Through the virtual space, Su Yang arrived at Korea.
This time, his mood was different from before.
The first time he travelled to Korea, Su Yang was filled with excitement. At that time, he had just conquered Japan and thought that he was invincible. No one was his match.
Even the five tycoons of Korea were nothing before him.
Then, during the second time he was in Korea, Su Yang was feeling extremely depressed. Back then, he had experienced a setback in Korea, and he felt both physically and mentally exhausted. He was also a little lost about the future. Even though he had the silver Ability that he had just obtained as his trump card, he did not have much confidence in turning the situation around.
This time, unlike the previous two times, Su Yang’s heart was at ease. He was neither excited nor depressed. Instead, all he felt was determination.
Since he had already made his move and was prepared to fight head-on with the five consortiums led by Samsung, he could only trust himself and persevere to the end.
Su Yang arrived at the top of the building next to the headquarters of Samsung. He looked at the brightly lit headquarters with a deep gaze.
He silently chanted “Destiny Line” in his heart. Instantly, the destiny line that looked like silver chains appeared before Su Yang.
Just like the last time before leaving, Samsung’s destiny line was shaped like a “broom”. One end of the [Past] was solid, extending from afar, and the other end, which was its [Future], was split into more than 10 lines.
Of the 10 or so lines, only one was slightly solid, and the rest were illusory.
After taking a closer look, Su Yang realized that this destiny line was exactly the same as it was before.
When Su Yang looked over, the destiny line slowly became more and more solidified as it headed towards the [Future]. As a certain node solidified, an illusory destiny line slowly fell and turned into specks of starlight before disappearing into the void.
‘This means that with time, a possible future could no longer be realized.’
Su Yang looked at the destiny line before him. Then, he gently caressed it and found the destiny line that he wanted to achieve. Su Yang checked the [Future] once again. After confirming that there was no problem, his heart skipped a beat.
At the same time, a notification popped up before his eyes.
‘[Are you sure you want to alter the destiny of this living being / organization / and country?]
Su Yang, who was altering a destiny line for the first time, tapped on [Confirm].
Three notifications popped up before him.
[Calculating the coins required to alter this destiny line.]
[Please wait a moment…]
[Calculations complete. Altering this destiny line will cost you 6.72 million coins.]
‘That many coins?!
‘If it costs any more, I could even afford the Earth Trajectory Cannon!’
Su Yang was shocked.
After obtaining this ability, Su Yang only looked at the destiny lines of others. However, he had never actually tried to alter it. Therefore, he was not sure if the amount of coins was high or low.
But… Su Yang truly felt that the amount of coins required to alter Samsung’s destiny line was a little too expensive.
Su Yang then thought about the number of people who could be affected because of Samsung’s status and felt that the amount of coins required was cheap.
‘In any case, money is a b*tch! I won’t be able to receive anything if I don’t spend any of my money!’ Hence, Su Yang gritted his teeth and stomped his feet as he looked at the amount of coins he had in balance…
[7,1274,000 coins.]
After checking his balance, Su Yang heaved a sigh of relief. ‘Well, looks like I could still afford it, but I’m going to be left penniless right after.
‘When I first received 100 coins in the past, I felt like I’d owned the whole world. So, I really didn’t expect that I wouldn’t even have enough to spend despite having millions of coins!’
Su Yang clicked [Confirm] again.
Following that, Samsung’s destiny line suddenly started to vibrate violently. It seemed to sense its own destiny being altered and was struggling like a silver dragon that had come to life.
However, the sky was already filled with light. The rainbow-colored light landed on the silver chain-like destiny line, causing them to become quieter and quieter.
The dozen or so illusory chains behind the chains began to break one by one. They shattered like the destiny line that had just disappeared, turning into starlight and disappearing into the void.
In the end, all that was left was the destiny line that Su Yang had chosen.
The destiny line slowly solidified, and finally, it turned into a normal “semi-transparent” [Future].
When all these changes were completed, Su Yang let go of Samsung’s destiny line. Then, he turned around to look at Samsung and left…
Two days later, Samsung released its latest flagship phone model for 16 years, the Samsung N7!
This cell phone is one of the two high-end series owned by Samsung. The latest model of the N series was also the new flagship that the global Samsung users have been looking forward to day and night!
In the next two weeks, Samsung N7 began to be sold globally. As soon as it did, its supply could not keep up with the demand. The subsidiaries of Samsung also benefited, and the stock price started to rise, especially Samsung Electronics, which rose by almost 15%.
Based on feedback from users and industry, this phone was considered another outstanding flagship phone after G7’s release in recent years.
Using this opportunity, Lee Jaerong, the actual person in charge of Samsung, also started to speed up the process of taking over the company. In the name of improving the management of the company, he entered the most important subsidiary of Samsung ahead of time: the board of directors of Samsung Electronics. At that point, he truly started to get a hold of true power.
Obviously, when the president of Samsung was bedridden, Lee Jaerong had gradually become the leader and gained the unanimous trust of the entire company.
Comparatively, Jiadian Group’s strategy overseas had been blocked consistently.
Half a month later, the Hermes Fund had managed to close an European technology company, and they were doing very well.
Even though the cash flow at the headquarters was still stable and profitable under Wei Lin’s control, people were generally not optimistic about the overseas companies that relied only on financial means to profit and had no actual operating range.
Especially with the fact that Jiadian Group had developed at a ferocious rate, the attack on Korea launched by the company a month ago instantly seemed ridiculous.
After defeating Jiadian Group, the rising tycoon, the five consortiums had once again consolidated their position in the world. This also made the company feel a little dejected.
As a result, many business owners in the country who were on good terms with Su Yang called Su Yang to comfort him.
However, Su Yang accepted all of their concerns with a smile.
However, when Mr. Ma called him, Su Yang did not do the same thing as he had everyone else.
Su Yang said directly, “Mr. Ma, since you’re willing to take some time to console me, could you do me a favor?”
Mr. Ma did not expect that Su Yang would actually ask him to spend actual money just to console him. In fact, he felt that Su Yang was not playing his cards according to the rulebook!
However, Su Yang was an important partner of his and one of the few people that he had high hopes for. So, since Su Yang had already spoken, he could not reject him and could only agree.
Actually what Su Yang wanted him to do was to use Tencent’s resources to buy shares of Samsung Electronics and Samsung Productions. However, Su Yang said he did not need much, just more than 4%.
When he heard Su Yang’s words, Mr. Ma was stunned. “You don’t think 4% is much?! Mr. Su, do you know how much the market value of Samsung Electronics and Samsung Products is?”
Of course, Su Yang knew the market value of these two companies. Samsung Electronics was ranked around 15 in the world and was worth 110 billion USD.
On the other hand, although the market value of Samsung Productions was low, it was still about 8 billion USD.
That would add up to approximately 120 billion yuan. Hence, 4% would equal 4.8 billion USD, close to 35 billion yuan. Based on this number, Mr. Ma could not be blamed for being surprised.
Su Yang coughed and said, “We can sign an agreement. After you’ve completed your acquisition, Jiadian Group will purchase your shares at a premium of 5% based on the price you’ve spent.”
After hearing what Su Yang said, Mr. Ma remained silent for a while.
Then, he asked carefully, “Mr. Su, why are you doing all this…?”
Su Yang interrupted him. “There are some things that can’t be spoken over the phone, Mr. Ma.”
Mr. Ma fell silent again. Then, after a while, he said, “Alright, I’ll help you. But, you can forget about the premium and just take it that I’m purely helping.”
However, Su Yang could not accept that Mr. Ma was so loyal. After all, mobilizing tens of billions of yuan would require a lot of manpower, resources, and would incur a large amount of pressure. On top of that, the bank’s loan would have had high interest, not to mention the stock exchange.
5% was not a high price, and that was because they had a personal relationship. Otherwise, if Su Yang went somewhere else to ask for help, at that price, no one would bother with him…
Mr. Ma hung up the phone after settling the deal with Su Yang.
After hanging up, Mr. Ma lit a cigarette and looked out the window. The smoke slowly lingered, making him squint.
After a while, he picked up the phone on the table, dialed a number, and gave some instructions.
He hung up the phone again and continued to smoke as he looked at the scene outside the window. The cigarette slowly burned until it almost reached his fingers. He suddenly became alert and pressed the cigarette into the ashtray on the table.
After that, Mr. Ma looked at the remaining sparks in the ashtray and mumbled, “What is Mr. Su planning to do…? Is he going to stir up some trouble again? Could it be that he’s going to make another comeback?”
…
Another half a month passed in the blink of an eye. September was two months away from America’s elections. Everything was like the calm before the storm.
On September 7, a well-known cell phone forum in Korea posted a photo of an N7 suspected to have exploded at Samsung, but it did not attract much attention.
Then, in less than a week, people from all over the world posted or tweeted that the N7 that they had bought from the new flagship had exploded.
According to statistics, 47 incidents have been exposed worldwide.
This attracted the attention of the media from all over the world.
Many media outlets chose to follow up on this and report about it.
Under pressure from the rising public opinion, the company issued a statement about the incident. He said in the statement that the explosions were caused by users’ abnormal usage. They even produced proof that a user had used a microwave to heat up his phone.
Once this statement was released, it dispelled many criticisms and made many believe that it might be an example.
After all, Samsung had a good reputation in the world.
However, who would have thought that two days after the announcement, things would suddenly take a turn for the worse…
A plane from America Southwest Airlines, which had a passenger flight number 978, had caught on fire. Fortunately, all the passengers and crew evacuated in time and there were no casualties. However, the fire was later revealed to be caused by a self-immolating N7.
With this, Samsung’s reputation dropped all the way to rock bottom. After all, this could not be said to be caused by using the microwave to heat up the phone on the plane, right?
Furthermore, when the fire started, there was an entire plane full of passengers as witnesses, so there was no room for excuses from Samsung.
This time, the public opinion had completely turned around. Samsung had encountered an unprecedented crisis of public opinion.
The entire world was criticizing and scorning the quality of Samsung’s cell phones. Furthermore, the company’s statement was suspected to be faked as well.
The user who had been “proven” to use the microwave to heat up his phone also came out to clarify the truth. He said that he had been bribed by the company and had to cover up the truth.
With this, Samsung was completely done for. The sales of their cell phones plummeted, and the company was plagued by negative press. Even Lee Jaerong, the prince of Samsung, was criticized by the media for being short-sighted and unable to manage the company well.
At that moment, Su Yang, who had been waiting for this opportunity, sent Zhao Licheng to Wall Street and Europe to have a secret discussion with the big shots of the banks and brokerages who held Samsung’s shares. He successfully persuaded a few big shareholders who held onto their shares.
For example, the president of the radical hedge fund, Eroter Management, who held 1.1% of Samsung Electronics, told the media in an interview that Samsung was one of Korea’s largest family groups, so in its operation, its priority is definitely the interests of the Lees in charge of the company, not the interests of other shareholders.
The only way to solve this problem is to build a more robust independent board, not a one that hid behind the shadows like what it was at that moment.
Meanwhile, England, who owned 2.5% of the company’s largest pension fund, Spab, said in an interview that it would recommend adding three independent directors to improve corporate governance to improve transparency among its management.
It also requires that the company return 75% of its free cash flow to shareholders, without being cut off.
When it rains, it pours. The few major shareholders’ comments, together with the loss of Samsung’s flagship cell phone, instantly made the company a hated target.
Moreover, some of the stockholders of Samsung started to sell their shares out of concern for the consequences of this upheaval.
Hence, all the stocks in the company began to plummet.
At that moment, Su Yang finally stopped hiding his motive. He started to sweep through the stock market on a large scale and started raising cards on various stock exchanges!
