The next day.
No matter how tired I was, my eyes would always open at 5 a.m.
I was about to finish waking myself up with a splash of lukewarm water when an unexpected but welcome guest arrived.
"Dimon! You're still in Korea?"
"Well, since I came all the way to Korea, shouldn't I at least meet with the Chairman before heading back to the U.S.?"
We'd briefly exchanged greetings at yesterday's completion ceremony.
But since there were so many people I had to greet, I barely had a chance to have any real conversation with Dimon.
"When are you returning to the U.S.?"
"I have a flight booked for this evening."
"So, you're leaving soon. You could've stopped by yesterday."
"I didn't want to disturb your rest, Chairman."
Dimon had risen to the position of CEO at the largest financial firm in America.
Yet, he'd never become arrogant; in fact, he now treated me with more respect than ever.
"There's a lot to discuss, isn't there? Where should we begin?"
"I think we should start with Europe. Since the beginning of this year, Taewoo Securities has started repaying its loans, and by mid-year, they should have paid everything back."
"They could actually pay off the entire amount right now, but I asked them to take it slow. If too much money moves at once, the market could get noisy, don't you think?"
Honestly, they could have repaid the loans long ago.
Even just with the profits collected from Japan, we could have paid back the loans and still had plenty left over.
But we didn't go that route.
Thanks to the European financial crisis, the borrowed amount could be multiplied several times over.
"Both principal and interest are coming in right on time, and since we also invested in the European financial crisis, this year looks like it'll mark a record high in revenues for the fintech bank."
"So, you still had capital left to invest in the European financial crisis? I thought Taewoo Securities had used up all of the fintech bank's funds, but apparently not."
"Thanks to the Bitcoin exchange, incoming profits have soared. The price of Bitcoin has jumped all the way to $100."
Already over $100?
The last report I received said Bitcoin was less than $5, but now it had already increased more than twentyfold.
"The price is rising rapidly."
"Rumors started spreading out of Silicon Valley, and now people all over the U.S. are opening fintech bank accounts just to trade Bitcoin. Even without any real marketing, deposits are piling up automatically, and the profits we earn from Bitcoin transaction fees have surged."
The fintech bank practically had a monopoly on Bitcoin trading.
Of course, any bank could have set up a Bitcoin exchange, and really, anyone could launch a Bitcoin exchange themselves without being a bank.
But the fintech bank had already claimed the lead.
And since traditional banks still refused to acknowledge Bitcoin, they showed no sign of entering the exchange business.
Some did attempt to create exchanges, but lacking the trustworthiness of the fintech bank, they couldn't attract more users.
"Please make sure to control the pace, so the climb doesn't get too steep. We'll run into trouble if the U.S. government starts paying attention."
"We're managing it with the algorithm Ms. Minjeong Chun developed, keeping the price around $100. Left unchecked, it would've easily blown past $300 by now."
"So, there are more people interested in Bitcoin than I thought."
"To be honest, it's like a frenzy has arrived. It wouldn't surprise me at all if we suddenly saw an IT bubble or a real estate bubble situation right now."
Dimon was already worried about the madness surrounding Bitcoin.
From where I stood, I could only stifle a laugh at his concern.
"It's only $100. For true mania, we'd need to see it break at least the $10,000 mark."
"For it to reach $10,000, you'd need hundreds of times more people trading Bitcoin than there are now."
"The day will come when over 100 million people are trading Bitcoin. When that happens, it won't stop at $10,000—it'll shoot past $30,000, maybe even higher. I'm sure I mentioned this to you before—maybe you forgot?"
"I remember. I just thought the odds of that happening were extremely slim."
Dimon had spent his entire life in the financial industry.
Maybe that's why he couldn't fully accept the value of Bitcoin.
"That day will come—really, it's only a question of whether it happens sooner or later."
"If Bitcoin really does rise to $30,000, Chairman, you'll become the world's richest man."
"That's nonsense. If we dump all the Bitcoins we hold, its value will plummet. We should just be content making profits through the exchange."
Our Bitcoin holdings were nothing more than a safety net.
It was never about making money directly from Bitcoin itself; the aim was to generate profit through auxiliary businesses built around it.
"Still, wouldn't Bitcoin be a secret weapon not just for you, Chairman, but for the fintech bank as well?"
"A secret weapon is only effective if you never use it. Once you actually deploy it, its value disappears. By the way, have you met the person I sent?"
"Oh! You mean Beryl from Together Work? He was quite an impressive individual."
Beryl, previously a co-owner of the Wegner Ranch, had become my representative and launched the shared office business, naming the company Together Work.
"To run a shared office business, it requires a substantial amount of capital. Please help him secure financing from the fintech bank."
"It was an excellent business idea, so we approved a loan. We even introduced him to a good building so he could get started with the shared office business in Silicon Valley."
Dimon's voice noticeably brightened at the mention of shared offices.
Clearly, he also saw the shared office venture as a breakout success.
"Everyone from Wall Street seems to have a positive view of the shared office business."
"It's not just office leasing—it's an integrated network service as well. This business model fits perfectly with the current boom in venture businesses and startups."
"It may look promising now, but within a decade, the shared office business will lose its growth engine. Make sure you keep investments to a minimum. Or if you do invest heavily, be ready to exit at the right time."
Even Dimon was dazzled by the shared office concept.
That meant, if I used shared offices as bait, I might be able to hook an even bigger fish than I expected.
"Do you really think so?"
"Right now, with such low interest rates, it looks like a high-growth area, but even a slight uptick in rates could throw the whole model off balance."
"So you're starting this business with an eye toward selling from the outset."
"That's right. Make it as attractive as possible. I plan to offload some of my shares to the fintech bank. If we sell together, we should see a nice return."
"Thank you. Thanks to you, the fintech bank has been posting record revenues every year. I look forward to working with you in the future."
Who was asking who for help here?
I was the fintech bank's largest shareholder, so it should be me relying on Dimon, not the other way around.
"It's a relief that fintech bank revenues keep rising. But how's CITI Group doing? Have they finally worked off all their debts?"
"Not completely, but the recent loan we received from Taewoo Securities helped make up some ground. If things continue like this for another three or four years, we should be able to drastically reduce our debt load. But as I understand it, Taewoo Group is in a similar position, right? Doesn't AIG still carry a lot of debt?"
This was also a reason behind the operation we carried out.
In the process of acquiring mammoth companies like AIG and GM, we inherited an enormous amount of debt.
Of course, the U.S. government forgave a portion of the debt, but even then, the amount still ran into billions of dollars.
"Most of the debt will be wiped out through this investment. First, we'll eliminate AIG's debt."
"Is there a particular reason why you're postponing GM?"
"Right now, GM isn't doing well, so the United Auto Workers (UAW) union has been quiet, but once the debt disappears, they'll raise their voices again. That's why we need more time until the link with the UAW is completely severed and replaced with a union led and created entirely by us."
It would be fair to say that the UAW controlled the American automobile industry.
They were among the largest and most powerful unions in the U.S., naturally wielding significant influence and authority.
We couldn't cede control of business operations to the union.
So, to exclude the UAW, a new union was necessary.
"Excluding the UAW isn't an easy task. For members already affiliated, moving them to a new union requires not only justification but also clear benefits."
"We are transferring workers affiliated with the UAW to automobile brand factories set for sale. And during the government-recognized restructuring phase, the most militant union members were retired."
"Still, wouldn't that be insufficient?"
Of course, it was.
We couldn't simply fire all employees affiliated with the UAW.
But it wasn't like there were no options.
"There are two ways to reduce the concentration of saltwater."
"One is to extract and remove the salt from the water. This process is complicated and could end up costing more than it's worth. The other is to add a large volume of water to dilute the concentration."
"So, you mean hiring more employees?"
"Exactly. Especially for the electric vehicle factories and production lines, we're filling them exclusively with non-union members. After they join the new union, they'll move to other plants and lines. This way, the saltwater concentration will naturally dilute."
It was a strategy of introducing a bulk of new union members into existing plants.
This would inevitably cause factional fights.
No matter how numerous the existing union members were, since no new members joined them, over time the new union would gain the upper hand in the struggle.
"If the Obama administration finds out about this, they won't sit quietly. The UAW openly supports the Obama administration."
"That's why we need to take our time and proceed slowly."
"As expected of you, Chairman. You're increasing GM's value in an unexpected way. I respect that."
"Respect? Let's not waste kind words among ourselves."
I continued the conversation with Dimon on various topics—the future direction of investments and even the global economic restructuring brought on by shale gas.
It was only after half a day that Dimon headed to the airport.
Spring had fully arrived.
Everywhere was filled with shades of green, the representative color of the National Economic Party.
"Congratulations. The National Economic Party achieved excellent results in this general election."
"It's all thanks to you, Chairman. We secured more seats than we had anticipated. Our staff still haven't figured out the exact reason. Doesn't that mean you must have provided considerable support behind the scenes?"
I met Governor Choi Jae-seok at a semiconductor factory in Gyeonggi Province.
Today's meeting was to celebrate the election victory.
Since the National Economic Party had proudly risen as the main opposition party through this election, it was only natural to celebrate.