Chapter 19: CH19
After finishing his morning classes, Seok-won rode his bicycle to a bookstore located a short distance from the lecture hall. The bookstore was housed in a red brick building with an old-fashioned design. Seok-won entered and, with practiced ease, went straight to the wall where the newspapers were displayed, picking up the latest edition of The Wall Street Journal.
After paying for it, he ordered a cranberry chicken sandwich and an iced Americano at the attached cafeteria. The clerk, Rafael, grinned as he spoke to him.
"Hey there. You're quite the talk of the campus."
"Talk?"
"They say you won the final match yesterday. Congratulations on becoming the champion."
Seok-won scratched the back of his head, a bit embarrassed, and replied modestly, "It's not that big of a deal…"
"What are you talking about? You crushed MIT! The guys who were at Moby Dick yesterday couldn't stop talking about what an amazing match it was."
Rafael placed the plate with Seok-won's food on the pickup counter and winked.
"Today's on the house. How could I charge the champion?"
"Thank you. I appreciate it," Seok-won said, accepting the tray. There was no way to refuse the kind gesture, so he took it and headed to an outdoor table.
It seemed that the Street Fighter II tournament from the previous day had become a hot topic, with people in the dormitory and even in his morning classes, some of whom he barely knew, recognizing him and offering congratulations. The sudden fame left Seok-won feeling a bit overwhelmed and disoriented as if he had become a campus celebrity overnight.
'It feels a bit awkward, but it's not a bad thing if I think about the future,' Seok-won thought, sitting at the outdoor table, sipping his iced Americano.
"Who would have thought I'd run into him there yesterday?" he murmured to himself, pulling a business card from his wallet and staring at the name on it.
[Barack Obama]
The man whose name was on the card would become the first Black president of the United States in 17 years.
Seok-won knew that Obama had attended Harvard Law School but had assumed there would be no chance of meeting him since Obama had graduated the previous year.
"Come to think of it, he set a record as the first Black editor of the Harvard Law Review while he was here," Seok-won recalled. It was clear that the saying, "A tree is known by its fruit," held true.
Obama was now working as a civil rights lawyer in Chicago and teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School.
Reflecting on their conversation, Seok-won muttered, "He said he was at Harvard for business and came by when he heard about the MIT-Harvard game tournament. It really was an unexpected stroke of luck."
Knowing Obama would be the future president, Seok-won had already planned to keep his name high on his list of potential connections. The fact that he had managed to establish a relationship with him by chance was nothing short of fortunate.
"Roy does come in handy sometimes," Seok-won chuckled, carefully placing Obama's business card back in his wallet. There would come a time when he could leverage this connection, but that was still far in the future. For now, he had more pressing matters to attend to.
"Let's see here," he said, biting into his sandwich and unfolding the Wall Street Journal to find articles related to the UK.
[
London Stock Market Continues to Rebound from Black Wednesday's Nightmare
As of September 30th, local time, the London Stock Exchange has regained stability and continues to rebound following the dramatic crash caused by Black Wednesday. The FTSE 100 index closed at 3,086.40, up 1.6% from the previous day.
This rise reflects growing optimism that the UK economy is stabilizing despite the sharp drop in the pound following the government's announcement of its exit from the ERM. In fact, export-driven companies are seeing significant improvement in their performance, driving the market rebound.
Although the exchange rate situation is still not entirely stable, it appears to be bottoming out and regaining stability…]
As expected, the London stock market was recovering swiftly from the shock of Black Wednesday without reaching its worst-case scenario.
"It's already up by 20%," Seok-won noted. The FTSE 100 index had stood at 3,233.80 points before the crash, so it seemed likely that it would recover to that level without much difficulty.
Having bought in near the bottom, just holding onto his position would guarantee him substantial profits.
"I could hold on longer, but I'll probably sell off at a good point for maximum profit," Seok-won thought, turning to the next page of the newspaper as he considered the best time to cash out.
***
At Daeheung Group's headquarters in Mapo, Seoul
Chairman Park Tae-hong, sitting behind his large mahogany desk, looked up at the sound of a knock on his office door.
"Come in," he said.
As his chief secretary, Gil Seong-ho, entered the room, Park gestured toward the sofa.
"Have a seat."
"Yes, sir."
With his deep voice, Chairman Park instructed the secretary, who held a document file, to sit on the leather sofa to his left.
After closing the report he had been reading, Chairman Park got up from his chair, walked around the desk, and sat in the main seat, asking,
"Did the negotiations go well?"
"Yes, sir," Gil Seong-ho replied, handing over the document file as he continued, "As reported, we've finalized the acquisition of a 30.44% stake at 22,200 won per share."
"The acquisition price was 114.2 billion won, correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"And we agreed to add a 30% premium for management rights."
"That's right."
"I heard that SaSeong recently acquired International Securities at a 50% premium over market value. You did well in the negotiations."
"In return, we agreed to transfer 10% of our stake in Gangnam Bus Terminal and the express cargo business unit to Taesan."
Chairman Park, having already been briefed and approved of these details, flipped through the final agreement in the file, carefully reviewing it before nodding slightly.
"So, after accounting for the assets being transferred, the cash payment due will be 79 billion won."
"Yes, sir."
Placing the file down on the table, Chairman Park leaned back in the sofa and said, "There won't be any issues raising the acquisition funds, right?"
"Our primary bank has agreed to loan the full amount."
"What interest rate are they offering?"
"They've agreed to lend at 9%, which is lower than the standard corporate loan rate."
"That's a fair deal."
Considering that standard corporate loan rates exceeded 10%, it was indeed a favorable rate.
"The Gangnam Bus Terminal stake is a bit regrettable, but since that business was running at a loss, it's best we cut it loose now."
Having made up his mind, Chairman Park looked at his secretary and instructed, "Proceed with the contract as planned."
"Yes, sir."
"And don't forget to grease the wheels with the government to ensure the acquisition goes smoothly."
"Of course, sir."
Even with the agreement between both parties, any hitch from the government could derail the entire deal, so it was crucial to make arrangements in advance.
Anticipating that the new securities firm would become a growth engine for the group, Chairman Park spent a long time discussing the subsequent steps with his secretary.
***
John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York.
As the automatic doors slid open, passengers streamed out into the arrival hall.
Among them was Seok-won, wearing a spacious jacket over a white shirt, pulling a carry-on suitcase as he walked. He paused in the middle of the bustling lobby, scanning his surroundings until someone waved at him and approached.
"Mr. Park! Over here."
It was Landon Shore, the lawyer who had assisted him in Texas.
"Long time no see," Seok-won greeted him with a smile, extending his hand.
While Seok-won had established an investment company named Eldorado, as a student, he couldn't stay in New York indefinitely. And with the responsibilities of running the company, he needed someone to handle various tasks on his behalf.
After much consideration, Seok-won had offered Landon a position, someone he had worked with before and trusted, and the result was now standing before him.
"Is that all your luggage?" Landon asked.
"I'll only be here for a few days, so I packed light. If I need anything, I can just buy it."
"That's wise. Traveling with too much baggage is always a hassle."
Nodding in understanding, Landon gestured to the man standing behind him.
"Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you. This is the new staff member we hired when we set up the office."
The young white man, who appeared to be in his early twenties, had a slender face and looked somewhat nervous, likely because he knew Seok-won was the company's CEO despite being close in age.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Mason Akott, Jr."
"Pleasure to meet you, Mason. I'm Seok-won Park."
"It's an honor, Mr. Park!" Mason replied eagerly, shaking hands with him.
"Mason graduated from the University of Pennsylvania last year and interned at Salomon Brothers. He's a pretty capable guy," Landon added, as if to show off his hiring skills.
"Great. I look forward to working with you."
"Thank you, sir! I'll do my best."
Smiling at Mason's enthusiasm, Landon gestured toward the exit.
"I have a car waiting outside, so let's head out."
Mason quickly grabbed Seok-won's carry-on, saying, "Let me take care of your luggage."
Handing over the suitcase, Seok-won followed Landon out of the busy lobby.
Soon, the group was in a Cadillac Escalade, leaving the airport and heading straight to Manhattan via the highway.
"Should I drop you off at the hotel first?" Landon asked from the seat next to him.
Seok-won shook his head. "I'm not really tired, and I'm curious to see the office, so let's head there directly."
"Understood," Landon said, tapping the shoulder of the black driver and instructing, "Take us to the Manhattan office."
The Escalade drove for a while, crossing the iconic Gothic arches of the Brooklyn Bridge before entering Manhattan.
As soon as they arrived in the skyscraper-filled district, they were greeted by the infamous Manhattan traffic.
"It's always like this here," Seok-won remarked, watching the slow-moving vehicles through the window.
"Don't get me started. This isn't even that bad. During rush hour, it's a nightmare."
Landon shook his head, clearly exasperated.
"I can see why."
"That's why Wall Street big shots commute by private helicopter instead of dealing with this mess."
It reminded Seok-won of the frequent helicopter traffic he'd noticed during his last stay in New York.
'So those were all privately owned?'
It made sense—someone with the status of a Wall Street titan would value time as money. Sitting idle in traffic would be a waste, so using a helicopter would be more efficient.
"That sounds like a good idea. I should make more money quickly so I can get one."
"Haha. Surely you could afford it now if you wanted."
"Not yet," Seok-won replied with a grin, pointing to the towering buildings outside the window.
"You need to own at least one of those in Manhattan to justify having a personal helicopter."
Landon was taken aback by how casually Seok-won talked about buying one of the world's most expensive properties.
"If you do buy a building, we should move the office there too," Landon suggested.
"Of course. It probably won't take long."
From his expression, it didn't seem like he was joking.
Landon couldn't help but feel that it might actually happen, given what he'd seen of Seok-won's abilities.
As they chatted, the traffic began to move again, and the car slowly made its way through Manhattan's congested streets.
TL/n -
Barack Obama attended several educational institutions throughout his life:
Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he graduated in 1979.
Occidental College in Los Angeles, California, for two years.
Columbia University in New York City, where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science in 1983.
Harvard Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1991 and became the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review.
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