CH133 | Heir

I continued to massage my grandfather’s shoulders.

Then, all of a sudden, he brought up a different topic.

“By the way, it's about time we started the inheritance process. After acquiring Hyundai Semiconductor, the group's overall stock price has dropped significantly.”

His shoulders suddenly tensed up.

While a drop in stock prices could be advantageous for inheritance, it had a negative impact on everything else.

“As soon as the inheritance process is complete, we will proceed with stock buybacks and cancellations. That will naturally lead to a rebound in stock prices.”

“I heard that many foreign investors have pulled out as well. I'm not sure if it'll be possible.”

I couldn't bring myself to tell him that I was one of those foreign investors.

The best thing I could do was reassure him with a confident tone.

“Within a year, not only will the stock rebound, but we will set a new record high.”

“Haha, that’s my grandson. Opportunities are born from crises. If you settle for comfort when things get tough, you’ll eventually fall.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. That’s why I’ve made plans to invest the retained earnings of Taewoo Electronics and Taewoo Communications into Taewoo Semiconductor. We will start by injecting 3 trillion won immediately and follow up with additional investments to restore Taewoo Semiconductor to full operation.”

My grandfather slowly pushed my hands away.

Then, turning to face me directly, he locked eyes with mine.

“Are you confident?”

“This isn't about confidence. It's something that must be done, no matter what.”

“If we fail, we could end up like Hyundai Group.”

“Even if we end up in the same situation, I am confident we will survive.”

“Where on earth did a guy like you come from? Haha.”

I knew just how much my grandfather was worried about Taewoo Semiconductor.

If I wanted to prevent his concerns from becoming a reality, I had to move even faster.

The year 2001 was just a few days away.

***

Since last month, we had started producing the semiconductors Apple wanted.

After a month had passed, Executive Director Yoo Seok-jae came to the vice chairman’s office with the yield report in hand.

“You look exhausted. You’ve lost so much weight—you’re practically half the man you were. You should visit a good oriental medicine clinic and get some herbal medicine.”

“I’m sorry. The yield isn’t coming out as well as I had expected.”

“There’s no need to apologize. It doesn’t matter how many defective products we get. Even if the yield is just 10%, hold your head up.”

Yoo Seok-jae’s eyes glistened with emotion.

But he quickly regained his composure and continued his report.

“The initial yield in semiconductor production was around 50%, but we’ve now improved it to 55%. As workers become more accustomed to the new equipment, we expect it to rise further.”

“The yield is actually better than I expected. Keep up the good work.”

“There’s one more thing I need to report.”

Confidence was evident in Yoo Seok-jae’s voice.

It seemed like he had some good news.

“Have you perhaps succeeded in developing a new product?”

"That's right. We've successfully developed a 128M DDR SDRAM for graphics. I can confidently say that it operates at the highest speed compared to any other semiconductor company's product."

It was clear that Hyundai Semiconductor was never lacking in technology.

The only problem was a lack of funding, which had hindered proper R&D efforts.

But with Taewoo Group pouring in massive investments, results were emerging rapidly.

"You've worked hard. I've already instructed the Technology Research Institute to work as one with Taewoo Semiconductor in developing new technologies. That should be of great help to you."

"With the support of the research institute and Taewoo Electronics, we should be able to develop a 256M DDR SDRAM in no time."

"As you know, please focus a bit more on developing DRAM for mobile applications."

"We’ve already begun optimization work, and we expect to announce good results within the first half of next year."

Yoo Seok-jae was an S-class talent in technology development.

Despite having such a brilliant engineer, Hyundai Semiconductor had collapsed.

It only went to show how powerful the dot-com bubble’s impact had been.

"Managing the production site on top of technology development must be keeping you incredibly busy, right?"

"To be honest, even if I had two bodies, it wouldn't be enough. But if it means restoring Taewoo Semiconductor, I'm willing to pour my entire being into it."

Would I really let a talent like Yoo Seok-jae burn himself out?

He was someone who needed to be protected so he could contribute to Taewoo Semiconductor for years to come.

That meant finding someone else to take charge of managing the production site.

And as luck would have it, that person had just arrived.

"Please bring our guest inside."

I used the vice chairman’s private phone to call the secretary’s office.

Before long, a man with a warm and friendly demeanor entered the vice chairman’s office.

He greeted me in fluent English, and I responded in kind.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Wei."

"Thank you so much for coming all this way!"

Wei, a key figure behind TSMC’s success, had now joined Taewoo Group.

In a way, I had just poached the man who would one day become TSMC’s CEO.

But there was nothing to worry about—TSMC had yet to enter the foundry business at this point.

"Please, introduce yourselves. Executive Director Yoo, you can communicate in English, right?"

"Since I worked at Hyundai Semiconductor’s U.S. branch, I have no issues with communication."

Executive Director Yoo Seok-jae and Wei exchanged greetings and shook hands.

It was a historic moment—the man who had built Hyundai Semiconductor into a leading semiconductor company and the man who had led TSMC to become the world’s top foundry were now joining forces.

"From now on, the two of you will be leading Taewoo Semiconductor. You will both be appointed as co-vice presidents within the month, so keep that in mind."

"You're appointing me as vice president? There are many executives who have been with the company longer than I have."

"Tenure doesn’t matter—ability does. If they try to start any political power struggles, report it to me immediately. I’ll make sure they take responsibility for the company’s 2-trillion-won deficit."

Meritocracy.

It was a management style with its own set of issues, but at this point, it was the only way to save Taewoo Semiconductor.

If someone was capable, they could rise to the position of vice president regardless of their rank. Conversely, even founding members had to be cut if they lacked the necessary skills.

"Oh, and starting tomorrow, 100 engineers will be joining alongside Vice President Wei. They all have experience working in the U.S. or Taiwan, so they should help alleviate the labor shortage."

"Thank you. I will make sure to deliver great results."

Yoo Seok-jae, now Vice President Yoo, bowed his head respectfully.

In contrast, the newly recruited Vice President Wei exuded confidence.

"I came to Korea because I was told I would have full authority over Taewoo Semiconductor. I’d like to reconfirm that now."

"I’m granting you full authority, though you’ll still need to consult with Vice President Yoo."

"Discussing things with engineers is always enjoyable. After all, I’m an engineer myself."

Vice President Wei had studied semiconductors in the U.S.

His technical expertise in semiconductor development was just as impressive as his management skills.

That was precisely why I had gone to great lengths—and significant expense—to bring him to Korea.

***

The new year of 2001 had arrived.

The sun rose brighter than ever, but the situation at Taewoo Group was far from bright.

That was why my grandfather's expression remained dark as he listened to the ringing of the Bosingak bell.

"We’ve been conducting stock buybacks, yet Taewoo Group’s stock price continues to fall."

"I expect the trend to either remain steady or decline slightly through the first half of the year."

"So you expect a rebound in the second half? But how can the stock price recover when semiconductor yields aren’t even reaching 60%? If the media gets ahold of this, won’t the stock drop even further?"

Semiconductor yield rates were a company’s most confidential information.

However, in this era, disclosing them was inevitable.

It was necessary for cost accounting.

Especially since my grandfather had secured tax benefits from the government, transparency regarding semiconductor yield rates became even more crucial.

"Apple’s new product will be launching soon. Taewoo Semiconductor has secured an exclusive contract to supply some of the semiconductors for it—wouldn’t that be considered good news?"

"But the more we produce, the more losses we incur. How can that be good news?"

"With experience, we will eventually overcome the yield issue. In just the past month, the yield rate has already increased by nearly 5%."

Vice President Yoo Seok-jae and Vice President Wei worked exceptionally well together.

Moving between the office and the production site, they were driving innovation at Taewoo Semiconductor.

As for the newly recruited employees, I had personally selected them. Every single one was a top-tier talent.

Taewoo Semiconductor was now a company composed solely of elites.

Given that, it was certain the company would turn a profit much sooner than expected.

"Hmm… But you seem to have high expectations for Apple’s new phone. In the end, it’s just a phone. The mobile phone market is already saturated, isn’t it?"

"It’s not a mobile phone—it’s a smartphone. It’s not just going to impact the mobile phone industry but will revolutionize the entire IT sector."

"Hmm… Hearing you say that piques my interest. Let’s attend CES together this time. It’s been a while since I last visited the U.S."

"Going on a trip with you—it’s been so long, hasn’t it?"

I was as excited as a child going on a school field trip.

I had no memories of traveling with my grandfather in either my past or present life.

But just as I was brimming with excitement, my grandfather doused my enthusiasm with cold water.

"We’ll take separate flights. If something were to happen, at least one of us must survive."

"You’re not going to insist on separate hotels too, are you?"

"Of course we are. But at least we can enter the CES venue together."

It was an unavoidable precaution.

If both the chairman and vice chairman were to suffer an accident simultaneously, Taewoo Group would be thrown into chaos.

Other major corporations followed similar protocols.

As far as I knew, only two people in the world knew the secret recipe for Coca-Cola, and they were never allowed to board the same plane.

If they were to perish together, the recipe would be lost forever.

"Since we’re already heading to the U.S., why don’t you also attend the presidential inauguration while we’re there?"

“The White House invited you personally?”

“If you decide to attend, they’ll make room for you even if there isn’t one.”

“Hmm… Still, leaving for two whole weeks doesn’t seem like a good idea. I’ll return to Korea after CES, but you should stay and attend the presidential inauguration.”

I wanted to introduce my grandfather to President Bush.

However, I couldn’t force a packed schedule on him, so I decided to respect his wishes.

“It would have been a great memory if we could attend together. It’s a shame.”

“There’s no helping it. You’ve created so much work that someone has to stay behind and manage the mess, don’t they?”

I had no rebuttal.

Taewoo Group had more than doubled in size since the financial crisis, and my grandfather’s workload had skyrocketed.

“I’m really lucky to have you, Grandpa. If I were alone, I would have collapsed by now.”

“The succession process is almost complete. Soon, you’ll have to take over everything I’ve been handling.”

“No, no. I’ll take things over slowly.”

I quickly waved my hands in protest, worried that he might announce his retirement.

The moment he stepped down, I would be buried under a mountain of paperwork.

So, I had to hope he would remain in charge for as long as possible.