Chapter 34

Spending time playing. I played for a whole month. There is a strange addiction to unemployed life, so time passed quickly. Since I didn’t commute, it was heaven, and I spent the day spending my time as I pleased. Watching YouTube, watching TV, browsing the Internet. “I even crossed the US for a month.” How can time at home go by so quickly? Just five years ago, he had a part-time job, school studies, and job preparation. With two hours left, I grabbed another part-time job, and I fell asleep exhausted every night. I had endured a lot of fatigue, so I thought this level of rest was my reward. “It’s up again.” And the reason why I was able to play comfortably. I watch Netflix on my TV at home, and the stock price of Netflix is rising on the US stock market. ‘I bought it at $197 a share, now it’s at $352.’ A yield of around 80%. It made $320 million on Netflix alone. ‘370 billion. This should be more than the annual net profit of a medium-sized company.’ There must be many people in Korea who have more money than me, but with this increase in wealth, I was full even when I was playing. Other stocks invested in the United States also rose little by little, increasing the total assets to $ 1.47 billion. “Today’s exercise will be a bit difficult.” “It’s okay. Let’s try.” CrossFit has been going steadily. It was boring to stay at home for the rest of the time when I was not at work. “Three more times!” “Huh. Huh.” “Good. Twice left.” “Hehehe.” “ruler. You are in good physical shape. I’ll do seven more and I’m done!” I exercised until I vomited, and I was fully stretched. What a refreshing feeling when taking a shower after that. Every two or three days, a female member in a sports bra and leggings approached me. “Hello.” “Yes.” “If you have time, would you like to eat together? I know a lot about good restaurants.” Women who work hard to get in shape through exercise. It would be a lie if I didn’t like it, but it reminded me of Ellie. “Sorry. I have a girlfriend.” I usually give up when I say this much, but it didn’t feel like I hated it. ‘You’re very active.’ I felt new about women who are active with the opposite sex. Living in poverty since childhood, I lack self-confidence and notice. Living a life full of deficiencies, seeing people who are full of confidence and positive energy in everything is amazing because they are different from me. ‘I’m very envious.’ People who are capable, kind, and even beautiful I immediately thought of Jo Soo-ah, but when I saw people like that, I felt like I was weakening myself. The lacking side, because I’m afraid that the deficiency will be revealed. Being with Jo Soo-ah seems to have both enjoyable and uneasy aspects. ―Kim Shin: Today, I exercised and ate with a woman. ―Elly: It must have been fun. ―Kim Shin: I just ate at a nearby restaurant. But aren’t you jealous? ―Ellie: Phew. There is no room for that. ―Elly: I’m busy. I’m really busy. If it were Han Chae-won, I would have thrown away my phone, shoes, and bottled water when I heard that he had dinner with a woman. It was nice that Ellie didn’t get angry easily, but there wasn’t even enough time to talk. The only thing I could talk to her on the phone without worrying was the subway on the way home from work. And that’s after 10 p.m. in New York. ―Ellie: I think I should go to sleep now. -Kim Shin: Good night. ―Ellie: I keep thinking about the night in Korea. phew… … . -Kim Shin: Good night…. I met CEO Yoo Seok-tae and paid 8 billion won for his 23% stake in Bio Life to acquire it. They said they would just hand it over, but it was a problem that could become complicated if BioLife produced proper results. “The new plant is ready for operation.” “Already?” “Yes. Just bring the raw materials and we’ll start spinning right away. I got a lot of orders. Because our company has its production competitiveness.” The manufacturing cost of vitamins or synthetic drugs was less than 100 won. Leon owned a factory, was in charge of manufacturing for several companies, and distributed vitamins and generic drugs under his brand. It is not an exaggeration to say that pharmaceutical companies print money like mints if only drugs sell well. “We execute additional investments that were planned.” “Will you?” An additional investment of 20 billion was carried out. It is not money given to CEO Yoo Seok-tae, but money deposited into the company in the hope that Leons will develop rapidly. ―Lee Ho-yeon: We hired more staff. We brought in talented guys from the United States. ―Lee Ho-yeon: I bought new experimental equipment. Ho-Yeon Lee of BioLife was reporting the status of the lab via text messages. Is it courtesy to the person who gives money? I felt a little sincere when someone like Lee Ho-yeon said thank you. It was when I spent two months exercising and investing like that. ―Chris: The president of Nicola wants to meet you. ―Chris: When is the time? I got a call from Chris. I thought I would rest for two or three months after I became unemployed. ―Chris: Can we meet within this week? -Kim Shin: Yes. Let me go. I bought a plane ticket to the US. This time, of course, I’m taking the first class, but it feels like taking a break while boarding a plane. It was much more comfortable than last time. There are four types of first-class seats, and it is said to be the best among them. It felt like eating ramen cooked by pretty flight attendants and receiving luxurious treatment somewhere. “Please go to Palo Alto.” “Yes. Guest.” From the San Francisco airport, I headed to the house in America where I live with Myung-Woo Oh. In the house, all kinds of game software and various consoles were scattered on the floor. Myungwoo Oh is playing hard with his pad. “I’m here?” “Were you at home? Were you playing games in broad daylight?” “It’s not a virtue as a gamer to save and then continue.” Oh Myung-woo was always sincere in the game. “Nice to meet you. This is Trevor Milton.” “My name is Shin Kim.” Nikola’s headquarters are in Phoenix, Arizona, but the chairman came to San Francisco himself. It is said that there is no manufacturing plant anyway, and that it cannot show the laboratory or research data. “What do you think the cars of the future will be powered by? An electric car that runs by charging a heavy battery? Hydrogen will be the fuel of the future era. And the Nikola One, powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, will lead the future!” “Okay. It’s a great business.” “We are bringing about an energy revolution.” What to say The impression of meeting President Trevor in person was very strange. I didn’t have a lot of social life, but I could say I knew a few types. I like to talk like Na Sang-guk, and I feel like I’m good at bluffing. ‘I must have seen it wrong.’ There is no law saying that geniuses or entrepreneurs have only one personality. Moreover, Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, also had a fairly unique character. If you fail, you are a fraud; if you turn your dreams into reality, you are a businessman. “If we invest $200 million, we will give you 14% of our company.” “200 million dollars?” A truly staggering amount. Considering the amount of money made by Netflix… …. Now, $200 million is not so astronomical. Nonetheless, it was a considerable amount. “It will be a satisfactory price. $200 million would be too generous a stake. The company that is negotiating investment in Nikola is GM, and Korean companies include Mirae Motors.” When it comes to Mirae Motors, I met Jin Yu-gyeong, managing director. ―Jin Yu-kyung: Do you remember me? ―Jin Yoo-kyung: I met him on the plane to the US. I received a text like this about three months ago, but I didn’t answer. After arriving in the US, I was busy playing, investing, and traveling with Oh Myung-woo. I remembered that there was a lot of talk, so we exchanged phone numbers, but I didn’t reply and moved on. Being the daughter of a real conglomerate, it was burdensome to have a conversation with her. If it is now, I may be able to contact you moderately. “Has the car of the future expressed its intention to invest?” “That’s right. A major manufacturer producing 8 million units per year is in talks with Nikola for investment. Working with them, we will gain the manufacturing technology we lack. You won’t have to go through trial and error like Tesla did.” Talk about a rosy outlook without hesitation. The story of overcoming the lack of manufacturing experience and technology through collaboration with existing companies. ‘Wouldn’t it be better to be invested by GM or Future Cars, not me?’ I met Trevor Milton and looked at the atmosphere of Silicon Valley for 10 days. “What do you think of Nicola?” “I don’t know, but isn’t it a very nice place?” I had conversations with the founders, but I didn’t know whether it was my field of expertise. Some people know Tesla because of their engineering interests, but they have never ridden a truck in their lives. ―Kim Shin: Ellie. Is Nicola a good company? -Ellie: I don’t know. ―Ellie: What happened? ―Kim Shin: I was thinking about investing. I want to find out more. ―Elly: I’ll find out on my own. Two days later, Eli’s reply came. ―Ellie: Several large companies are interested in Nikola. ―Ellie: Not only GM, but also Doohwa in Korea is interested. ―Ellie: It is a company that is evaluated as having the potential to dominate the future logistics of the United States. Doohwa Group. It was a famous Korean conglomerate in finance, manufacturing, insurance, petrochemical, construction, and defense industries. Experts from GM and Doohwa Group highly evaluated Nikola’s growth potential and future value. The atmosphere in Silicon Valley wasn’t bad, and the company often went up and down, showing off its technological prowess to the media. “I will invest $200 million.” “You are hot. You have a very good opportunity. Because we, Nikola, will dominate the logistics market in the US, Europe, and around the world, and reorganize the energy business.” I shook hands with Trevor Milton. I got used to life in America. I wasn’t particularly picky about food, and I felt much more comfortable in the United States, where there are many investment opportunities. Carrying a lot of Coke and pizza, going to the company of the founders. “Myungwoo, let’s go exercise.” “I mean a person. It’s like a machine. It needs to be oiled so that it can be used for a long time.” “I’ll give you ribs after the workout.” “Let’s go.” He regularly went to the fitness center with Oh Myung-woo, who was gaining weight. I couldn’t just watch my best friend lose over 100kg. And whenever I had time, I enjoyed traveling around the world. For new experiences and self-growth. Starting in England, I toured Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and South America. When he traveled to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, India, and South America, where security was unstable, he traveled with seven specially hired bodyguards. ‘I think more in poor neighborhoods than in developed Western European cities.’ I saw children growing up with bright smiles in the dirty and underdeveloped slums of India. ‘The world is so… I can’t say anything, but I think it makes me feel what life is like.’ Investing and traveling, I look around the world leisurely. Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. I received a call from Dr. Lee Ho-yeon that a new infectious disease had occurred in Wuhan.