At the same time in Korea, when Lee Hyun-woo decided to inform Jang Jae-won about the listing, Joe Murphy’s morning was beginning.
That day, he had a flight to Korea in the afternoon, so there was a lot to prepare.
Most of it was paperwork, but there was one more thing to add.
It was an analysis report of Jungle’s value.
After heading to the office a bit later, he quickly made contact with New York.
“Hey, Smith, it’s me.”
He was from Natural Standard Fund.
So, calling his old workplace, he said to his former subordinate,
“Are you still updating the valuation report for Jungle?”
(Of course. It’s one of our points of interest.)
“Can I get a copy?”
(I think that should be fine… Even though you’ve moved on, since we’ve invested in Jungle USA, it shouldn’t be an issue.)
“Alright, prepare it for me, and since I’m flying to Korea today, send it to me via email.”
(Sure, will do. But is there a reason you need this data…)
“You probably have an idea?”
(No way, is Jungle going public?)
“Yup, Hyun-woo Lee has made up his mind.”
(Wow… It’s finally happening!)
His former subordinate’s excited voice was filled with anticipation.
Even though the wait hadn’t been long, it felt like something they had been eagerly awaiting for a long time.
This also meant that there was a lot of money in Wall Street uncertain about where to go.
Joe Murphy knew the reason well.
The economic crisis that started in Thailand spread to neighboring Southeast Asian countries, causing Wall Street fund money to expand as they withdrew their investments.
Recently, there had been reckless investments in IT.
Fund companies knew it was a bubble, but even if they hit the jackpot with just one out of ten investments, they would make a huge profit.
As a result, the stock price of Yahoo, which didn’t have impressive performance, was skyrocketing.
However, Jungle, which was established later than Yahoo, was rapidly growing in size.
‘It will be at least on par with Yahoo.’
At the same time, it seemed like a new record would be set.
Specifically, Jungle would be listed in Korea, the USA, and Japan under its name.
As far as Joe Murphy knew, Son Jung’s company in Japan was also preparing for Jungle Japan’s IPO.
Currently, Jungle USA was gearing up for Nasdaq listing, so maybe next year, they might achieve a double upper limit (starting price twice the public offering price, followed by hitting the upper limit) on the first day of listing in all three places.
‘Is this too optimistic?’
It was possible.
There were elements of uncertainty in the global economy.
The Southeast Asian financial crisis that had been lurking in his mind moments ago was the biggest issue.
Neither Korea nor Japan could be completely unaffected.
Joe Murphy was well aware that several large Korean companies had already gone bankrupt.
‘But if we can navigate through this crisis well, Jungle can become a top global company beyond Korea.’
Soon, morning arrived in Korea as well.
As was his habit, Lee Hyun-woo’s father, Lee Jung-yong, was reading the economic section of the newspaper and checked today’s article titles.
『Chain of Corporate Bankruptcies, Is 【Domifa Department Store】 in Crisis?』
The content suggested that they might go bankrupt, and given that such rumors often led to actual collapses recently, he couldn’t help but ask his son before breakfast.
“The situation doesn’t look good, I’m not sure if we should continue with the business.”
The reason for asking even though he wasn’t going to stop was simple.
He wanted to hear the perspective of the now much more mature Lee Hyun-woo.
Lee Hyun-woo responded calmly.
“We should continue what we’ve been doing. Don’t worry too much. In fact, starting at the bottom isn’t necessarily bad.”
“Really? I’m feeling a bit uneasy. Actually, I was negotiating with Domifa Department Store yesterday.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yeah, they said ‘okay’ anytime, but seeing today’s news makes me wonder if we should include this.”
The mention of being unsure whether to include it referred to the recent push for a GAPE store.
Lee Hyun-woo opened his mouth with a cautious expression.
“Then, postpone Domifa Department Store for a while. Focus on other places.”
“Should I?”
Hearing the uncertain voice, Lee Hyun-woo quietly looked at his father’s face.
As the GAPE contract was practically in the final stages, Lee Jung-yong seemed even more distressed.
He understood that feeling.
‘I’d feel the same.’
However, Lee Hyun-woo was someone who saw high potential for GAPE’s success.
“Father, aren’t you meeting GAPE tomorrow? Until then, you need to show confidence, so they can feel assured. But if they see you like this, I wouldn’t want to do business either.”
“……”
“I know I’m being blunt, but business is business.”
“You’re right.”
Suddenly, upon his son’s advice, Lee Jung-yong felt a bit embarrassed.
‘Indeed, not just anyone can handle a big business.’
As he got closer to realizing his youthful dreams, his anxiety grew, making him worry about how he could expand the business with such timidity.
Unconsciously, he sighed.
“Sigh…”
Even after Lee Hyun-woo left for work, he continued to sigh, prompting his wife and Lee Hyun-woo’s mother to ask,
“What’s wrong? Is something not going well?”
“No, nothing’s particularly wrong. Things are actually going well.”
“Then why the sighs?”
“Just that the country’s economy seems a bit unstable. As you know, a few big companies have gone bankrupt recently. Today, there’s a rumor about Domifa Department Store’s bankruptcy. So suddenly, I’m worried if we should be doing business in such times.”
“Of course, we should.”
“What?”
“They say a person gets three chances in a lifetime. You’ve already used two.”
“Two… Two? When?”
“The first was meeting me, and the second was raising our children well.”
“Hahaha.”
He let out a dry laugh at his wife’s words.
He knew it was half a joke.
“When I’m anxious, you lighten the mood with humor.”
“I’m serious though?”
“Alright, alright. I won’t say anxious things again.”
Still, after listening to his son’s stern advice and his wife’s words, Lee Jung-yong felt much more at ease.
‘Darn it, there’s no reason we can’t succeed. I’ve received a lot of help from my son for this third chance, but I’ll grow the company and later help my son.’
Meanwhile, as soon as he arrived at work, Lee Hyun-woo called team leader Woo Sang-won and others and made this declaration.
“Isn’t it time for us to go public?”
“……!”
“……!”
“……!”
“……!”
“……!”
The eyes of the people were filled with exclamation marks.
“Is it true?”
“Have you decided?”
“Wow, I’m excited.”
“When will it happen?”
And the questions followed.
“I plan to start preparations immediately without delay. We need to select an underwriter, and I think we’ll need a briefing session for that.”
In other words, they needed to hold a corporate briefing session to select an underwriter.
In fact, Lee Hyun-woo wanted to make it as grand as possible.
With rumors of several companies going bankrupt recently, he wanted to change the mood with the news of Jungle’s IPO preparations.
“So, I plan to inform famous domestic and international securities firms.”
Woo Sang-won and others had little experience and were relatively young.
So, they didn’t fully grasp what Lee Hyun-woo was pushing for.
Among them, Kang Dong-ho, who had a related major, responded to Lee Hyun-woo’s words,
“Of course, if we select a firm that works well and offers good fee benefits, the process will proceed smoothly.”
“Then, could you take charge of this, Team Leader Kang? I’ll create a TF headquarters, essentially an IPO task force, and start by including Team Leader Shin Dong-woon.”
In other words, he was asking Kang Dong-ho to take the lead as the head of the headquarters, to which he enthusiastically responded.
“Yes, I’ll do that.”
Although not present at the moment, Shin Dong-woon was practically an expert in this field.
Especially with his experience working on Wall Street, his power would likely be needed when sending IPO briefing news to foreign underwriters, so he was included.
‘I’m glad I made the decision. The expressions on their faces are no joke.’
As the meeting was about to end, Lee Hyun-woo saw the lively faces of the people.
After the meeting, team leaders like Woo Sang-won took a moment to chat over vending machine coffee.
“An IPO…”
“How big will it be?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. What about you, Director Woo?”
“I’m also studying a lot these days, but I can’t get a grasp. Oh, doesn’t Team Leader Kang seem to know well?”
“I only have a little knowledge. But considering our company’s value, the estimate of 1 trillion won isn’t uncommon. Maybe we can expect a market cap around that.”
“1 trillion won!”
“Wow, hearing talks of trillions!”
“The CEO mentioned trillions before.”
“Oh? Really?”
“Yes, he said becoming a unicorn company was our initial goal.”
“What’s a unicorn?”
“Well, it’s…”
The team leaders present were different from the past.
Woo Sang-won, Lee Jung-woo, Jang Yoo-cheol, and Oh Min-woo had become directors and assumed roles as COO and CTO, respectively, with new individuals rising to team leader positions.
So, many hadn’t heard Lee Hyun-woo explain unicorns, companies valued at 10 billion dollars before going public.
Moreover, the concept of unicorns wasn’t currently in use.
Since Lee Hyun-woo occasionally mentioned it, it was only used within Jungle.
Nonetheless, thanks to Kang Dong-ho’s easy explanation, the new team leaders understood the concept of a unicorn.
Seizing the moment, he informed them of the key benefits they would receive from the IPO.
“The CEO often talked about stock options, which means he’ll distribute issued shares to us in advance.”
“Before the IPO?”
“Yes, before the IPO.”
Some here had already received them.
Lee Jung-woo and Jang Yoo-cheol, as founding members, had already been promised shares.
Lee Hyun-woo had been distributing a certain number of shares to them each month.
The others, too, received shares after becoming team leaders and signing new contracts.
For reference, although Jungle was a private company, Lee Hyun-woo had issued exactly 1 million shares for the distant future, giving 50,000 shares to his father.
Recently, as team leaders emerged, he had been issuing a few more shares.
Still, it was ‘1 million shares + a small amount of shares.’
“Wait a minute. Since our company has issued around 1 million shares, does this mean each share is worth about 1 million won?”
“Seems like it!”
Having discussed the 1 trillion won value earlier, the scientifically inclined team leaders must have quickly done the division in their heads.
For reference, the number of stock options was limited based on contribution to the founding.
So, the recently promoted team leaders received ten shares each month.
This meant that aside from their salaries, they were receiving about 10 million won in value each month, making their eyes widen.
Here’s what Kang Dong-ho said next,
“But did you know? The CEO’s goal isn’t just a unicorn, but a decacorn. In other words, he aims to hit a valuation of 10 billion dollars.”
