The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 450



Only Krnovel

450. An eye for an eye (5)

Apple’s new headquarters in California.

There was no grand completion ceremony like in Korea.

The completion ceremony was replaced with a small party for Apple employees and associates.

“Mr. Kim! Why has it been so long? I thought I would die without seeing your face while I was alive.”

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have come here more often.”

Steve’s words didn’t sound like a joke.

A emaciated body, a face devoid of any vitality.

Steve was unable to walk properly and was dependent on a wheelchair.

“Why are you looking like that? This is not a funeral, this is a completion ceremony. Smile a little.”

“How is your health?”

“… You’re holding on by force. Shouldn’t you go and see the new building being completed?”

Before the move, Apple’s new headquarters was sometimes called Steve’s legacy.

It was a new building that he had designed and planned, but Steve passed away before he could see it completed.

But this life was different.

His life was prolonged thanks to my strong intervention.

He got to see Apple’s new headquarters live, just as he wanted.

“I’m not saying this because Taewoo Construction built it, but isn’t it really well-made? It’s a new headquarters that really matches Apple’s innovative image.”

“I feel a little sorry when I tell you that story. Because of my stubbornness, the design was overturned several times, and the completion was delayed. Taewoo Construction had a hard time.”

Apple’s new headquarters should have been completed a long time ago.

But where did Steve’s perfectionist personality go?

Just like when they made the iPhone, if they didn’t like even the smallest part, they took it all apart and fixed it.

“I heard that you went to work at the new building construction site every day even though you weren’t feeling well.”

“What kind of land is this? Isn’t this the land where HP first started? Building a new Apple headquarters here means… doesn’t that mean I’m the successor to HP? So I couldn’t neglect it.”

HP can be called the pioneer of American IT companies.

It was a place with many memories for Steve, as he had also worked at HP.

Moreover, it was an even more special new headquarters to Steve because it meant that Apple had inherited all of HP’s technological prowess.

“What does it matter who will be HP’s successor? Hasn’t Steve’s Apple already surpassed HP?”

“That may be true now, but isn’t the future more important? So please, I have a favor to ask.”

It was Steve who suddenly grabbed my hand.

His hands were as stiff as if he was holding a tree branch.

“I’ll do whatever you ask, Steve. Just say the word.”

“How much longer do I have left to live? I have already given up on running Apple.”

“Well done. Now, don’t worry about work and just take care of yourself.”

“But I’m really worried. I can’t sleep well because I’m worried that Apple will disappear if I disappear. So I ask that Mr. Kim continue to provide a lot of help to Apple even after I disappear.”

What have I done?

It was just a little early indication of the innovation Apple had achieved.

In Steve’s eyes, I may have been an innovative figure, but all I did was pass information from the future Steve to the present Steve.

“I will help in any way I can. And I should be the one who asks for favors. Please help Apple, without Steve, maintain a good relationship with the Taewoo Group.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I have given strict instructions to the next management team. I have told them not to ever get involved with the Taewoo Group.”

Actually, there was no reason to ask for this.

Because I was the largest shareholder of Apple, I could do whatever I wanted with Apple.

But I was trying to avoid interfering with Apple’s management as much as possible, and I wanted to maintain that tone, so I asked Steve to do this.

“We will continue to work hard to ensure that Apple and Taewoo Group can grow together in the future.”

“It’s reassuring to hear Mr. Kim say that. If Apple’s executives make a mistake, just bear with me for five times.”

“I will endure it not 5 times, but 10 times, or even 100 times. I promise that Taewoo Group will never be the first to let go of Apple. Of course, I can’t guarantee that after I leave Taewoo Group.”

“Mr. Kim is still young, so he can keep his promise for at least 30 years. That should be enough.”

He gently held Steve’s hand.

I wanted to give him a little warmth.

It was Steve who smiled calmly, as if my feelings had been conveyed.

“As long as Apple and Taewoo Group are together, the two companies will last forever. So don’t worry and just take care of yourself.”

“I feel relieved now. I’ve seen Mr. Kim’s face, so I’ll go back now. I’m sorry I’m not in the condition to do outdoor activities for a long time.”

“No, I’ve been holding you back too long. I’ll take you to the car.”

I guided him to the car, pushing the wheelchair myself.

In that short time, we shared many memories.

Since there weren’t many memories left to make, I wanted to leave him with happy memories of the past.

***

I spent over a day with Apple’s new executives.

Thanks to Steve’s influence, the executives were very friendly to Taewoo Group.

We spent the whole night drinking and talking with them.

So the next day came.

After catching up on sleep on the plane, I headed to Wall Street.

Because George, the CEO of Quantum Fund, and Dimon were waiting for me.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting.”

“I can wait this long to see Mr. Kim. How was your tour of the new Apple headquarters?”

“I don’t know who built it, but it was a really cool building.”

“Are you bragging slyly about how no one knows that the new Apple headquarters was built by Taewoo Construction?”

The conversation continued in a good atmosphere.

It makes sense, since they made a lot of money from Brexit, so the mood couldn’t have been bad.

In particular, CEO George’s face looked even brighter because he had made a lot of money with the currency he was best at.

“Now that Brexit is slowly draining, shouldn’t we start on the next project?”

“I’m dying from waiting. If you don’t tell me what the next project is today, I’ll take off my underwear and protest at the Taewoo Group headquarters, so know that.”

It was a scene I never wanted to see.

It may be a worldwide issue, but it’s never been my taste, so I quickly brought up the topic of the next project.

“The Trump administration is at the heart of the next project.”

“You’re not attacking President Trump, are you? Are you saying that you’re going to make decisions about where to invest based on the Trump administration’s moves?”

“You know that the America First policy has already begun, right?”

“Of course, I know that the America First policy is none other than Taewoo Shipping. I understand that Taewoo Shipping was able to form an alliance with American shipping companies thanks to the America First policy.”

The shipping industry was just the beginning.

The America First policy was a policy that shook up not only the shipping industry but also various other industries.

“Historically, the United States has never sat idly by when another country challenges its hegemony.”

“If we are to talk about the next hegemon, it will be… …China.”

“I expect that there will be sanctions at the level of a trade war. In particular, there will be huge retaliatory tariffs.”

“Just hearing the story makes me think there’s going to be a huge mess. Well, we’re better people when there’s a bigger mess, but I’m worried.”

In quiet and comfortable times, it was difficult to make a lot of money.

Conversely, when a big event occurs, various indicators fluctuate, so a lot of money can be made.

“The US will impose high tariffs on Chinese manufactured goods, and China will very likely impose retaliatory tariffs on key US products such as agricultural products and automobiles.”

“When do you think the conflict will start in earnest?”

“It is expected to start in the latter half of next year at the latest.”

“There’s still one more year left.”

Even for a large project, six months would be enough.

Of course, the longer you prepare, the more profit you can make.

Preparing for nearly two years was a waste of time, and there was no way that the financial tower financial companies would wait silently for that time.

“We will focus on the trade dispute between the US and China as a long-term project and start a separate short-term project.”

“That’s right. You can’t just suck your thumb for almost two years, right? I don’t mean to say this to you, but customers these days are so sophisticated that they don’t even say thank you for a 10% profit rate.”

It was a financial institution that had become accustomed to high returns over the years.

If you don’t feed it for two years, you never know when it might turn into a hyena.

On the other hand, if you feed them well periodically, they will act as obedient hunting dogs.

“First, I’m going to have some fun with oil prices.”

“The price of oil, which was around $30, has already surpassed $50. Can we have more fun?”

“I think it will recover to $65 even within a year. Wouldn’t that be enough to have some fun?”

“If it goes up by about 30%, it would be a pretty good return. But wouldn’t it be a little lacking?”

CEO George was not satisfied with even a 30% return.

If you use leverage, you could at least double your business.

It was not enough food to share among all the financial companies in the financial tower.

“Oil is just a side dish. There is food to get us through this year and next year.”

“You’re steaming it too much. The rice will burn.”

“The product we will focus on for the next two years is Bitcoin.”

The Bitcoin craze has already begun since last year.

However, the place that created and distributed Bitcoin was Taewoo Group.

Since I was sharing most of my bitcoins with American IT companies, I didn’t make any separate investments.

“I heard that the Bitcoin market is hotter than the stock market.”

“In a hot place, there are bound to be many powerful forces. Wouldn’t the financial tower’s capital power be able to completely devour the powerful forces?”

“That’s a given. But would it be okay if we split the money that the powerful have?”

Forces that want to mess with Bitcoin.

The plan was to use the financial tower financial companies to keep them in check.

However, the scale of the power was not large enough to feed all the financial institutions.

So I had to throw in a new prey.

The Taewoo Group presented material that had little to do with Bitcoin.

“When it comes to the altcoin market, there is enough pie to feed everyone.”

“Altcoin? Something like Bitcoin?”

“The latecomers that came after Bitcoin are called altcoins. If you attack altcoins along with Bitcoin, you will have plenty to eat for two years.”

Bitcoin was difficult to touch because it was closely related to the Taewoo Group.

In the case of altcoins, it didn’t matter how we touched them because they had nothing to do with us.

And it was also a time when the altcoin market had not yet experienced explosive growth.

What if financial institutions jump on board with altcoins at this point?

We were able to pioneer a route that left a profit of at least 5 times.