Lee Hyun-woo thought of decentralized leadership.
“I always knew it was the alternative, but I’ve never really implemented it properly.”
The reason was simple. COO Woo Sang-won and the three CTOs were still considered to need more growth, so this task was constantly postponed.
Additionally, when their opinions were checked in between, they also said they had a lot to learn.
However, since it couldn’t be postponed any longer, Lee Hyun-woo summoned the four of them.
“Can anyone see around my eyes?”
“……?”
“What do you mean…”
“Just say what you want to say plainly.”
“That’s right. Sometimes the CEO talks about catching clouds.”
“Ah, then I’ll get straight to the point. It seems we need to start the company’s personnel division.”
“Personnel division?”
“What do you mean…”
“……?”
“In short, it means creating subsidiaries and separating the affiliates. Otherwise, I think my dark circles around my eyes will get darker from being overwhelmed with work.”
People now realized what Lee Hyun-woo meant by looking around his eyes.
And today, it seemed he had made up his mind firmly.
In the end, Woo Sang-won asked as a representative.
“If you mean affiliates… How do you plan to divide them?”
Asking like this meant he was also preparing his mind.
“We have to discuss that from now on. For starters, I will be the head of the main company, Jungle, and you four will become CEOs of the subsidiaries.”
“Wow, so you mean to split into four?”
“No. Including the main Jungle company and the four subsidiaries, it will be five.”
“Isn’t it a bit funny to split a company with just over a thousand employees into five?”
“What’s funnier is that two of us just graduated from college, and one is a student on leave.”
“What? Are you referring to me as a student on leave?”
“Aren’t you?”
“No, please refer to me as a dropout.”
“Enough!”
Seeing that the conversation was heading towards jokes, Lee Hyun-woo quickly cut them off.
“I am serious. As you may know, I am getting married next year. At this rate, I won’t even be able to go on my honeymoon peacefully.”
“……”
Everyone closed their mouths as if they had nothing more to say.
Their eyes were full of guilt.
They were also aware that Lee Hyun-woo had been overwhelmed with work recently, as they had already heard from the secretariat.
The problem was that it was hard to distribute that work.
Oh Min-woo quickly stepped up and bowed his head.
“Sorry for not being serious. It wasn’t intentional.”
This eccentric seemed to be growing up. In the past, he would have roughly avoided the situation, but now he even apologized to Lee Hyun-woo.
“I am sorry too.”
“I always felt sorry. I knew the CEO was working hard recently, running around here and there…”
“I was planning to help earnestly after graduating, which is soon.”
“I can help right now. I have no intention of returning to school anyway. Oh, by the way, I’m going to be the Bill Gates of Korea. Don’t even think about taking that from me.”
Lee Hyun-woo chuckled. Just when he thought Oh Min-woo was getting serious, he quickly reverted to his usual self.
“No matter what, the personnel division will proceed. As you mentioned, it’s burdensome for people who have just slightly over a thousand employees to take on the role of CEO, but we are all in our 20s, aren’t we?”
“That’s right.”
“But why doesn’t the CEO seem like he’s in his 20s?”
“Director Woo is in his 30s, and the CEO will be 30 next year…”
“Director Oh, stop it.”
“Yes…”
Woo Sang-won restrained Oh Min-woo from making light remarks.
Then he concluded.
“I know very well that the CEO has been waiting for us to grow. Although we still lack a lot, it seems we can’t leave everything to the CEO anymore. Yes, I understand. If the affiliates are separated as the CEO wishes, I will do my best to manage whatever I am assigned.”
Thus, Jungle, which had delayed and postponed the personnel division, finally decided to carry it out.
When the news spread, Shin Dong-woon hurriedly visited the CEO’s office.
“CEO, are you really doing a personnel division?”
“Yes, coincidentally, the law was amended this time.”
In fact, the amendment to the Commercial Act, including personnel division, was recently passed by the National Assembly.
“The… IPO is not far off. If we do the personnel division at this point, it will become quite complicated.”
“Still, it’s better now. Think about what would happen if we did it after the IPO.”
“That’s true, but…”
Personnel division means that the shareholder composition ratio of the affiliates and the existing company will be the same.
For example, if Jungle is divided into Jungle One and Jungle Two, the share proportions will be exactly the same.
If Lee Hyun-woo holds 50% of Jungle, he will also hold 50% of Jungle One and Jungle Two.
“If this news spreads, we don’t know what will happen in the over-the-counter market.”
“You mean the stock price might drop?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“……”
What investors hate the most is uncertainty.
In fact, dividing the personnel into not just one but five means reaching the highest level of uncertainty.
Why? Because while Lee Hyun-woo will manage the main Jungle, the people who will manage the affiliates are unverified.
Naturally, people holding stocks would have no choice but to sell due to anxiety, and Shin Dong-woon’s face was full of concern.
Lee Hyun-woo tried to reassure him by saying,
“If anyone dumps our company’s stock in the over-the-counter market, I will buy them all.”
“The… CEO will?”
“Of course. I have a lot of money. I think my salary level, including bonuses, is the highest in the country.”
In his past life, Lee Hyun-woo worked in the Planning and Coordination Office, and he was an expert in fund management.
Although his salary was about 1 billion won, his bonuses were no joke.
This included short-term performance bonuses, special performance bonuses, long-term executive performance bonuses, and special incentives.
So, the total amount he would receive this year would exceed 15 billion won.
It’s not that Lee Hyun-woo was greedy.
For him to receive this much money, the employees within the group could also be given a fair amount.
Lee Hyun-woo believed that earning money according to one’s ability through hard work was not something to be criticized.
As long as he didn’t do anything socially unacceptable with the money he earned.
“Moreover, we are going to pay dividends to each shareholder for the first time this year. I think I’ll receive quite a bit too, don’t you?”
“Yes… That… That’s true…”
“Then it’s settled. It’s an opportunity to increase our shareholdings with that combined money.”
Talking with Lee Hyun-woo, Shin Dong-woon briefly wondered if he had been worrying unnecessarily.
‘Well, there aren’t that many over-the-counter trades, right? Even if it drops, how much would it drop, and how much would be sold in bulk?’
Most of the substantial shares in Jungle were held by people who had a close relationship with Lee Hyun-woo or companies that had formed strategic alliances.
Some were held by individuals known as big investors, but if they felt uneasy and sold, Lee Hyun-woo’s cash alone could handle it.
Even if not, Lee Jung-woo, his younger brother, also had a huge salary and bonuses, and the other directors were the same, so they would also try to increase their shares in this opportunity.
“Thinking about it, it seems more complicated to proceed with the personnel division after the IPO.”
“Right?”
“Yes, it seems better to handle it quickly and get a proper evaluation from the market.”
“Then please prepare for the personnel division as planned.”
“Yes, CEO.”
The most urgent preparation would be informing people.
Thus, the news of Jungle’s personnel division spread through the media and was actively communicated to shareholders.
Especially since Lee Hyun-woo wanted transparency, he had to explain it to existing shareholders, and some even inquired directly.
In such cases, it was emphasized that the separated affiliates would operate autonomously.
(So, does that mean CEO Lee Hyun-woo will not be managing?)
(Isn’t that a bit risky? Jungle has grown rapidly due to CEO Lee Hyun-woo’s foresight.)
(I’m sorry, but we cannot agree with that decision. Is it really necessary to do a personnel division?)
Life is unpredictable.
Contrary to expectations that individuals or major investors interested in stock investments would dislike it, it was actually financial companies with expertise that didn’t like it.
They had invested in Jungle believing in Lee Hyun-woo and had been continuously buying stocks in the over-the-counter market, but they reacted as if struck by lightning, refusing to accept Jungle’s decision.
Even hearing this from Shin Dong-woon’s mouth, Lee Hyun-woo had no intention of changing his mind.
“The risk will occur when I manage everything. Humans have their limits.”
“Yes, I said the same, but the more knowledgeable they are about finance, the more logically they come out. It’s quite difficult to persuade them.”
“A little noise is inevitable.”
In fact, Lee Hyun-woo believed that he couldn’t manage everything alone.
As time went by, he felt like he was sinking into a swamp with all the work he had spread out.
‘I can’t let that happen. In this life, I will live my given lifespan. I will never overwork.’
In the end, those who were not persuaded eventually dumped their stocks, and Lee Hyun-woo began to buy them all.
Not only Lee Hyun-woo but also key executives like Woo Sang-won took this opportunity to increase their shares.
It wasn’t just to take responsibility or defend.
‘I will show them. We have abilities too, maybe not as much as the CEO, but still.’
Since they were also human, if there were question marks about their abilities, they couldn’t help but get filled with pride and competitiveness.
Therefore, with a determination to prove themselves, they bought the stocks that were being sold in the over-the-counter market.
“Now, we can say there are no more large-scale sell-offs.”
A while later, the non-listed trading of Jungle returned to a clear upward trend.
By this time, Lee Hyun-woo could take a breath.
In the meantime, he watched Space War, visited the new headquarters of Hyun Entertainment, met with a minister from China, and finalized the decision on the e-book reader.
“Whew…”
Unexpected issues could still arise, but since the bowstring for the personnel division had been drawn, he felt somewhat lighter.
‘Now, let’s see how people grow.’
With some leisure, it was time to observe how Woo Sang-won and others handled their work.
Of course, he had no intention of interfering just because they were clumsy with certain tasks.
Unless they desperately asked for help, it was a stage to silently watch and cheer them on despite any trial and error.
