Chapter 7: A Corporation Belongs to Its Shareholders
“I’m... going to buy Daehwa Electronics stock.”
A bluff.
Stock investment in this era wasn’t exactly an efficient way to make money. Never mind the fact that the stock exchange had only just begun operating properly—not only was the volatility enormous, but the system itself was too complicated and risky.
If you wanted to make money in this period, land speculation was the way to go. The myth of real estate being invincible had a long, rich history in South Korea.
But...
Money wasn’t the point. As I’ve said again and again, money is something I can earn anytime.
Daehwa Electronics’ current market cap was maybe a few hundred billion won at most. If I dumped all the money I had into it... I could easily grab about 5% equity.
As of 2010, Daehwa Electronics’ market cap hit around 100 trillion. That kind of valuable stake was something I could only get now.
Later on, the family wouldn’t even allow me to buy stock in Daehwa Electronics. If it weren’t for the present, when no one even considered the idea of a hostile takeover, I’d never get a foothold to interfere in management at all.
“Stock? Why would you buy that?”
I saw the face of Chairman Yoo Seong-pil frown as he asked. That expression clearly said, “What the hell’s gotten into this kid?”
I calmly plastered a smile on my face like a mask.