After retiring hastily, preparation was indeed necessary to avoid living a life filled with regret and longing.
Since I had a reason to visit the United States, one person came to mind.
“Should I see Billy Keitz?”
Meeting him, who was both the goal and role model of my retirement, and hearing more in-depth stories seemed like the right thing to do.
“What brings you here?”
“I wanted to see you.”
“That’s a pleasant thing to say. The icon of innovation that the world is watching wants to meet me?”
A smile spread across Billy Keitz’s face, and there was a sense of ease in that smile.
It probably had something to do with the recent appointment of the third CEO of Macro Soft.
In other words, since Steven Balmer had stepped down and Macro Soft had a new CEO, he must have felt greatly relieved.
“I don’t think I have any advice to give you… unless it’s about a life already lived.”
“That’s exactly why I came, to hear about that.”
“That’s quite refreshing. I never thought we’d talk without discussing business.”
“I’ve dreamed of this moment for a long time.”
A strange light flickered in Billy Keitz’s eyes this time.
“You’ve dreamed of it? Talking about life without business with me?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Hahaha…”
“So, I’ll get straight to the point. It’s officially your sixth year since you stepped down from the front lines of management.”
“Officially… The way you emphasize that word tells me you know it hasn’t been long unofficially.”
“Yes, and that during that time, you spent a long time choosing your successor.”
“Indeed. People don’t know, but that took over ten years.”
Billy Keitz mentioned the total time it took to appoint the second and third CEOs.
“And now I’m even too lazy to stay as the chairman of the board. The company wants to give me a title of technical advisor, but I’m considering whether to accept it as an honorary, unpaid position.”
“Won’t you… regret it?”
“Regret?”
“This time, it’s really stepping down. You might get bored…”
“The world is vast, and there’s much to do. Especially since I’ve only done things to satisfy my greed, now I need to find something to enjoy peacefully.”
“That’s right. You deserve that. Unlike your competitors who bought planes to have fun, you were almost always stuck at the company working.”
“Hahaha, are you quoting an old interview of mine? Yes, that’s right. Since I only worked without playing, now I deserve to play.”
“Then I should change the question. How will you enjoy life?”
This time, it was a serious voice devoid of any playful tone.
So Billy Keitz answered seriously as well.
“I’m really sorry, but I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“Yes. I don’t know. It’s been so long since I’ve had proper fun. How much has the world changed in the meantime? Even now, I’m spending a lot of time trying to adapt. But I can tell you one thing for sure.”
“……”
“The time spent adapting itself is fun.”
A smile flickers across Lee Hyun-woo’s lips again.
Billy Keitz’s words now meant that anything he did after retirement would be fun.
In fact, Billy Keitz smiles and answers again, recalling the earlier question.
“You asked if I regret it earlier, right? No, I don’t regret it for a moment. The other day, Steven Job called me and said, ‘In ten years, Jungle will surpass Macro Soft in size. Are you just going to stay still?’ Honestly, what can I do even if I don’t stay still? Even if I change my mind to throw away the position of chairman of the board and return to active duty, I don’t have the confidence to beat you. I don’t want to either. There’s so much joy in just watching how the world turns, why live so tightly and complicatedly?”
“Wow…”
“Do I seem strange?”
“No. Absolutely not. Rather, I’m envious of you.”
“Envious? Come to think of it, you said your dream was early retirement, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but I’ve already missed that chance. To be exact, my surroundings held me back…”
“That’s just an excuse.”
“Right?”
“Yes, you were just looking for a justified reason to retire. No, you were looking for a reason why you can’t retire immediately.”
It was hard to deny.
Lee Hyun-woo was also human. Looking back, even while dreaming of retirement, he unconsciously wanted to be known as a wealthier person than those in front of him.
The more the valuation of Lee Hyun-woo’s stocks increased, and the closer it got to Billy Keitz’s assets, the clearer that desire became.
So, he accepted the conditions presented by his brother and others around him, even if he pretended to dislike them.
Although it would take time for Jungle’s market capitalization to reach half of Macro Soft’s, Lee Hyun-woo’s stock valuation had grown so tremendously that he could retire catching up to Billy Keitz.
In fact, these days, when it was almost half, the total asset difference between Lee Hyun-woo and Billy Keitz was less than 3 trillion won.
“I’m glad I came to see Billy Keitz.”
Now, that difference of 3 trillion won was invisible.
The condition of half of the market capitalization was just an excuse mentioned by both sides.
Whatever he decided to do, he had to shake it off.
“Thank you for the enlightenment.”
Lee Hyun-woo returned to Korea and declared to his younger brother after seeing Billy Keitz’s smiling face.
“We need to elect a new chairman next year.”
Unexpectedly, Lee Jung-woo didn’t hold back Lee Hyun-woo but nodded.
“Finally, the time has come?”
“Yes. You can do well without me.”
This time, he didn’t nod, but his eyes were full of confidence.
In fact, over the past year, Lee Jung-woo had independently operated the company.
It doesn’t mean he didn’t rely on Lee Hyun-woo at all.
However, when he needed to confirm whether his decisions were correct, he used his brother’s advice.
Other subsidiary presidents probably did the same.
For this reason, in a way, it was also expected.
‘How much can we grow Jungle without my brother?’
Thinking like this meant he had already made up his mind.
So the question follows.
“What will you do after retirement? Travel around the world?”
“First, I need to rest well.”
“Rest is what you crave the most.”
“Yes. It feels like I’ve worked for a hundred years.”
This statement was no exaggeration; he had been a workaholic all his life, even in this life, he’d been devoted to work since his return.
He had pursued work-life balance at times, giving himself some rest, but could he really escape from work?
To mitigate the impact of the IMF, to advance technology that didn’t exist in the world, to spread value fitting to the technology, to compete with the role models that appeared before him.
Lee Hyun-woo felt like he had only worked continuously.
‘I can only rest if I leave work behind.’
This was the reason for declaring retirement when he made up his mind.
If he stayed in Jungle for one more day, he would find a reason to work.
That was exactly who Lee Hyun-woo was.
“Next week, I’ll call the reporters right away, so be prepared.”
After the weekend, on Monday morning.
Jungle World was filled with reporters.
Since the secretarial office had sent out press releases, they already knew that today’s press conference was for Lee Hyun-woo’s retirement.
So, gathered in small groups, the friendly reporters evaluated Lee Hyun-woo’s retirement in various ways.
“Does he have something else he wants to do?”
“Politics, perhaps?”
“Could be…”
For reference, Lee Hyun-woo was one of the most beloved entrepreneurs by Koreans, ranked as the most influential figure in the world, and since the public was fed up with politicians, if he ran for president, he might actually get elected.
For this reason, as soon as Lee Hyun-woo sat down, the reporters waited.
Hoping to hear him say, ‘After retirement, I will serve the country.’
But.
“You all know I don’t like to drag out press conferences. So, to put it very briefly, next year, I will step down from the chairman position of Jungle. If I may explain the reason, it’s for my own rest and my family.”
After saying this, he smiled and looked at the reporters.
‘Is this really the end?’
The question filled the reporters’ eyes.
They thought a grand reason would come out, but Lee Hyun-woo finished his retirement declaration, intending to end it.
“I will become a thorough bystander watching Jungle’s future. My successor will probably do well, and various plans will come out through press releases in the future, so today, I’ll only take personal questions and end it here.”
“……”
It was bland, to the point of tastelessness.
They thought he would express some farewell sentiment to Jungle, which he had grown so much.
With no other choice, reporters tried to draw it out by asking questions.
“Aren’t you disappointed to leave now? It’s not yet the world’s top company.”
“No. I feel truly relieved. And if I make Jungle the world’s top company, my successor will be in trouble. I’ll leave that for him. Hmm, saying it like this makes it sound like I could do it but am leaving it on purpose. Please leave out the last remark from the article.”
“Do you have any thoughts of serving the nation?”
“My staying quiet is the service. If I really want to do something, I’ll do it secretly, so don’t dig into it.”
Lee Hyun-woo was not only good with words but also sometimes made people flustered, making the atmosphere quiet.
Now was exactly such a moment, and a silence fell in the conference room.
As 1, 2 seconds of silence passed, Lee Hyun-woo spoke again.
“If there are no more questions, I’ll end it here.”
“Wa… wait a minute!”
“I have more to ask!”
“Just one more. Just one more!”
As Lee Hyun-woo really tried to get up, the reporters barely managed to hold him back and started asking more questions.
And Lee Hyun-woo, once again, answered the reporters’ questions smoothly for another hour.
Of course, he was exhausted after the press conference ended.
“Phew, it’s finally over.”
A few more months passed, and at the shareholders’ meeting, Lee Hyun-woo stepped down from all his positions, retiring from active duty at Jungle.
The CEO position, which had been virtually vacant until now, was taken by Woo Sang-won, and the chairman position was left vacant.
The board of directors communicated to Lee Hyun-woo that they intended to leave that position open on purpose.
This was essentially giving Lee Hyun-woo the option to return whenever Jungle faced a crisis.
Naturally, Lee Hyun-woo scoffed inwardly.
‘Do they think I’ll come back?’
In the months since his retirement declaration, Jungle had grown even more.
There was a dominant view that a company with the highest market capitalization in the world could emerge from Korea.
That made sense, as Jungle was taking over the domains that Amazoness, Single, Face Note, and Pineapple had occupied in the previous life.
Naturally, it could grow as much as those groups combined, potentially becoming a millennium enterprise rather than just a century enterprise.
Regardless, Lee Hyun-woo hurried home.
Today, his entire family gathered to celebrate his retirement.
His parents and even Lee Jung-woo were there.
‘Come to think of it, there’s still a goal I haven’t achieved.’
It seemed that becoming a chaebol after returning was actually not too difficult.
In the process, he also achieved secondary goals like work-life balance and Silicon Beach.
But originally, Lee Hyun-woo’s goal was to be a filial son, a good husband, and a respected father.
This was a lifelong endeavor, something without an end.
Lee Hyun-woo suddenly looked up at the sky.
“Hey, Mr. Grim Reaper Manager, haven’t I lived my second life pretty well?”
Of course, there was no response, but the clear sky seemed to be the answer.
So far, you’ve done well in your second life.
Keep doing your best until the end.
A bright, sky-colored smile spread across Lee Hyun-woo’s lips.
