffered almost no losses, Cheshire Peak Energy suffered huge losses and was on the verge of bankruptcy.

This collaboration was a kind of preliminary work and was close to a trap.

It was a trap to take over Cheshire Peak Energy, and Cheshire Peak had already stepped into the trap.

“We will mobilize all of Taewoo Group’s capabilities to support whatever you wish.”

“Just the words are really reassuring. Then, go inside and write the contract.”

It wasn’t something I just said.

Taewoo Group really intended to support most of what Cheshire Peak wanted.

It was planned to support Taewoo Engineering & Construction’s technological capabilities and the newly acquired Bumcat’s construction machinery.

But there was just one exception.

There was no intention to provide direct additional funding.

If Taewoo Group provides financial support, Cheshire Peak Energy will be able to avoid bankruptcy.

“This is a contract that adds all the conditions presented by Taewoo Group. It also includes priority stock acquisition rights and measures to prevent environmental pollution in the Texas area.”

“We put a lot of effort into persuading Texas officials to obtain permission to develop shale gas. They were all very concerned about environmental pollution.”

“Don’t worry, Cheshire Peak Energy has the technology to extract shale gas without pollution than any other company.”

“That’s why we’re trying to collaborate with Cheshire Peak Energy. I know they’re better than any other oil refinery when it comes to shale gas extraction.”

“I will prove that it is not a false rumor!”

We shook hands and sat down.

They started collaborating by holding the signed contract and taking pictures.

The moment we signed the contract, Cheshire Peak was completely in our trap.

“You can start developing shale gas in the Texas area at any time. In particular, you can use the Wagner Ranch owned by Taewo Group as a base.”

“I heard that a ranch was purchased for $700 million. At first, I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard that one ranch was worth $700 million.”

To Chairman Richard, I was no different from an angel investor.

He is the person who allowed us to use a large ranch as a base for free and started shale gas development in Texas, where the largest shale gas reserves in the United States are located.

But he did not join hands with an angel, but with a devil.

Even if Cheshire Peak Energy were on the verge of bankruptcy, he wouldn’t know he was in league with the devil.

* * *

two days later.

I moved from Texas to New York.

And then I went into a building in New York.

The name of the building is ‘Trump Tower’.

It was a building named after the man who would become the 45th President of the United States, and the headquarters of the company he ran was located in this building.

“Mr. Kim! It’s been a long time. I already knew that you succeeded your grandfather as chairman. And these days, you’re succeeding in everything you do? As expected, we have different bloodlines.”

“My grandfather asked me to say hello to him. These days, he is very interested in the development of Southeast Asia, so he couldn’t come to the United States with me.”

“I don’t know why someone so old would walk around like that, instead of just relaxing and watching what his grandkids were doing.”

That wasn’t what Trump was going to say.

Even though he was old, he could not sit still and ran for the presidential election, and was even elected.

“My grandfather said that if I don’t work, I feel like I’m getting older faster. He also said that the reason I’m healthy now is because I worked hard.”

“That’s true. I also feel like my body is rotting if I rest even for a moment. Instead of doing this, let’s go inside and we can finish talking.”

Went to Trump’s office.

Perhaps because it was a real estate conglomerate, the interior was quite fancy.

I didn’t know where my grandfather had seen and copied the interior design of Taewoo Group’s chairman’s office, but when I came here, I was finally able to find the answer.

“I heard from David. You want to support me?”

“I heard that Chairman Trump is entering politics. I would like to personally support him.”

“Hehehe, you are the first person to come to me to offer support. Maybe it’s because I’m a chaebol, but everyone thought I didn’t need support.”

Chaebols naturally had a lot of money.

However, chaebols tended to be more frugal with the money that came into their pockets and did not necessarily want to use their money for politics.

“In Korea, many conglomerates have tried to become president, but have failed each time. But I think it will be possible with Chairman Trump.”

“Oh, hey! You’re the president. There’s nothing you can’t say to someone who’s just entered politics.”

Trump was yelling, but his mouth was smiling.

In fact, the image of Trump I knew was closer to that of a comedian, but when I met him in person and talked to him, he turned out to be a more serious person than I thought.

“I will fully support Chairman Trump no matter what election he runs in the future. I can assure you that I will not be able to campaign properly due to being overwhelmed by donations compared to the opposing candidate.”

“I have also heard that the Taewoo Group is overflowing with money. It is very reassuring that the chairman of the Taewoo Group says he will support me. However, I heard that he is close to the Obama administration, but I started my political life in the Republican Party.”

The Obama administration was a Democratic Party.

The question was whether it would be okay to support him, the candidate of the opposing party, the Republican Party.

“I don’t support political parties. I only make decisions based on people, and I only support people who have a high chance of winning.”

“Your eyes are that good? They say that the stocks you buy will always rise and the companies you pick will hit the jackpot. So do I look like someone who will hit the jackpot too?”

“That’s how I see it. I see it not as a jackpot, but as someone who will win the Powerball, which hasn’t had a winner in a year.”

The jackpot at a casino was only in the billions of won.

However, Powerball, which is similar to Korea’s lotto, used to have winnings in the trillions.

At this point, no one thought Trump would become President of the United States, and the odds were similar to winning the Powerball.

“I have a very deep connection with the Taewoo Group. Thanks to your grandfather, we avoided bankruptcy, and now you, my grandson, have said you will be the benefactor of my political activities. Hehehe.”

“I don’t know if I caused trouble by suddenly talking about sponsorship.”

“If someone else had suddenly brought up the topic of sponsorship like you did, I would have been suspicious of his intentions. But you are different. We have been in a relationship since my grandfather. I will gladly accept your sponsorship.”

Thanks to the relationship between Taewoo Group and Trump, things were resolved easily.

Unlike other presidents, Trump’s relationship with him was even more important because he committed incredible acts during his term.

* * *

After completing all of my schedule in the United States, I returned to Korea.

Although it was a short schedule of one week, a lot of things were happening in Korea during that time.

In particular, the Korean political world was very heated.

“There is less than two months left until the National Assembly elections. All political parties have entered into full-fledged election warfare.”

“What is the situation of the National Economic Party?”

“If we look at the current public opinion poll, it seems that we can secure at least 70 to up to 90 seats out of 300 seats. However, the signs of the ruling party’s approval rating increase are not serious. The approval rating has been rising steeply since the formation of the emergency committee.”

The current president has little time left in his term.

Therefore, it opened the door to the future power of the ruling party, and the ruling party was able to unite around future power.

When the center of gravity is established, the approval rating is bound to rise.

Therefore, the ruling party’s approval rating was rising at a rapid pace.

“Hmm, with about 90 seats, there won’t be much difference from the two major parties.”

“The ruling party is expected to win about 110 seats, and the opposition party is expected to win about 90 seats.”

“The National Economy Party may rise to become the main opposition party.”

“If we move proactively, wouldn’t we be able to secure more seats than the ruling party?”

It was not impossible if we mobilized all our might.

However, I did not intend to do so because doing so could raise suspicions of collusion between Taewo Group and the National Economy Party.

“Just try to help us avoid being noticed like before. Even if we only secure 90 seats, we have already achieved our goal.”

“Okay. Then, we will establish an election strategy to win 90 seats.”

“Even if the ruling party does not win an overwhelming victory and the National Economy Party becomes the main opposition party, the chances of Governor Choi Jae-seok being elected president greatly increase.”

If you eat in a hurry, you will lose weight.

Even securing 90 seats was fast, and securing more than 100 seats in the next election was enough.

“And there is another report. It is said that the construction of the Gangnam financial hub may be completed earlier. It is likely to be completed by the middle of next month.”

“Time flies so quickly. It’s already been completed. The financial hub building was completed before the new headquarters.”

“In the case of Taewoo Group’s new building, it takes a long time because it has 110 floors above ground and 8 floors underground, but in the case of the financial hub, it is a 70-story tower and a 35-story convention hotel, so the time was greatly shortened.”

The original plan for the financial hub building was to have more than 100 floors.

However, because we made a promise with the Blue House to complete the building within this administration, we had no choice but to reduce the number of floors.

“It’s unfortunate that we can’t exceed the 100th floor, but it’s not a bad thing since we can complete it quickly.”

“It is said that the Blue House also comes out periodically to confirm. There is a lot of interest as they are trying to tout the financial hub building as the last achievement of this administration.”

There was nothing good about breaking promises to politicians.

Although it is said that power will come down sooner or later, the embers of power are not completely extinguished, so if we betray, there will be unconditional retaliation.

I wanted to pass on the achievements of building a financial hub to the next administration.

There was no need to cause unnecessary trouble, and if you were going to give a gift, it was better to give it clearly.

“So far, how many financial companies have decided to move into the financial hub building?”

“30 financial companies on Wall Street are waiting to move in, and even Cocoa Bank and Taewoo Securities have decided to use the financial hub building.”

“It’s a 70-story building, but 30 locations aren’t enough. We’ll have to bring in European financial companies as well.”

It was a European financial company that had weaknesses due to the European financial crisis.

Therefore, it was not a task to move their Asian base to the financial hub building in Seoul.