Genius Grandson of the Loan Shark King

Just do one, just one

The winner's curse.

Although they succeed in acquiring companies by beating out many competitors, there are often cases where they end up paying excessive costs in the process, which results in them not earning the desired profits and even causing the acquired company to suffer financial difficulties.

It was a victory that was nothing but a bruise, as is often the case in the corporate merger and acquisition market.

"The acquisition amount cannot be increased further."

Sulzberger Jr. and George Soros had a heated argument.

"We can cover the cost from our funds."

"It is an excessive request to ask for the Soros fund to pay all the acquisition costs and for our family's stake in return."

"I'm not asking for shares, I just need you to give me collateral."

"Isn't that what you're saying?"

Sulzberger Jr. responded fiercely.

It was putting the cart before the horse to threaten the New York Times' control in order to acquire the Wall Street Journal.

"You want to buy the Wall Street Journal? Isn't that why we joined hands?"

George Soros denounced it, but Sulzberger Jr. shook his head firmly.

"We're going to get out of here. The New York Times is good enough. I don't want to shake up the New York Times because of my greed."

"Ha······. If you do this, it will be difficult."

George Soros sighed and glared at Sulzberger Jr.

The sparkling eyes of the two people collided in the air.

The reason George Soros joined hands with the New York Times to jump into the takeover battle was simple.

The name New York Times.

This was because they believed that by carrying the value of the name on their backs, they could win the competition with Dream High even if there was a slight difference in the acquisition amount.

The Sulzberger family has also made moves to acquire Dow Johnson several times before.

But the problem was that things didn't go as George Soros had planned.

News Corporation and the Dream High consortium continued to raise the acquisition price, showing no intention of giving up on this acquisition battle.

So, in order to win the competition, the acquisition price had to be increased.

"What is the problem you are having?"

"If this takeover fails, everyone will laugh at the New York Times. They will say that America's leading daily newspaper has run away after losing to Murdoch."

"What? Soros! There is nothing he can't say."

"Isn't that true? Whether you jump in or not, if you back off here, you'll be seen as scared and backing off."

Sulzberger Jr.'s face twisted in response to George Soros' provocation.

"Soros. Watch your words."

"If you don't have confidence, you can quit. But if you let go of the hand I'm offering, you'll definitely regret it. I'll stop advertising in the New York Times with people I'm connected to…."

Sulzberger Jr. cut him off by slamming the table hard.

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"You dare threaten Sulzberger Jr. right now?! Go ahead and do it!"

"Let's see if they still make that kind of noise even after the ads are gone. Your finances are already in bad shape because of the decreased advertising revenue."

"profit!"

Sulzberger Jr. blushed and gritted his teeth, but George Soros just snorted.

"It's not a time to let your guard down so much that you're in danger of losing control. This time it's the Wall Street Journal, but who knows, maybe the New York Times will be next?"

Sulzberger Jr. couldn't stand it any longer and got up from his seat.

"Do as you wish. I will withdraw from the Dow Johnson takeover battle."

Sulzberger Jr. opened the door and walked out.

Left alone, George Soros bit his lips hard.

He bit so hard that blood flowed out of his teeth.

"······I can't lose to Dream High like this again. I have to do it alone. I have to ask for more money."

George Soros muttered in an evil voice, then got up from his seat and left the conference room.

* * *

Han Kyung-young, Murdoch and I met with the Dow Johnson board once again for final negotiations.

After some brief greetings, the real negotiations began.

I didn't intervene in the negotiations, I just watched with my arms folded to see what Han Kyung-young would do.

Han Kyung-young and Murdoch had sharpened their teeth and were now more thoroughly aware of Dow Johnson's financial condition than ever before.

Using that as a weapon to gain the upper hand in negotiations, Han continued to pressure the Dow Johnson board.

"If you reject this offer, we will withdraw from the takeover battle."

Han Kyung-young raised both hands as he covered the documents.

I looked at Han Kyung-young with interest.

This is an action that was not discussed in advance. You know how to provoke others. You've grown a lot, hyung.

"What do you mean! You're going to get involved in a takeover battle?"

"We have already made many concessions. You know that. There is nothing more to concede here."

"that······."

"You want to sell the shares, but guarantee management rights? What kind of ridiculous demand is that?"

When Han Kyung-young criticized him, John Bancroft just smiled.

"$75 a share. In total, that's over $6.5 billion. That's over 45 times the current operating profit of Dow Johnson. They're taking over with that amount of money, but they want to guarantee management rights. It's not anyone but the board of directors here who ruined Dow Johnson like this."

John Bancroft protested loudly, as if he was upset.

"Isn't that too harsh?"

"That's harsh. Is it okay to ignore Chairman Murdoch? If you want to be respected, you should have respected Chairman Murdoch."

"No, that was my intention······."

Han Kyung-young lightly cut off John's words, who was trying to swallow his excuses, with a wave of his hand.

"Let me be honest. Dow Johnson is not an attractive investment for investors. It doesn't have much growth potential. But Chairman Murdoch has made these concessions for his dream and promised to reward shareholders with huge profits. If this continues, we will get out."

It was an informal remark, but it was also true that there was not the slightest bit of wrongness.

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"I'll say it again. $75 a share. We won't raise it any higher. So decide. If you refuse this time, we at Dream High, together with our minority shareholders, will sue the management here for infringing upon the interests of shareholders. Dream High also owns 3% of Dow Jones shares."

Han Kyung-young did not hesitate to use threats to pressure the Bancroft board of directors.

Neither John nor any of the board members were willing to speak up.

John sighed at the sight and looked at me.

"Huh······. You're the owner of Dream High, right?"

Unlike when I spoke to Han Kyung-young, his tone was very polite. I shrugged and asked back.

"Why do you think so?"

"Have you forgotten who we are? How could you not know the owner of Dream High?"

Despite the ambiguous answer, John spoke with confident eyes.

There was no need to lie, so I just nodded.

"Is there no more room for negotiation?"

"Well, I'm not really interested."

"You're not interested? Then why is Dream High so proactive······."

"I am not interested, but not Chairman Murdoch. I just asked him to do whatever it takes to fulfill the wishes of my partner, Chairman Murdoch."

John was rather fidgety at her indifferent tone and response.

I continued talking, laughing inwardly at the sight.

"If it weren't for Chairman Murdoch's dream, wouldn't he have acquired Dow Johnson for a ridiculous price of $6.5 billion? How much do you think Dow Johnson is worth? The current value is less than $2 billion at best. As for growth potential… Well, now that the market is moving to the Internet, it's uncertain whether its value will increase further in the future."

John groaned in pain at her cold words and closed his eyes.

I uncrossed my arms and tapped the documents that Han Kyung-young had placed on the table.

"Face it, Dow Johnson isn't worth that much. But Murdoch's dream is worthless. That's why I bet. There's only one reason I jumped into the acquisition battle, even though I could have waited for the next opportunity. It's a tool to make Murdoch's dream come true. The Wall Street Journal is nothing more or less than that to me."

"And yet, for over 100 years, our Wall Street Journal······."

John, who could not let go of his foolishness, recited the value of the Wall Street Journal as if it were a Buddhist chant.

"If you prioritize history and tradition, then forget about money. I will give you the original value of $30 a share. In return, if Murdoch takes over, I will guarantee full editorial control. It will be run the way you have been doing it."

"That's nonsense."

You should be a little greedy, I replied with a vain laugh.

"Yes, that's ridiculous. We've already heard the $75 figure. Why do you keep insisting on it? It's ridiculous to us, too."

"······."

"Just do one, just one. Money or fame? Choose one of the two."

John's face turned pale at my cold words. But I continued speaking without stopping.

"You say no to an offer that you will protect your honor. What kind of symbol is that? Okay. Let's say we hand over the Wall Street Journal to the New York Times for honor. Do you think they will keep their offer if we just shake it off? Of course not. I guarantee you that they will definitely propose to negotiate again. Until you sign a contract, an offer is just an offer and has no legal binding."

Excessive greed invites trouble, especially when you have no power and only a name.

The mood in the Bancroft boardroom was grim, but I was merely staring John in the face with the bitter reality.

"When you have a competitor, sign the contract. If you refuse today, we will walk away, as CEO James said."

I pushed myself away from the table, crossed my arms again, and looked around.

"Let me just say one last thing. Neither Dream High nor Chairman Murdoch are trying to make money from the Wall Street Journal. If they were, they wouldn't have bought it for this crazy amount."

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With those words, I closed my mouth, indicating that I had no intention of continuing the conversation.

At that moment, the youngest-looking man in the group raised his hand and said.

"My lord, please stop being greedy."

The man continued to speak without stopping, even though he was receiving glares from the older directors.

"To be honest, if this continues, we will fail. Do you really intend to hand over our company to the Sulzberger family? I think that would be less honorable. I don't know about other people, but I don't intend to agree to handing it over to the Sulzberger family."

Although it was a young and immature remark, several directors nodded their heads in agreement with the man's remark.

"Oliver. This is not your place to speak!"

"I am also a member of the family and a member of the board of directors. I think I have a voice."

"Even so, this guy!"

An old man jumped up from his seat and pointed.

But Oliver said, not caring one bit.

"We failed. So we should at least leave some money behind."

"Money is······!"

"Uncle Eden. Please! Please don't say things you don't mean. It's time to face reality."

Suddenly, the directors started arguing among themselves, and we just laughed and watched.

It was so clear to our eyes that the camp was divided into two.

At that moment, John knocked on the table and stopped the agitated people.

"Stop. What are you all doing in front of an outsider?"

John, who looked ten years older than he was, put his hand on his forehead and spoke to us.

"You can go back now. I will contact you in three days."

At those words, Han Kyung-young looked at me, and I nodded slightly.

Han Kyung-young stood up and spoke to John.

"I look forward to your good answer."

We gathered the documents we had prepared and came out, looked at each other and smiled.

"You're going to sell it to us?"

I nodded to Han Kyung-young's question.

"Perhaps. The words of the director Oliver were timely. I think there are more people who would consider it more humiliating to hand it over to the Sulzbergers."

Murdoch didn't say anything until he left the building.

Before they each got into their cars, Murdoch spoke in a serious voice.

"Charlie."

"Yes, Chairman Murdoch."

"Thank you. You respect my dream so much."

"We are on the same boat. I respect the chairman, and the chairman respects me. So, although we met through business, I think it is okay to call him a close friend now. If I can make his dream come true, I don't care how much money it costs."

Murdoch's eyes turned red.

Although it was a rushed move because of China, I could see from watching Murdoch's sincerity toward the Wall Street Journal.

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"Isn't this a dream you've had for decades? You should make it come true before more time passes."

"······I will do my best to help Charlie."

"Thank you. The Chairman is the vanguard. The outcome of this fight will change depending on how the vanguard acts. Please take care of me, Chairman Murdoch."

Murdoch nodded with a most serious expression on his face.

Murdoch and I looked into each other's eyes and held hands.

And three days later as promised.

Dow Johnson fell into Murdoch's hands.

< Just do one, just one > End