In the conference room of SAVE investment company, all the key members were gathered watching TV.
Although we were drinking cola and eating popcorn as if watching a movie, we weren't watching a movie.
We were watching the presidential election vote count broadcast, which was even more interesting than a movie.
"At this rate, Bush will win the presidency comfortably. He's leading 54 to 3 now."
"We still need to wait. The vote count in the South, where the Republican Party is strong, has just finished. The count in Florida is starting, which could flip the results."
As the vote counting progressed, the situation became more interesting.
The comfortable score of 54 to 3 narrowed to a close 119 to 121 by the time Texas's count was completed.
"Now New York's count has begun. It's a Democratic-leaning region, so the gap may widen."
"It looks like he's falling behind a bit."
It wasn't just a little behind.
The narrow gap quickly grew to a significant difference of 153 to 192.
At this rate, Bush's election looked difficult.
But when Ohio's count started, the tide turned.
Florida's results became competitive, significantly reducing the gap.
"It's now a complete toss-up. The West and South are going Republican, while the coastal states are going Democratic."
"The score is 246 to 249. He's slightly behind, but the results in Florida could still turn things around."
We continued watching the vote count broadcast.
Before we knew it, the sun had set and the moon rose, and one by one, people began to fall asleep at their desks.
"Florida's results have flipped!"
"The results are finally in. Since Florida has shown as a Bush-leaning area, there won't be any more reversals."
Now we could watch the vote count broadcast with peace of mind.
If I remembered correctly, Bush was set to win by a razor-thin margin.
Was it because I intervened?
Bush won Florida by a surprisingly large margin.
Buzz!
A call came in late past 4 a.m.
I immediately sensed it was from Bush's election campaign.
"Congratulations!"
[Thank you. It's thanks to you. I just received a concession call from candidate Gore.]
Bush's voice came through the phone.
His voice was hoarse from the long campaign, but his emotions were clear.
"Did you contact me first?"
[You were the first person who came to mind.
I will invite you to the inauguration, so please be sure to come.]
"Of course, I will attend. If you invite me, I will drop everything to be there."
[Then see you then. I have to contact others, so I'll hang up now.]
"Congratulations again, President-elect."
Was I nervous?
I put the phone, which I had been holding respectfully with both hands, onto the desk and leaned back in my chair.
"Was that a call from the Bush camp?"
"Candidate Gore conceded."
"You made the right choice again, sir."
"Have I ever failed? So hurry and secure Qualcomm's shares."
"We have already secured up to 35%. We can get up to 50% within this month."
"When the stake is secured, work behind the scenes to arrange for Qualcomm to sign a foundry contract with Taewoo Semiconductor."
"A 50% stake is enough to change the CEO.
Naturally, that can be done."
I fell into thought for a moment.
Would Apple and Qualcomm alone be enough?
Shouldn't we also secure shares of other IT companies like AMD?
That way, we could sign more foundry contracts.
I shook my head.
Hyundai Semiconductor didn't have that capability yet.
First, it was a priority to supply semiconductors to Apple reliably.
After that, it wouldn't be too late to target other IT companies.
The IT bubble hadn't burst yet.
At least until the year after next, IT company stock prices would continue to fall, so there was no need to move immediately.
After finishing my schedule, I returned to Korea.
With no time to rest, I went straight to the company, where President Woo Seong-il of Taewoo Electronics and the planning director were waiting for me.
"How is the current semiconductor situation?"
"The creditors have halfway given up. Although they are steadily contacting foreign companies, no one is stepping forward. Moreover, the government is applying pressure, so debt relief procedures have become unavoidable."
Time was still on our side.
As time passed, the creditors started dropping out on their own.
But time was no longer entirely on our side.
To keep up with the iPhone launch, we had to acquire Hyundai Semiconductor as soon as possible.
"Please call in all the creditors. I want to talk with them directly."
"They had already requested meetings several times."
"So, they were waiting for me."
"The chairman delegated full authority to the vice chairman, so the creditors had been waiting indefinitely."
It was a situation where both sides felt uneasy.
However, no one knew that I had signed an exclusive contract with Apple, so outwardly it seemed the creditors alone were in a difficult position.
"I will meet with the creditors tomorrow."
"I will arrange the schedule."
The planning director left the vice chairman's office to arrange the schedule.
I turned my head toward President Woo Seong-il, who was left alone.
"If we acquire Hyundai Semiconductor, Taewoo Electronics will manage it. Do you think you can handle that?"
"I will do my best to manage it. However, there are limits to drastically reducing the scale of its deficits."
It was beyond President Woo Seong-il's ability.
Turning a company with deficits of 2 trillion won per year into profitability in an instant was nearly impossible.
So my remark was not meant to blame him.
"Deficits are natural. If we acquire Hyundai Semiconductor, the deficits might even increase."
"Honestly, I expected that too. The semiconductor cycle is so unfavorable that the current scale of deficits will likely continue for 2 to 3 years."
"So we have to manage more aggressively. We plan to use all of Taewoo Electronics' reserves to revive Hyundai Semiconductor."
"Using all of Taewoo Electronics' reserves might still be insufficient."
Taewoo had many revenue models.
Starting with home appliances and expanding into IT businesses, it was generating huge cash flow annually.
But even so, the funds were still insufficient to revive Hyundai Semiconductor.
"That's why we plan to also use funds from Taewoo Telecom. It will be a joint operation where Taewoo Electronics and Taewoo Telecom manage Hyundai Semiconductor together like a joint venture."
"If we can use Taewoo Telecom's reserves as well, we might be able to cover the deficits. But there's also the risk that Hyundai Semiconductor could cause both Taewoo Electronics and Telecom to collapse simultaneously."
President Woo was worrying unnecessarily.
If everything failed, I planned to mobilize the financial power of the SAVE investment company too.
"Don't worry. I will take full responsibility."
"Then I will start securing funds for acquiring Hyundai Semiconductor together with Taewoo Telecom."
"Don't be too obvious about it. If the creditors catch wind, the price will only go up."
"Understood. I will move carefully to avoid rumors leaking."
***
The next day, the creditors of Hyundai Semiconductor came to visit Taewoo Group.
The issue with Hyundai Semiconductor was so serious that bank presidents or vice presidents from major banks came in person.
"Nice to meet you. I am Kim Min-jae, vice chairman of Taewoo Group. Thank you for coming all this way."
"We thank you for giving us the opportunity to visit Taewoo Group."
We exchanged brief greetings with the creditors.
Until now, the atmosphere had been quite harmonious, but the moment we brought up the main subject, the atmosphere turned hostile.
"The creditors find it difficult to accept Taewoo Group's conditions. We are prepared to forgive part of the debt, but we cannot agree to a 75% debt relief. Banks are businesses too. Which business would accept a 75% loss?"
"It sounds like you don't mind Taewoo Group taking a loss. Let me ask you instead. Is there any reason to acquire Hyundai Semiconductor while taking on 25% of the debt? A company that reports a 2 trillion won annual deficit?"
"...."
The creditors were speechless.
They knew very well about Hyundai Semiconductor's condition and also understood that this acquisition could shake the entire Taewoo Group.
Still, since the creditors wanted to sell Hyundai Semiconductor for a good price, the president of the Korea Exchange Bank spoke for them.
"Semiconductors are ultimately cyclical. If you wait a few years, there will come a time when it turns profitable."
"The losses to withstand over those few years will be at least 6 trillion won. Can those losses ever be recovered just because it turns profitable?"
"I believe Taewoo Group can manage that. And for the development of Korea, wouldn't it be better for the Taewoo Group to acquire it rather than a foreign company?"
Ultimately, the bank president appealed to patriotism.
That much, Hyundai Semiconductor was not an attractive asset.
If they had presented world-class technology, it would be different.
But once patriotism was brought up, the negotiation started moving in my favor.
"Thank you for your kind words. As you say, we are willing to bear enormous losses in the interest of Korea's development and have shown interest in acquiring Hyundai Semiconductor.
But why won't the creditors do the same?
We ask for a significant concession for the development of Korea."
"Of course, we will make significant concessions. We will forgive up to 50% of the debt."
Are you joking?
For bad debts, receiving even 10% is considered a good outcome.
But demanding as much as 50%—how greedy is that?
"If you put it that way, Taewoo Group has no choice but to stick to its original conditions.
It is the only way to save both Taewoo Electronics and Hyundai Semiconductor simultaneously."
"So you're saying you won't acquire Hyundai Semiconductor unless there's a 75% debt relief?"
"That's right."
"May we have a private discussion for a moment?"
"By all means. We'll step out for 30 minutes."
I left the meeting room.
They must be thinking hard.
Is it better to accept even 25%, or let the creditors try to revive Hyundai Semiconductor?
The Korea Exchange Bank, holding the largest amount of debt, would want to get as much as possible.
But the outcome was already decided.
Among the six bank presidents in the creditors' group, half had already met with David.
The bank presidents were essentially just contract workers.
Once their contracts ended, they had to leave the bank and fend for themselves, a problem I could easily solve.
"Vice Chairman, the creditors' meeting is over."
The planning director came to find me 30 minutes later.
After leaning back in my chair and briefly dozing off, I was able to head to the meeting room with lighter steps.
"The final conditions have been decided through the creditors' meeting. They agreed to forgive up to 65% of the debt. They said they won't allow any more than that."
"I need a moment to think."
It was a somewhat disappointing condition.
If we could delay for another year or two, I was confident we could get over 70% debt relief.
But to meet the iPhone launch schedule, we had to acquire Hyundai Semiconductor immediately.
In fact, I was the one in urgent need.
To hide that, I sighed first.
"Phew, that's really an unfortunate condition.
But what can we do? If this is the only way for the creditors, Hyundai Semiconductor, and Taewoo Group to survive, we have to accept it."