He didn’t know why, but the offer he received was much higher than the current value of JK Communications.
It was a tempting amount, but Hyun Jin-geon Gun was ruthless.
“Forget it. Apologize and reject it.”
“Got it. But they said they wanted to hear it from you directly.”
“I’m busy talking to an important guest right now.”
“True. Then I’ll handle it.”
Hyun Jin-geon Su also answered calmly, without any hesitation.
He didn’t stop there. He even had the leisure to take care of Yoo-hyun.
“Hey, Yoo-hyun hyung, do you want more coffee?”
“No, I’m good.”“Let me know if you need anything. I ground some fresh beans today.”
Hyun Jin-geon Su left with a smile, as if nothing had happened.
Yoo-hyun looked at Hyun Jin-geon Gun with a dumbfounded expression.
“Jingun, don’t you have any greed?”
“For what? Selling?”
“Yeah. 2 billion dollars is a lot of money, you know.”
He knew he wouldn’t sell, but it was an amount worth considering.
Objectively speaking, it was like winning the lottery for JK Communications, which still hadn’t established its foundation.
But Hyun Jin-geon Gun looked indifferent.
“Why? Do you need money?”
“Of course not. I’m fine.”
“So am I. But why sell?”
“It might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“Of course not. The 5G era is coming after 4G. When everything is connected by communication, we can change the world. How can you be crazy enough to hand over this company to China?”
Hyun Jin-geon Gun’s words revealed his conviction.
He was still the same genius friend as he was five years ago, when he was in his twenties.
Yoo-hyun chuckled and recalled an old memory instead of answering.
“You did well to go to the reserve training in Ulsan.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m glad I met you.”
“That’s nonsense. Me too.”
Hyun Jin-geon Gun extended his coffee cup.
Clank.
Yoo-hyun clinked his cup and suggested.
“Let’s not do this and go out for a drink.”
“Deal. Let’s wrap it up and go.”
That day, the two spent a long time together, having a sincere conversation.
The next day, Yoo-hyun, who had stayed at Hyun Jin-geon Gun’s house until late, moved to the meeting place.
It was a road in the south of San Francisco, about an hour away from the center of Silicon Valley.
He parked his car in the parking lot and stood on the road where he had agreed to meet.
He checked his wristwatch under the shade of a tree, avoiding the sunlight.
‘Five minutes before the appointment time.’
Right on time, a man was walking towards him.
He had neatly combed white hair and wore dark sunglasses. It was Paul Graham.
Yoo-hyun approached him with a friendly smile and reached out his hand.
“How have you been?”
“I’ve been fine. As you can see.”
Paul Graham shrugged his shoulders as he shook hands.
Yoo-hyun smiled as he looked at him in a red polo shirt and shorts.
“You look younger somehow.”
“That’s why I don’t dye my hair. I don’t want to look like your age.”
“You have a lot of confidence, don’t you?”
Yoo-hyun laughed innocently and Paul Graham pretended to be annoyed.
“Anyway, let’s see. You look good too.”
“I’ve been resting and having fun.”
“Good. You deserve it.”
Paul Graham nodded, knowing Yoo-hyun’s whereabouts.
They had talked for a long time and shared a lot of stories about each other.
That’s why Yoo-hyun was more curious.
“But why did you ask me to meet you outside?”
“Didn’t I tell you? I have something to show you.”
“Wasn’t it about the Instagram stake?”
He had received a call from Paul Graham on the same day that he heard the news of Instagram’s acquisition.
He thought it would be related to that.
But Paul Graham waved his hand.
“Why would I meet you for that? I’m here to teach you how to spend money.”
“How to spend money?”
“Yes. You have more money than you can handle now, don’t you? You’ve invested in many places too.”
Paul Graham didn’t know, but Yoo-hyun was a former top executive of Hansung Electronics.
Hansung Electronics was one of the top three conglomerates in Korea, and it had dozens of related subsidiaries under it.
Yoo-hyun was not lacking in the managerial aspect.
But if he was a mere operator back then, he owned everything now.
The actual capital value he possessed was incomparable to the past.
In that sense, Paul Graham’s proposal was quite tempting for Yoo-hyun.
It was not a common opportunity to see the reality of a great capitalist from the side.
Yoo-hyun nodded right away.
“You’re right. I think it will be helpful for me too.”
Hearing the answer, Paul Graham immediately pointed the direction.
“Well, shall we go then?”
“Are we walking?”
“Of course. That’s the way.”
Paul Graham started walking as if it was obvious.
The place he headed to was not a decent building, but a narrow alley.
No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t seem like a place he would invest in.
What is this?
Yoo-hyun followed him, hiding his curiosity.
As he entered the alley, Yoo-hyun’s doubt grew bigger.
He wondered if there was such a place in San Francisco, as he saw old and shabby buildings.
He saw homeless people with boxes or small tents everywhere.
Paul Graham passed by them and said.
“They don’t crack down on this street much. That’s why there are so many homeless people.”
“I didn’t know there were so many.”
“Why do you think I brought you here?”
It was a very special case for someone like Paul Graham to teach him how to spend money.
Yoo-hyun secretly thought he would meet the CEOs of big companies and tell them the success stories of his investments.
But what the hell?
Paul Graham was now walking on the street where the homeless people were.
Yoo-hyun answered honestly.
“I don’t know.”
“Of course you don’t. I’m looking for someone you don’t know.”
“Who is that?”
“Just a moment. He should be around here… Right. There he is.”
Paul Graham, who was scanning the surroundings, found a homeless man sitting and walked towards him.
He approached him and put a two-dollar bill in front of the man who was wearing a hat and lowering his head.
The man nodded slightly without even looking at him.
Paul Graham winked at Yoo-hyun.
He meant to give him money, so Yoo-hyun took out his wallet.
How much should I give?
He hesitated and handed out a fifty-dollar bill.
He wanted to see how the person who didn’t react to two dollars would react.
Paul Graham watched the situation with his arms crossed, as if he was amused.
The homeless man was surprised and checked the bill twice.
He took off his hat and raised his head, expressing his deep gratitude.
“Thank you. Thank you. I hope you have a lot of luck today… Huh!”
His eyes widened.
The man’s gaze was on Paul Graham.
Paul Graham smiled faintly and said in a warm voice.
“Long time no see, Sebastian.”
“Paul…”
“Do you want to talk?”
“I, I saw the wrong person.”
The man who was wearing a hat quickly tidied up his surroundings.
Crunch. Crackle.
The man who took the fifty dollars and a big bag from Yoo-hyun got up quickly.
Paul Graham reached out his hand, but the man tried to shake it off.
Snap.
Yoo-hyun stepped in and stopped the man’s arm.
Then the man ran away as if he was escaping.
Paul Graham said to the man’s back.
“Contact me. I’ll wait.”
“…”
There was no answer from the man who came back.
He just disappeared.
Paul Graham muttered as he watched the man’s back.
“He still needs a lot of time, I guess.”
“You know him, I suppose.”
At Yoo-hyun’s question, he told him a story from the past.
“His name is Sebastian Vale. He was once a promising entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. He was also a friend of mine.”
“Really?”
“There was a colleague named Max, who worked with him. They had a great chemistry. They were both smart and visionary. One day, I heard their idea and I was greedy.”
“Did you invest in it?”
“Yes, I did. It was such an attractive item.”
Paul Graham’s expression looked wistful as he spoke.
“So you failed?”
“Didn’t you just see the result?”
“I guess he couldn’t get back on his feet.”
“He failed so badly that he couldn’t. He didn’t just lose money, he lost everyone around him. Sebastian was abandoned by his family, and his colleague Max took his own life. And…”
Shuffle. Shuffle.
Paul Graham moved his steps and calmly recounted the tragic memory of his failure.
It was too shocking to call it an investment result.
Yoo-hyun, who was walking beside him, asked him the reason.
“Why did that happen?”
“Money turned a decent person into a monster. Maybe he was always like that, and I didn’t know. Anyway, I realized then. I shouldn’t spend money recklessly.”
“I see.”
Finally, Yoo-hyun seemed to understand why Paul Graham brought him here.
He wanted to show him that money could bring more trouble than good.
As they left the dark alley, a forest with lush trees appeared.
As they walked along the forest path, a particularly large mansion caught their eye.
It was less than a kilometer away from the street where the homeless people were.
It was not a good location for such a luxury mansion.
Yoo-hyun wondered and Paul Graham said.
“Steve, do you see that building?”
“Yes. It’s a very nice house. But the location seems a bit odd.”
“The owner is from the alley we just passed by. He was someone who dreamed of building a house that everyone would envy here.”
“He succeeded.”
Yoo-hyun answered, recalling the common success stories of Silicon Valley.
But Paul Graham’s answer was a twist.
“Success? No one lives in that house now. Someone will buy it for a cheap price soon. Or the state of California might dispose of it.”
“Why is that?”
“The owner is in prison.”
“Prison?”
“Do you know her? Olivia Holmes.”
Suddenly, a news flashed in Yoo-hyun’s mind.
A few days ago, Silicon Valley was shaken by a huge scam by a young female entrepreneur.
She was the youngest billionaire and the CEO of a bio company worth over 5 billion dollars (6 trillion won), but she turned out to be a fraud.
This shocking news was quite an issue in Korea as well.
Yoo-hyun said what he knew.
“Yes, I know. She’s the scammer who made a blood test kit company.”
“That’s right. I invested in her company in the early stage.”
“Oh…”
“At first, she had nothing. But I invested in her because of her ability. Her eloquence was enough to be called the second Steve Jobs.”
“I’ve seen her presentation at TED.”
Olivia Holmes’ TED talk video was popular enough to be watched by over 10 million people.
Paul Graham nodded.
“She had a charm that captivated people. She used my investment money to expand her scale, and she grew her company explosively in a year or two. I sincerely congratulated her.”
“But it was a scam.”
“Yes. Many people were harmed by the false mirage. I didn’t care much because I got out early, but there were quite a few people who staked their lives on her. The wrong investment caused a lot of damage to everyone.”
If Paul Graham’s expression was wistful when he met Sebastian Vale, this time it looked very lonely.
It was understandable, since his goodwill had returned with the worst outcome.
It was something that Yoo-hyun hadn’t thought of before.
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