WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Conglomerate Heir Just Wants to Fail ◈

Chapter 20

──────

Hanseong Securities mobilized every bit of capital and leverage it could muster and dumped Daeseung Life shares onto the market.

The tension was suffocating in the trading room at Hanseong Securities' Yeouido headquarters.

Before dozens of monitors flashing endlessly with numbers, Executive Director Cha moved like a maestro conducting an orchestra.

“Get the program selling ready! Release more shares in ten minutes, right before lunch!”

“Check the securities lending limits! Find every place we can borrow more from! Citi? Goldman? Don't worry about the interest rate, just pull in as much as you can!”

Whenever Executive Director Cha's sharp commands rang through the room, the traders in headsets moved in perfect coordination, flooding the market with sell orders worth billions of won at a time.

Whenever the institution's massive sell orders hit, the stock price wavered before plunging.

Yet every time, as if springs were bursting up from underground, powerful buying pressure rushed in whenever it seemed to hit bottom, driving the price back up.

Long, sharp lower wicks appeared one after another on the chart.

“As expected... those Daeseung bastards have an incredible amount of cash on hand.”

Executive Director Cha muttered while stroking his chin.

But instead of anxiety, a cruel hunter's smile rested on his face.

“But this time, you lose. You're about to reach your limit.”

Daeseung was the one pouring water into a bottomless jar.

All the money it poured in to defend its stock price was an expense eating away at the company's future, while Hanseong made more money as time passed and the price fell.

Executive Director Cha twisted his lips as he imagined Daeseung's young Vice Chairman, about whom everything but his age was shrouded in mystery, collapsing miserably when the upcoming earnings were announced.

.

I was reclining on the sofa, watching Daeseung Life's stock chart slowly slide downward.

‘If I can hold on just a little longer, the retail investors will get tired and drop out too. Then the stock price will fall into the abyss.’

There was a limit to how long the company could endure by defending its stock price with money from its affiliates.

In the end, the shares of a company with poor earnings were bound to fall.

With a satisfied smile, I changed the channel with the remote.

An economics channel happened to be discussing Daeseung Life.

An analyst on the panel was speaking with a deeply serious expression.

[Daeseung Life's recent moves are utterly incomprehensible. Excessive payout rates that shake the foundation of the insurance industry, rising operating expenses, and even meaningless treasury share purchases... They may appear to have succeeded in defending the stock price in the short term, but this is nothing more than poison eating away at the company's future value. The stock price is expected to return to where it belongs before long.]

“Heh heh... Exactly. That's it.”

It felt as if a weight had been lifted from my chest.

As expected, experts had a sharp eye.

I was certain that I was ruining the company in exactly the right direction.

Just then, the intercom connected to the Executive Office rang. President Jeon of Daeseung Financial, who had requested a meeting today, had arrived.

“Have you wrapped up the work that had been keeping you so busy?”

He looked as though my unreasonable orders and the company falling apart had left him too frazzled to think straight.

Leaning back against the sofa, I silently asked President Jeon that teasing question as I looked at his tired face.

He must have suffered quite a bit, trying to defend the stock price while dealing with soaring operating expenses.

“Yes, Vice Chairman. The Asian investment managers from the National Pension Service (NPS), the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, or GPFG, and the California Public Employees' Retirement System, or CalPERS, came to Korea for a first meeting. They seemed deeply impressed by Daeseung Life and the vision of our financial group.”

“...Excuse me? Who did you say?”

I had heard of the National Pension Service, but the long, strange names that followed were completely unfamiliar to me.

“Ah, the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund is not widely known in Korea, but it ranks second in the world by assets under management. CalPERS ranks around eighth to tenth by size, but it is the largest public pension fund in the United States. In ESG, a field the Vice Chairman has been taking an interest in lately, it has the greatest influence.”

‘ESG...? I’m interested in that? What even is it?’

Still, I couldn't bring myself to ask that question out loud.

“...Together, their assets under management exceed South Korea's annual budget several times over. You can think of them as some of the biggest players in global finance.”

“Then why would institutions like that...?”

“They highly valued our efforts toward the customer-centered management and social responsibility you ordered. In particular, they said the successful operation of the Daeseung Microfinance Foundation and Daeseung Life's unprecedented insurance payout policy perfectly align with their ESG investment philosophy. They expressed their intention to greatly increase their investments going forward.”

President Jeon's voice held excitement and pride he could not hide.

“So... they want to invest in Daeseung? How much?”

I barely managed to force the words out.

“The exact amount is still being coordinated, but the three funds are expected to commit at least 5 trillion won to purchasing shares of Daeseung Life and our financial affiliates, Vice Chairman.”

President Jeon's words did not reach my ears.

Five trillion?

Five trillion won?

When my expression stiffened, President Jeon seemed to misunderstand something and added an explanation I hadn't even asked for.

“Ah, there is no need to worry about management control. CalPERS is known as an activist fund, but we made that point clear during this meeting.”

An activist fund?

What was that?

But I liked the name right away.

‘Activist,’ huh?

Didn't that sound like something that might stir up trouble?

They could interfere with management, make things noisy, and perhaps become the best possible ally in ruining the company.

Clinging to that faint hope, I asked.

“Does... activist mean they interfere with our management and such?”

“That is correct. That is why I got ahead of them. I identified the ESG-related matters they might demand from us through shareholder proposals, then proved with specific data that we are already voluntarily carrying out innovations far beyond their standards. When I briefed them on not only the higher insurance payout rate, but also the achievements of the microfinance foundation and our cooperation model with the government, they were practically speechless and said they might have more to learn from us.”

President Jeon continued.

“Their logic is simple. They say companies should not pursue profit alone, but fulfill their social responsibility. But we are already contributing to society more transparently and proactively than any other company. Thanks to your leadership, Vice Chairman. So I told them this during the meeting: ‘The Vice Chairman holds himself to standards higher than anything you demand. Interfering with our management would be the same as obstructing our innovation.’”

President Jeon added one last remark as though joking.

“In conclusion, they completely trust our group's management approach and have promised to support us as long-term partners. Unless we do something utterly insane and unreasonable, like deliberately trying to bankrupt the company for no reason.”

That was exactly what I wanted to do...

But didn't that mean they would stop me if I did something too obvious from now on?

“Th-then the shares we've bought so far...?”

“As you instructed in advance, our other affiliates are also purchasing enormous quantities of Daeseung Life shares. Once their investments are announced, we should see tremendous valuation gains. And as a bonus, we'll land another solid blow on those Hanseong bastards.”

Then, as if my words had given him a hint, President Jeon's eyes lit up.

“We can use those treasury-share holdings to transfer stock to the pension funds through block deals without releasing anything onto the market! Hanseong will need to return the shares it borrowed, but there will be no supply on the market, so they will be wailing. And if we transfer the shares to pension funds through block deals, they will even buy them at a premium over the market price.”

A block deal?

What was that now?

An endless stream of unfamiliar terms poured into my mind and churned it up.

All I could do was nod blankly.

“They have trillions of won to deploy. If they buy shares directly on the market, the stock price will soar, leaving them with a higher average purchase price. If we transfer our treasury shares to them, they can secure the quantity they want steadily without disrupting the market. They cannot help but be grateful to us. Did you anticipate even this? As expected, Vice Chairman, your foresight is beyond compare.”

“No, that isn't it... Shouldn't we be a little more careful? Do we really need to sell them at a higher price?”

I hurriedly cut President Jeon off.

Forget selling them at a higher price. It would hardly be enough even if I sold them off immediately for next to nothing.

“Ah! You're right, Vice Chairman. I was too caught up in immediate results.”

President Jeon slapped a knee again at my words.

“What matters now is not simply attracting investment, but using this opportunity to raise Daeseung Group's global standards another level. I will devise a way for us to absorb their advanced investment management expertise and risk management techniques as well. If we promise to allocate more shares to institutions that offer us those advantages rather than a price premium, negotiations should not be difficult.”

The more I spoke, the worse the situation became.

“I will make sure to achieve good results in next week's meeting with Japan's public pension fund, GPIF, as well. The ones closest to us are always the slowest to get off their seats. Ha ha.”

“...Right. You've been working hard.”

“Then I will take my leave and prepare a detailed negotiation proposal. Vice Chairman, thank you once again. Thanks to you, Daeseung Financial is entering a new era.”

With an expression overwhelmed by emotion, President Jeon bowed nearly ninety degrees before leaving the Vice Chairman's office.

The heavy door closed, and I was alone in the room again.

I collapsed weakly onto the sofa.

The empty ceiling seemed to spin overhead.

I was ruined.

Ruined again, completely.

Not the company.

My plan.

.

Meanwhile, at around the same time, in Hanseong Securities' trading room...

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried