The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 505



Only Krnovel

505. Fierce Battle (5)

CITI Group headquarters VIP room.

We called in Dimon and David to tell us about their meeting with President Trump.

When told that he would invest more than $20 billion a year in the agricultural belt, Dimon scratched his head and expressed regret.

“It may be beneficial for Taewoo Group and Korea, but if you only think about the boss personally, it doesn’t seem like a very good deal.”

“You have to think about it, we pay $20 billion a year in fees to use the U.S. government.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to use that money for lobbying? If you give me $20 billion, I can get all the Republicans and even the Democrats on my side, and there’s still more to come.”

Even David groaned.

$20 billion was a huge amount of money, and they were reluctant to invest that much money in the agricultural belt.

“What are we going to do by getting politicians on our side? Politicians are in power for a term. So we plan to spend $20 billion to persuade those in power who don’t have a term.”

“When you say someone in power without a term of office, are you talking about a businessman?”

“That’s right. If we were to invest $20 billion a year, wouldn’t the major grain companies in the United States be interested?”

The food crisis that will come after the coronavirus outbreak.

Moreover, if a war breaks out between Russia and Ukraine, the situation will become even more serious.

So, we had to secure food from now on and sign contracts with major grain companies in advance.

“If you were a major grain company, which of the ABCD companies would you target? I have developed relationships with the ABCD companies while working as a lobbyist.”

“We plan to negotiate with all ABC companies except for the French company D.”

Grain major company ABCD.

Archer Daniels’ A, Bunge’s B, Cargill’s C and finally Dreyfus’ D.

These were grain companies that controlled more than 70% of the global grain market, and three of them were headquartered in the United States.

“If it’s $20 billion, they’ll come running. Cargill, the number one grain company, had sales of $110 billion last year. $20 billion is a significant amount.”

“With grain prices falling, it’s only natural that we’d be interested.”

A major grain company that accounts for 80% of the global grain market.

That is why these companies have suffered great losses from the recent US-China trade war.

“I think we can get a seat quickly if I step forward. Should we move?”

“There’s no need to move so hastily. Shouldn’t we meet after being prepared?”

“Is there anything else you need to prepare? You don’t have the money? If you just stab Diamond in the side, it seems like you can easily get 20 billion dollars.”

$20 billion could have been available right now.

The word ‘save’ was also funny. All you had to do was take it out of your account.

“Money isn’t the only thing that’s needed. If we’re going to negotiate with grain companies, we need to show that we’re also involved in the grain industry.”

“Are you thinking of taking over a farm?”

“We need to acquire a company that owns a farm.”

We couldn’t simply rely on the major grain companies.

Taewoo Group was also able to respond to the food crisis by owning a grain subsidiary, however small, and was able to negotiate more easily with major grain companies.

“Do you have any companies in mind?”

“Shouldn’t we acquire a grain subsidiary like the one owned by Glencore in Switzerland so that we can talk to the major grain companies on an equal footing?”

“When you say Glencore, are you talking about the company that was selected as one of the top ten companies in the world by a media outlet? I understand that its annual sales are over $100 billion.”

The media loves rankings.

Every year, they put out rankings that are not accurate, but are what the public wants.

Of course, it wasn’t completely unreliable.

It was clear that a company was a global corporation if it was selected as one of the world’s top 10 companies by a media outlet.

“Taewoo Group is also often ranked among the world’s top 10 companies. So what could there be that they can’t negotiate?”

“That’s true. To be honest, if you add up all the hidden assets of Taewoo Group, it’s not one of the top 10 companies in the world, but one of the top three. It’s a position where you can negotiate well and still have some room left.”

“Although Glencore’s sales are over $100 billion, its net income is actually showing a large deficit. Although it managed to turn a profit last year, it has been seeing deficits of around $10 billion every year for several years.”

Glencore, the world’s largest raw materials company.

It was a large trading company that handled not only various minerals but also agricultural products.

However, because it was so large, it was suffering losses here and there, and it was in a situation where it needed to improve its constitution.

“When you say grain affiliated company owned by Glencore, are you referring to Viterra, the Canadian grain company acquired about five or six years ago?”

“We acquired Viterra for $6 billion. So, wouldn’t we be able to bring Viterra into the Taewoo Group for around the same amount of money?”

“If we can acquire Viterra, we can secure agricultural products from not only Canada but also Australia. In addition, I understand that they have many farms in South America, including Brazil.”

The United States was already tightly controlled by ABC major grain companies.

So a company like Viterra, which has a presence in places like Canada and Australia, was a better fit for us.

“And we can also secure the seed sector, where Korean agriculture is vulnerable.”

“It is true that Korea has one of the lowest food self-sufficiency rates in the world. Moreover, it has a strange structure in which it relies on foreign companies for most of its food imports.”

“So, we need to start now. Starting with the acquisition of companies like Viterra.”

“If we talk things through, I think we can easily acquire it. But the important thing is the price, right? I don’t think they will sell it for $6 billion. They will only show their intention to sell it if they have to pay $10 billion and attach a condition for assuming debt.”

Viterra’s current corporate value is approximately $17 billion.

The acquisition price was $10 billion, and the debt was roughly $10 billion.

At best, they would have had to pay an additional $3 billion to acquire Viterra.

“Debt assumption is inevitable, but instead, we should try to reduce the acquisition cost as much as possible. Try to make it possible to acquire it at the current enterprise value of Bitera.”

“It might be possible if we provide something extra. I would like to suggest a way to share the capabilities that Taewoo Group possesses.”

“Are you talking about Company Taewoo?”

“Isn’t Glencore a trading company after all? Most of its logistics are transported by ships. So if it signs an agreement with the shipping company owned by Taewoo Corporation, it seems like it could reduce the acquisition price.”

It wasn’t a bad way.

It would be safe to say that Taewoo Group currently owns the world’s largest shipping company.

“And Glencore has barely turned a profit since last year on commodities. So they want to focus more on commodities than grains.”

“We will collect information through various channels and develop an acquisition plan.”

“Please discuss this with Vice President Han. I’m sorry to have to ask you to do this to Diamond.”

It was Dimon, the head of America’s largest financial institution.

But I felt sorry that I ended up doing work for Taewoo Group.

“Absolutely not. I am so happy that I can repay my boss in this way. When I think about the benefits that Citigroup and Fintech Bank have received thanks to my boss, I feel like you can treat me like a dog.”

“Boss! I have a lot of dogs.”

David loosened his tie.

Then he made an appeal, waving his tie like a dog leash.

“Stop shaking your head, you’re crazy. And if you come out like that, it’s already a problem. You’ll make more money in the next five years than you do now.”

“I am always grateful!”

Another power I possessed was the diamond.

He was destined to become the head of the world’s largest financial institution, not just in the United States.

From Taewoo Group, to Financial Tower, to Diamond’s financial group.

The day when we can call ourselves a power that goes beyond a nation and becomes a federation of nations is not far off.

***

The next scheduled event was a meeting with Musk.

It was Musk who promised to treat them very well in return for the Nikola manipulation scandal.

He contacted me dozens of times a day after hearing that I had come to America.

“Mr. Kim! Why are you so late? I thought I would die if I kept waiting.”

“I said I would come as soon as possible, but I’m a little late.”

“I brought some Cheval Blanc for today.”

It was Musk who prepared wine worth over 100,000 dollars per bottle.

We enjoyed a light glass of wine and talked about work.

“Is the satellite launch going smoothly?”

“It’s going very well. Within 10 years, we will have covered the entire Earth with satellites.”

The Starlink project was underway.

It was a project to make ultra-high-speed Internet available anywhere in the world by 2030.

It was also a project that would have required a huge number of satellites, over 40,000 in total.

“How many satellites can I build, pointing in the direction I want?”

“If it’s a request from Starlink’s biggest supporter, then of course we have to do it. How would you like it? You run a communications company, right? Do you need a dedicated communications satellite? Or do you need it for Taewoo Electronics?”

I shook my head.

What I wanted was not a satellite for communications or electronics.

“We need an agricultural satellite. Can you design a satellite that has the ability to control large areas of farmland?”

“Agricultural satellites? There’s no reason we can’t make them. If we design them with Taewoo Group’s artificial intelligence technology, we can even make satellites that can control the entire Corn Belt.”

Taewoo Group was a latecomer in the grain business.

In order for the latecomer to overtake the earlycomer, an innovative move was needed.

If we use satellites and artificial intelligence, we can create things that are close to being revolutionary.

“How long will it take to design?”

“It won’t take that long. It’s just a matter of modifying the weather satellite a little bit. And since we can distribute the function across multiple satellites instead of just one, it’ll be possible quickly. We could even put it into space on the next rocket launch.”

Musk half-closed his eyes and drew out the blueprint in his head.

Musk may seem crazy at times, but he is a genius in his own field.

“Then, please put an agricultural satellite on the next launch.”

“Designing a satellite is not difficult, but you need a related program to properly utilize the satellite. I think someone like Taewoo Group could make one in no time.”

“And we would like to significantly increase the number of agricultural satellites every year. Is that possible?”

“How many do you need?”

“We need to be able to check the world’s granary and weather conditions every hour.”

Major grain companies are already using satellites.

In particular, Cargill, the world’s number one company, was scanning the world’s grain belt three times a day.

So, wouldn’t we be able to obtain more information if we could check 24 times a day?

“If we were to check the world’s granaries at one-hour intervals, it would take quite a lot.”

“Pay as much as you want.”

“If the cost issue can be resolved, it is possible within next year.”

Food crisis or food war.

Preparations for the future that was soon to come were being made step by step.