Chapter 422 |
[Oh Hyun-joo, Head of Golden Gate Korea, Husband Revealed to be Grandson of Golden Gate CEO!]
[The Meeting of the Third-Largest Shareholder of the World's Biggest Company and the Heir to the World's Largest Investment Bank]
[Public's Attention Focused on the Wedding of the Century]
[Wedding to be Held at Ceylon Hotel in Jeju Island Next Month...]
The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other outlets poured out articles. The Korean media also quickly reported it as a major scoop.
The reaction was far greater than expected, and the internet went wild.
- Wow! I thought he was just some American, but he was the Golden Gate heir?
- Did you see the picture? The guy is drop-dead gorgeous. Looks like a movie star.
- I thought it was a male Cinderella story, but holy shit, he's a prince too LOL
- LOL you idiot. Oh Hyun-joo is the third-largest shareholder of OTK Company. Her personal assets are already in the tens of trillions of won. You think she'd date a guy for his money?
- How much are their assets combined?
- Forget that, isn't their kid the real jackpot? Mom's assets: tens of trillions. Dad's assets: tens of trillions. Uncle's assets: hundreds of trillions. Uncle's friend's assets: hundreds of trillions...
- At this rate, do you think they'll get 100 million won for New Year's money?
- I'm so jealous ㅜㅜ
- In my next life, I want to be born as their kid~
- It's not impossible. Just have a daughter right now and marry her off to their kid.
- ㅋㅋ You crazy bastard.
- This SOB is a genius, at least.
The employees at OTK Company were shocked. It was understandable—the colleague they had worked with turned out to be the grandson of the American financial tycoon family, the Goldmans!
"You could call it the biggest plot twist of the century. Though it's as much of a tired cliché as 'the man I slapped turns out to be our chairman's grandson.'"
"But they keep using it because it works, right?"
"Of course. Except in reality, instead of saying something like, 'You're the first woman to ever treat me like this,' the man who got slapped sues you for assault."
Reality is never so forgiving.
Ellie couldn't hide her proud feelings.
"Hyun-joo noona is getting married. Can you believe it?"
"They were already married, weren't they? They even have a child."
At my words, Ellie shook her head.
"Still, a wedding ceremony is different. It might be a once-in-a-lifetime event."
"That's true."
Although, of course, some people in the world do it several times.
Even though Hyun-joo noona must have asked her by now, Ellie didn't mention anything about the bouquet.
When I stared at her, Ellie asked.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Just because you're pretty."
Ellie let out a small laugh.
"Pfft, what's this all of a sudden?"
After the wedding is over, I'll have to have a serious talk with her.
***
The Ceylon Hotel is considered one of South Korea's most luxurious hotel chains.
It had hosted many events and numerous distinguished guests over the years. But this wedding was on another level, with a guest list that defied imagination. It was, without a doubt, the biggest event since the company's founding.
CEO Im Soo-mi, despite being swamped, personally oversaw all related matters. Once the wedding date was roughly set, rooms became incredibly scarce, even though they had stopped taking reservations from the general public for the dates surrounding the event.
They tried to solve the accommodation issue by coordinating with other hotels, but that wasn't easy either.
Jeju Island, being a famous tourist destination, had many hotels. The problem was that you could count the number of 5-star hotels capable of accommodating such distinguished guests on one hand. This was a result of most tourism products being geared towards low-budget Chinese tourists.
An opinion was raised that they should cancel reservations for the general public and pay the penalty fees to secure even one more room, but CEO Im Soo-mi cut them off.
"The reason our customers pay a high price to use the Ceylon Hotel is because they expect a certain level of service. Cancellations are unacceptable unless it's for an unavoidable reason like a natural disaster. Once we've accepted a reservation, they are our customer, and we must prioritize our customers."
As an alternative, they decided to rent out nearby 4-star hotels in their entirety, clean the interiors, and replace the bedding and amenities with Ceylon Hotel products.
The Ceylon Hotel shared the attendee list with the Jeju Provincial Office and requested security for the travel routes and surrounding accommodations.
The Jeju Provincial Office was thrown into an uproar.
The list of attendees was so staggering it left them speechless.
The Governor of New York, the Mayor of New York, CEOs of Wall Street investment banks, famous investors, American financial tycoons, Hollywood stars... there were even oil magnates from the Middle East!
Jeju Governor Kim Hae-yong was utterly aghast.
Had there ever been a time in Jeju's history when so many important figures descended at once?
This was no small matter. If anything were to happen to them, Jeju's image would suffer a massive blow.
'Seriously, why are they doing this in Jeju? Why not Hawaii or Guam?'
But on second thought, this was an enormous opportunity. Every single one of these people could move hundreds of billions of won with a single word.
No, if they put their minds to it, they could buy the entirety of Jeju Island. If he played his cards right, couldn't he attract investment to Jeju?
'If that happens, wouldn't I cruise through the next local election?'
Governor Kim Hae-yong and the provincial council members joined forces to prepare for the distinguished guests.
The airport was immediately put on high alert.
In the days leading up to the wedding, there were over 100 requests for landing permits from private jets alone. Jeju Airport was already at full capacity, and a second airport was under construction.
They decided to adjust flight schedules as much as possible, operate the runway 24/7, and secure as many hangars as they could. But there was still a severe lack of time and space to accommodate so many private jets.
They came up with a plan to coordinate with nearby airports, including Gimhae International Airport, to have the jets land there and then provide temporary flights to Jeju.
On top of that, Japan unnecessarily got involved.
They announced that if guests came to Fukuoka Airport, which is close to Jeju, Japan would provide temporary flights. It was a ploy to get a piece of the action by having the guests pass through Japan.
***
Although there was still plenty of time before the wedding, people from the financial sector, including investment banks and private equity funds, began to arrive in droves.
Korea's financial industry had traditionally been on the weaker side. As a result, global investment banks (IBs) had been passive about entering the domestic market, either partnering with local securities firms or investing from overseas.
But the Korean economy had been growing rapidly recently, and it was emerging as an important market for investment banks.
Seeing the great success of Golden Gate after establishing its branch, the global IBs were thinking of setting up their own branches in the international financial complex to be built in Saemangeum.
It wasn't just investment banks; commercial banks were also considering entering the Korean market.
Although there were some concerns about the influx of foreign banks...
Senior Sang-yeop shook his head.
"Well, our country's financial industry was pretty much handed over to foreign capital during the IMF crisis."
Team Leader Jung Gi-hong nodded.
"We were cleaned out, completely."
Taekgyu blinked.
"But don't we still have a lot of Korean banks?"
"Sure, there are a lot of banks. But what do you think the foreign ownership percentage is for the top five banks, like Hanshin Bank, CS Bank, and Doori Bank?"
"I don't know. Maybe about half?"
"The average is 75 percent. In cases like CS Bank or Citibank Korea, it's 100 percent."
At this point, they were Korean in name only; in reality, they were no different from foreign companies.
And it didn't end there.
Foreign capital also held a majority stake in regional banks named after local areas, and a large amount of Japanese capital had flowed into savings banks and lending companies.
Finance has a massive impact on a nation's economy. That's why emerging countries often restrict takeovers by foreign capital through various regulations.
Our country used to do the same, but after receiving the IMF bailout during the financial crisis, all those regulations were abolished. And as you can see, it has become a playground for foreign capital.
Senior Sang-yeop said.
"Whether it's investment banks or commercial banks, it's not a bad thing for them to come to Korea. It will become easier for companies to raise capital in the future."
He was right.
Unlike commercial banks, which mainly handle deposits and loans, investment banks, as their name suggests, focus on professional investment and can be a great help in revitalizing the financial sector.
Of course, we would have to be careful about foreign capital running too rampant.
***
I received a call from Professor Kim Ho-min.
"Hello, Professor."
[You seem very busy these days. You don't even come by the lab to visit.]
"I was actually planning to visit soon. Are you doing well?"
[I'm always the same. Research, experiments, meeting people. By the way, can't you tell the politicians to stop visiting the lab so much? Whenever these guys are bored, they bring reporters, take a tour, snap some photos, and leave.]
"..."
Professor Kim Ho-min was the only Nobel laureate in a scientific field in Korea. And the OTK Research Institute was where they researched batteries, an essential component of all electronic devices.
Perhaps that's why whenever a policy on science or new industry development was announced, politicians were coming and going restlessly like anxious puppies.
This political showboating knew no party lines. It was already this bad; it would be a sight to see when election season came around.
"How about putting up a sign at the door that says 'No Dogs or Politicians Allowed'?"
[I can't. I might get flak from dog lovers. They'd say, 'How dare you put precious dogs in the same category as politicians.']
"Ah, I suppose that could happen."
[More importantly, I think I've made something interesting. Want to come see it if you have time?]
"What? You mean you've developed something?"
Professor Kim Ho-min laughed out loud.
[It's nothing that spectacular, so don't get your hopes up too high.]
"I'll be right there."
Taekgyu and I got in the car and rushed over.
When we arrived at the OTK Research Institute, Professor Kim Ho-min, who was with his fellow researchers, waved his hand.
"You're here."
"What did you want to show us?"
"First, let's have some coffee."
Professor Kim Ho-min personally made us instant coffee mixes. We drank them while quietly listening to him.
"While I was researching this and that, I stumbled upon something."
I was getting so curious I was about to become anxious.
"What on earth is it?"
Professor Kim Ho-min smiled playfully.
"As you know, battery development has lagged behind the advancement of electronic devices. While semiconductor performance has grown exponentially according to Moore's Law, battery capacity has only increased arithmetically."
"That's right."
The OTK Battery was able to sweep the market just by doubling the capacity of a standard NCM battery.
"Ultimately, the problem is the limitations of the materials. That's why everyone is struggling to develop new materials like graphene, silicon carbon, metal oxides, and organic materials."
Even now, nations and corporations were pouring enormous amounts of money into developing new batteries, mobilizing all their resources.
"Hold out your hands."
I held out both my palms. Professor Kim Ho-min placed a palm-sized battery, one that looked like it would fit in a smartphone, in my right hand.
Unsurprisingly, there was nothing special about its appearance.
"How is it?"
"It's light."
"Right? Then how about this one?"
Professor Kim Ho-min placed another battery in my other hand. It was a large, heavy battery pack that made my palm sag downwards.
"It's a battery pack made with OTK Batteries. Can you feel the difference between the two?"
"Of course I can. There's such a huge difference in size and weight."
"Those two have the same capacity."
"What?"
"The battery in your right hand can deliver 20 times the performance of an OTK Battery for the same mass."
At those words, Taekgyu and I were stunned.
"Really?"
Batteries were becoming so important in industry that they were called the semiconductors of the future. Demand was overflowing not just in EVs and ESS, but in various other fields.
If so, what would the value of this technology be?
"What about commercialization?"
Professor Kim Ho-min scratched his head.
"That would be nice, but it seems impossible."
Taekgyu shouted in surprise.
"Why?"
There are many great technologies in the world, but not all of them are commercialized.
To borrow a phrase Taekgyu once used, 'All commercialized products are commercialized for similar reasons, but every failed product fails for its own unique reason.'
It was too ahead of its time, there were too many defects in the manufacturing process, it turned out to be useless, a competing product was better, the price was too high, there was psychological resistance, government regulations, and so on.
"What's the problem? Safety?"
Even now, it was simple to increase battery capacity by 20 or 30 percent if one was determined. It just wasn't done because the risk of explosion would increase.
"I think we can solve that somehow."
"Then what is it?"
"It's the money."
In a product, price is just as important as quality.
"How much?"
Professor Kim Ho-min held up the battery in his hand.
"Compared to the OTK Battery, maybe about 300 times more expensive?"
No matter how much you increase the capacity by 20 times, not many people would pay that price.
For current electric cars and trucks, the OTK Battery was more than enough. So there was no need to pay an exorbitant price to install this new battery.
However, there would certainly be demand from those who needed it even if it meant paying a high price. For example, drones, airplanes, artificial satellites, and so on.
"Can't you lower the price if it goes into mass production?"
"It's the opposite."
"The opposite?"
At my words, Professor Kim Ho-min gave an awkward smile.
"If we tried to mass-produce it, the price would skyrocket by tens of thousands of times."