CH438 | Heir

A few days after the renegotiations with the shipping companies, I found myself facing yet another potential renegotiation.

“Novo Nordisk has sent their final notice. Along with a demand to renegotiate the Yugobin shares, they’ve filed a lawsuit.”

“Seems they’ve finally found some grounds to sue.”

“They’ve filed separate suits in both the U.S. and Denmark. In the U.S., the odds are overwhelmingly in our favor. But in Denmark, things are less certain. If we lose there, it could become difficult to sell Yugobin across the EU.”

Novo Nordisk knew all of this perfectly well.

Yet their decision to sue meant they intended to burn bridges completely.

“If they’re coming at us aggressively, then it’s time we use the card we’ve been saving. We’ll file our own lawsuit.”

“Which jurisdiction should we choose? Denmark and the EU are advantageous battlegrounds for Novo Nordisk. But if we file in Korea, the impact will be too small.”

Global corporations deal with countless lawsuits—patent disputes, technology theft, obstruction of business. They inevitably become seasoned in legal warfare.

“Let’s proceed in the United States.”

“But Yugobin is technically a dispute between Taewoo Group and Novo Nordisk. Our grounds for filing in a U.S. court might be weak.”

“We can file on the basis of technology theft. Some shares of Taewoo Group’s AI technology are held by American IT companies.”

The AI research center was within Taewoo Group.

But we had strengthened our technological capabilities through collaboration with many global conglomerates. In particular, companies where I was a major shareholder often exchanged shares with us.

“Ah! Since American IT companies hold a portion of our AI technology shares, that gives us sufficient standing to sue in the U.S.”

“Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook—these tech giants will stand as witnesses on our behalf.”

The influence of IT firms that owned a stake in our AI technology was immense.

We were sharing technology with companies known across the globe.

That not only made the lawsuit possible, but it also gave us a strong chance to fight on very favorable terms.

“If it goes that way, the U.S. courts will hand down a ruling in our favor.”

“With solid evidence of technology theft, we don’t even need the court to lean toward us—the victory is inevitable.”

“The real problem is the Danish courts. If the Danish government or the EU applies pressure, we might end up losing there.”

“Then we’ll make sure they’re forced to back down. If Novo Nordisk withdraws the lawsuit, nothing will come of it.”

If Novo Nordisk dropped the case, neither Denmark nor the EU would have any way to intervene.

Once the plaintiff withdraws, everything is over.

“I’ll get the legal team and our U.S. law firm moving so we can file within the week.”

“Build the best defense team through David. I don’t care how much money it takes—actually, I want you to spend excessively. That way Novo Nordisk will be intimidated.”

“Understood. We’ll assemble such an extravagant, elite legal team that people will say we crushed them with money alone.”

I had been holding back all this time.

I endured when Novo Nordisk sent protest letters. I endured when they played their games in the media.

To be precise, it wasn’t endurance—it was waiting. Waiting for the right moment. And now, the time had come to play the card I had been saving.

***

Novo Nordisk Board of Directors.

It was a company where the board held overwhelming influence.
Every decision had to pass through them.

“Taewoo Group has filed a lawsuit in the United States.”

“The thief is the one raising his voice? What exactly are they suing us for?”

Chairman Russ erupted in anger.

They were the victims, and Taewoo Group was the perpetrator.
Yet here was the perpetrator suing the victim—it was absurd.

“They’ve filed for technology theft. They claim we stole their artificial intelligence technology.”

“So, after we used their AI technology through a contract, they’re now insisting it was theft? Hah, what an outrageous company.”

Chairman Russ let out a bitter laugh.

But unlike him, the executives couldn’t hide their unease.
Their faces had turned pale, and he noticed them swallowing nervously.

“Y-You don’t mean… we actually stole the AI technology, do you?”

“Not outright theft, but at the research center level… we did conduct a bit of research without approval.”

“You mean without Taewoo Group’s consent?”

“…Yes.”

Russ pressed his temples with his fingers.
He had never even imagined that the executives would commit such a reckless act without his knowledge.

“So this is their ploy—using the AI theft accusation to cover up the new drug heist. What are our chances of winning?”

“That’s where things get complicated. It’s not just Taewoo Group—several other companies have filed lawsuits as well.”

“What do you mean, other companies? Why would they sue us?”

“Because American firms also held partial shares in Taewoo Group’s AI technology.”

“So that’s why the lawsuit was filed in the United States. Haa…”

Exhaling deeply, Russ tried to steady himself.

But the legal team’s report wasn’t over.
Worse news was still to come.

“The companies that filed lawsuits are Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Tesla.”

“What did you just say?!”

Chairman Russ shot up from his seat.

Hearing the names of the world’s top ten corporations listed one after another, he couldn’t remain calm.

“It’s been revealed that many U.S. tech giants co-developed artificial intelligence with Taewoo Group. And if we lose this lawsuit, the damages could reach astronomical sums.”

“How does that compare to winning the Yugobin case in Europe?”

“If Centurion is barred from selling Yugobin in Europe and we’re able to produce and sell it ourselves there, the profits could be significant. But we’d have to forfeit the U.S. and Asian markets, and when you factor in damages, it would actually cost us more.”

At the end of the day, a company’s purpose was to generate profit.

With Novo Nordisk’s technical capabilities, they could certainly replicate a drug similar to Yugobin in a short time.

But the patents were held by Centurion, and only through litigation could they gain the right to manufacture and sell in Europe.

The real problem was the damages.

If the compensation owed exceeded what they could earn from European sales, then the whole effort was meaningless.

Sure, abandoning the U.S. market might save them from paying damages.

But the United States was the largest importer of diabetes treatments—walking away from that market was impossible. Which meant damages were inevitable.

“Even if we win the Yugobin equity lawsuit, we’ll still end up worse off.”

“That’s correct. At this point, the best option is to negotiate—both we and Taewoo Group should drop our lawsuits.”

“Hah… what a ridiculous turn of events. Tell me—why did you let greed blind you? Let me ask again. What did you actually gain from all that greed?”

Chairman Russ fixed his gaze on the executives as he spoke.

But not a single one of them dared to answer.

Yes, they had stolen the AI technology.
But they hadn’t even managed to make use of it anywhere.

It had been a perfectly functional system at first.

Then errors began appearing, and now it wouldn’t run at all.

The executives assumed they simply lacked the ability to utilize it.

In truth, it was because Director Chun Min-jung had deliberately caused the system to malfunction.

“Well done, indeed. Don’t you ever forget what your greed has cost us!”

“I apologize. I’ll personally visit Korea to see if we can at least negotiate recognition of a partial stake.”

“No. I’ll go myself. Schedule a trip to Korea immediately. I need to speak directly with Chairman Kim.”

Normally, Chairman Russ rarely engaged in external activities.

But this time, he couldn’t trust anyone else.

If this went wrong, Novo Nordisk could lose its glory in one blow.

That was why Chairman Russ decided to move personally.

***

Today, I went to work at the Financial Tower.

From the moment I stepped through the main entrance, cheers of joy erupted from all corners.

It was clear that the Brexit situation had brought in considerable profits.

“Chairman, you’ve arrived!”

“The employees all seem to be in high spirits.”

“Thanks to Brexit, we’re seeing much better returns than expected. In particular, President George’s sharp strategy on the pound sterling paid off. Of course, compared to the oil war or the shorting of China, the profits are relatively modest.”

It was rare for a single investment to yield several times the return.

As long as one broke even, it wasn’t considered a bad investment. And anything that outperformed bank interest rates was deemed a good one.

But with Brexit delivering a minimum of 20% returns, it was safe to call it a major success.

“I was worried expectations had risen too high, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“It varies depending on the firm, but we’re seeing returns ranging from at least 20% to as high as 50%. And since our available capital has grown significantly thanks to previous investments, in absolute terms, these profits are far from small.”

“The larger the funds you hold, the harder it becomes to find places to invest them.”

Most of the firms in the Financial Tower were steeped in history and tradition.

Such firms prioritized stability.
On the other hand, Wall Street hedge funds put profitability ahead of everything else.

Yet right now, the Financial Tower was delivering both higher stability and greater profitability than the hedge funds.

Simply belonging to the Financial Tower guaranteed better returns and safer investments.

“And our short positions against British companies are also producing strong profits. If we hold those shorts until Brexit fully unfolds, we expect to more than double our returns.”

“Looks like the Financial Tower will be celebrating another year of excess.”

“Indeed. The surrounding commercial districts have been completely revitalized. These days, even with rents doubled, businesses are lining up to get in.”

The cost of living around the Financial Tower was no longer something one could call “Korean.”

With so much money flowing in, getting a reservation at high-end restaurants had become nearly impossible.

Luxury stores sold out their stock almost the moment it arrived.

“At this rate, it’s safe to say Seoul has established itself as a financial hub.”

“Perhaps not on the level of Hong Kong yet, but certainly comparable to Singapore. If this momentum continues for more than five years, Seoul could even surpass Hong Kong and become Asia’s top financial hub.”

For the next five years, I could guarantee these profit levels.

But beyond that, my knowledge would run out.

That meant we needed to build a self-sustaining system within five years if we wanted Seoul to secure its place as the true financial capital of Asia.

For that to happen, Korea itself needed to grow even further.

Wherever money gathered, financial firms would follow. If Korea became the center of Asia, then financial institutions would have no choice but to establish themselves here.

“And the Financial Tower is secure. How about the shipping companies?”

“Thanks to funding from Taewoo Group headquarters, they’re running without major issues. However, since additional capital has been injected, the scale of losses has inevitably grown.”

“Don’t worry about the losses. Once the shipping industry recovers, the books will naturally turn black again, won’t they?”

“Also, we’ve applied to join the 2M shipping alliance, and they’ve said we should receive an answer within the month.”

We only needed to endure a few more years.

When the COVID era arrived, the shipping industry was destined to rebound.

But to endure until then, we needed the support of a shipping alliance—so we extended our hand to 2M.