Chapter 438 |
Instead of answering, Grace Rothschild asked me a question.
“President Heo Chang-min is afraid of you. To be precise, he’s afraid that political power will be neutralized by capital power. What president wouldn’t be? The politicians in Korea want you to move OTK Company's corporate registration to Korea. That way, the political establishment can impose sanctions on you. Have you ever thought about what the future holds for OTK Company?”
“I can’t say I have.”
“John Davison Rockefeller dedicated his life to building his company. He didn't accumulate his wealth through illegal means; at the time, monopolies were perfectly legal. But the United States created a new law, the antitrust act, and his company was forcibly broken up. Is there any guarantee the same won’t happen to OTK Company?”
Today, IT giants like Npple, Gooble, MS, and AMZ vie for the top spot in market capitalization, but just a decade ago, that position was held by Exxon Mobil.
And the predecessor of Exxon Mobil was Standard Oil, founded by John Davison Rockefeller. Energy is the bedrock of a nation, yet the entire market was controlled by a single man and a single company.
To stop this, the U.S. government created the Sherman Act, also known as the antitrust law.
Rockefeller protested, but Standard Oil was forcibly dismantled and broken up into dozens of smaller companies. In essence, they created a law for one man and applied it to that one man.
She asked me, “Does any other unlisted company of OTK Company’s scale exist in the world?”
I said the company's name.
“Aramco.”
“That’s right. Saudi Arabia’s Aramco is a state-owned enterprise owned by the royal family. If another entrepreneur had built such a company in Saudi Arabia, what do you think would have happened? Would that company still be intact today?”
Crown Prince Sulaiman had locked up members of the royal family in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and extorted hundreds of billions of dollars in cash and shares from them.
Does this only happen in Saudi Arabia?
The Chinese Communist Party has long and overtly supported its domestic companies, helping them grow into global corporations. Now, however, it’s doing the opposite and reining them in.
Some entrepreneurs have been arrested by public security on corruption charges or forced to step down from management and retire. Some have even "donated" all their shares to the government.
This meant that capital power could be crushed by political power at any moment.
“You’ll be fine for now. You’re the hero who saved America from a crisis, and you’re on good terms with President Ronald. But will it last? Do you really think OTK Company will remain untouched when the president changes?”
“It should be safe for at least four years, then.”
At my words, she laughed out loud.
“You think Ronald can be re-elected?”
Ronald had saved the United States from the crisis of the Big One. His achievement was evaluated as being on par with that of Abraham Lincoln or Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Moreover, the U.S. economy was currently enjoying an unprecedented boom. It was hard to imagine him losing a re-election campaign.
“Before he became president, he was a real estate developer. Who do you think provided the financing for his business? And he has a fondness for women. What do you think we have on him?”
Real estate requires massive project financing, making it inextricably linked to the financial world.
Ronald had a history of intentionally declaring bankruptcy several times in his business dealings, and his relationships with women were complicated. Diane had attacked him on these points in the last election, but none of it had been a fatal blow.
Are they suggesting they hold a weakness even greater than that?
“Is that a threat?”
“We usually call this a political negotiation. What do you think Ronald will choose? Will he step down as an honorable president? Or will he run for re-election while shouldering all sorts of infamy?”
The Seosung Group began its growth into a major conglomerate after the Korean War.
In the decades since, the Seosung Group has formed its own human network across business, politics, law, and academia, wielding immense influence over all of Korean society. There’s a reason people call Korea the "Republic of Seosung."
The Rothschilds are a financial dynasty that has endured for 250 years. What, then, was the extent of their influence in Europe and America?
My mind became a chaotic mess.
“What are you trying to say?”
“The Rothschild family has fought against political power its entire existence. And we know how to solve that problem.”
“And what is that?”
“You become a King. No, to be more precise, I should say a Prince.”
“…”
What is she talking about?
Seeing my stunned expression, she continued.
“The Rothschilds own an island in the Caribbean. You move OTK Company’s corporate entity there and join the Commonwealth of Nations.”
It sounded far-fetched, but it wasn’t impossible.
Among the British Overseas Territories and Commonwealth nations are small island countries with populations of only a few tens of thousands.
But…
“No matter how much money I have, could a young Korean man with no connection to Britain really create a Commonwealth nation?”
“That problem is easily solved if you become Lord Rothschild.”
“What did you say?”
“You will succeed my grandfather and become the head of the Rothschild family.”
Becoming the head of the Rothschild family meant not only the honor of nobility but also the power to control the immense wealth and influence the family had accumulated over the centuries.
Just as the children of chaebol families fight to inherit their groups, there must be a tremendous succession battle raging within the family.
And she's offering that position to me?
“How…?”
“By marrying me.”
I was so flabbergasted I could hardly speak.
“You would marry a man you don’t even love for the sake of your family?”
Her sapphire-like eyes glittered as she spoke.
“Korean chaebols marry for necessity. The same goes for European royalty and nobility. How many of them do you think truly marry for love?”
Looking at the remaining European royal families, it's difficult to find any that aren't connected by marriage.
The Rothschilds, too, have marital ties with royalty and influential families throughout Europe and America.
Christine, who became the Crown Princess after marrying Crown Prince Hermann of Norway, is Grace’s older cousin, and James Rothschild married Nicky Hilton, an heiress to the famous Hilton hotel chain.
“And I like you.”
I was dumbfounded.
“What?”
“I told you before. I like lucky people. Is there anyone else in the world as lucky as you?”
“…”
I tried to organize my thoughts.
As seen with the Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Saint Lucia, and Samoa, British territories and Commonwealth nations are still used as tax havens.
In short, her proposal was to create our own tax haven. This was possible because OTK Company was an investment firm.
If we did that, there would be no taxes to pay, no tax audits to fear, no need to kowtow to politicians, and no risk of the company being broken up.
She reached her hand toward my face.
“A no-deal Brexit is going to happen. The UK financial market will be thrown into a completely unexpected chaos. In such a situation, who would object if the person capable of solving the problem becomes a member of the Commonwealth?”
I sensed something strange in her words.
Everyone was anticipating a no-deal Brexit to some extent. Therefore, any shock would be limited.
Then what did she mean by completely unexpected chaos?
After a moment of thought, a chill ran down my spine.
“Northern Ireland.”
Ireland succeeded in gaining independence from Britain in 1922, but Northern Ireland remained British territory. The issue was temporarily resolved when both Ireland and the UK joined the European Union, but Brexit had caused the problem to flare up again.
Fundamentally, Ireland’s position is that Northern Ireland is its own territory.
If the UK really were to build a hard border, Northern Ireland would turn into a powder keg. Perhaps it could even lead to bloodshed on the level of a war, surpassing the Bloody Sunday of 1972.
“The worst crisis, one that nobody thinks will happen, is always the best opportunity.”
Just as her finger was about to touch my cheek, I snatched her wrist.
“An opportunity? People dying is an opportunity?”
“When you make an investment, do you think about the process?”
“…What?”
“You knew about Brexit, but you didn’t stop it. Do you know how much the suicide rate in the UK increased after Brexit? Have you thought about the EU citizens and refugees who had to be expelled from the country?”
The vote was 49.1% Remain to 50.9% Leave, a difference of only 1.8 percent. If just 1 percent of those voters had changed their minds, the result would have been completely different.
If I had tried to stop it, couldn’t I have?
“What about Ronald’s election? Was that really for the good of the world, or was it for your own profit? The North Sea oil field? you knew the drilling rig would be damaged. The North Sea is still covered in oil. Who should be responsible for the losses of those who can no longer fish or run their aquaculture businesses? And what about Japan? The money that Nishida Securities lost due to a mistaken order was the Japanese people's retirement fund. For every dollar you earned, the people of Japan will have to endure a miserable retirement.”
“…”
I couldn't answer easily.
“Sheep are docile animals, but in England, they eat men.”
Obviously, sheep, being herbivores, do not eat humans. This was a metaphorical expression written by Thomas More in his book Utopia, criticizing the Enclosure Movement.
At that time, nobles and landowners fenced off land, turning farmland into pastures to raise sheep. The tenant farmers, unable to cultivate the land, either starved to death or had to leave for the cities.
She smiled and said, “But it can't be helped if you want to get high-quality wool.”
It meant she didn’t care what happened to anyone else as long as she could make money.
Then what about me?
I wasn't the one who caused Brexit or damaged the North Sea oil rig. But it was true that I knew and remained silent. Could I truly say I bore no responsibility?
For every profit I made from my investments, someone else suffered a loss. Was that truly just?
But bloodshed was a different matter. And the place where it would happen was not some other country, but Britain itself.
Was she saying she didn't care if a war broke out in her own country?
Her attitude gave me another intense feeling of dissonance.
I was born into an ordinary family and rose to this position. But she had been a member of the Rothschild financial dynasty from birth.
It wasn't just our lives that were different; our very way of thinking was different.
A person sees the world from where they stand. What did the world look like from her perspective?
“Why go to such lengths? Why?”
She said in a calm voice, “Francisco Pizarro ambushed and captured the Incan emperor, Atahualpa. In exchange for his life, he demanded enough gold to fill a room. King Atahualpa kept his promise, but Pizarro did not. After giving up everything, King Atahualpa was murdered. Only after being forcibly converted to Catholicism so his body could be preserved.”
The vast amounts of silver and gold plundered from the New World were loaded onto ships and sent back to their home country. Spain grew by sucking up gold as if it were sucking blood. England, in turn, took its share by plundering those very ships.
“Hernán Cortés did something similar. The Aztecs, unable to understand, asked him, ‘Why do you white men need so much gold, which you cannot even eat?’ Hernán Cortés replied, ‘Because my companions and I suffer from a disease of the heart that can only be cured by gold.’”
Perhaps that was the only truth he ever told the Aztecs.
A smile appeared on her face.
“We all suffer from a disease of the heart called greed. That is why everyone needs more money than they could ever spend. What about you?”
No matter how much money you have, you can't spend it all.
Even if you have multiple houses, you can't live in all of them at once. Even if you have multiple cars, you can't drive them all at the same time.
When the have-nots want something, it is out of necessity. But when the haves want more, it is because of greed.
“Greed is the driving force that moves the world.”
I couldn't deny her words.
If successful entrepreneurs and investors hadn't strived to earn more money, the world would not have developed as it has.
She whispered in a sweet voice, “You will be able to obtain everything you desire.”
At that moment, something appeared before my eyes.