Chapter 162: <Richest of them all>

Daenam construction.

ANIX semiconductors.

TK Communication.

Home Mart.

As Woosung promised, he continued to grow his empire quickly. A report was released which ranked the biggest companies in the country.

1.Daeyang Net worth: 230 billion dollars Number of subsidiaries: 78

2. KND Net worth: 220 billion dollars Number of subsidiaries: 27

3. TK Net worth: 98 billion dollars Number of subsidiaries: 52

4. Daeyang Net worth: 89 billion dollars Number of subsidiaries: 34

Only the top few companies were invited to the national business meeting with the President of Korea. In January of 2011, Woosung got a call from the Blue House.

Jang Gwangchul asked Woosung, “President Kang, I heard you were invited to the Blue House?”

“Yes, for the National Business Meeting.”

“Wow, our company must be doing very well. The Blue House!”

“Haha, we are number two in the country. For the personal asset category, I rank at the top. I am also within the top ten in the world. It’s not a surprise I was invited to this meeting.”

Jang Gwangchul swallowed and asked, “Will you refuse to attend?”

Woosung thought carefully. In seven years, President Lee Parksung will be arrested.

Should he keep his distance now?

Or should he use the President’s power a little while longer?

Jang Gwangchul obviously didn’t know the situation so he suggested, “You should really consider attending. If you don’t, you may fall out of favor. What if they do another investigation on our company?”

“Then I will get a different President elected.”

“W…what?” Jang Gwangchul couldn’t believe his ears.

Woosung looked out the window silently.

Jang Gwangchul continued, “D…did you see something in your dream? Will something happen to the President?”

“It’s nothing like that. I’m just saying we are no one’s servant.” Woosung turned to Jang Gwangchul and continued, “Sir, we are now a big company. We are responsible for many employees now. We need to be strong. We can’t be affected by the government. No matter which party runs this country, we need to be constant and stable.”

Jang Gwangchul was still curious, “S…so you dreamt something?”

“Not yet. I will let you know when it happens.”

Jang Gwangchul sighed deeply. “Gosh, you scared me. I thought something big would go down. So will you attend or not?”

“I will go for now, but I won’t make any serious acquaintances. From now on, if any government official contacts you for anything unethical or illegal, just refuse.”

Jang Gwangchul nodded. “Alright. I will.”

***

President Lee Parksung.

He started as the CEO of Ahyun Construction and became the mayor of Seoul. Afterward, he won the election and became the President of Korea.

He said to his son Lee Sunghyun.

“So do you really believe we need Kang Woosung? Is he that great?”

“You have no idea. He may have more money than Bill Gates now, and he is continuing to make more money as we speak.”

“He must be a great businessman.”

“After all, he is the founder of KND and Coconut.”

“And XFeed. He also took over Daenam Construction and a semiconductor company.”

Lee Sunghyun frowned. “I am beginning to get worried. It feels like I’m starting to lose my control over him.”

Lee Parksung frowned as well. “It can’t be easy to run so many companies. When you are involved in so many big businesses like that, you can’t help but be involved in illegal activities.”

“Kang Woosung told me that he makes his major business decisions based on data analysis. He was able to predict the North Korean incident a while back.”

“That was really amazing.”

“When he comes for the meeting in the Blue House, watch him carefully. We need to learn what his weaknesses are. It will help us.”

“Haha, help you to become the next President?”

Lee Sunghyun grinned. “Father and son both becoming Presidents! Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

Lee Parksung laughed proudly and replied, “By the way, we have another weapon that can help you regain control.”

Lee Sunghyun thought carefully.

Prosecutors.

Korean Revenue Agency.

NIS.

What else?

“Oh! You mean the FTC (Korea Fair Trade Commission)?”

“That’s right. This agency is one the businessmen fear the most.”

“Hmm…But we need to be careful or else it might backfire. KND has a lot of influences. If we do something, and Kang Woosung plays the media and public against us, it could be bad. Besides, if we start any investigations, we will have to do it on all the companies and we both know Daeyang, TK, and Ahyun are all involved in illegal activities.”

Lee Parksung smiled. “What we can do is to use the media in our advantage. We can get them to report a false rumor about KND…”

“And then, we act like we are forced to do an investigation!”

“Exactly. Let’s see how he does at the meeting and we will decide.”

Lee Sunghyun bowed.

***

Late night.

Woosung sat in front of the computer and thought out loud.

“I am collecting bitcoins at a much faster rate than expected. At this rate, I should have 10 million of them by next year.”

The ASIC developed by Wu Jirin was better than he could imagine.

“Almost half of all the available bitcoins in the world are mine…”

Woosung now owned over a third of all the bitcoins in the world.

“Once I have 10 million of them, I will make the price go up, and when it hits the highest price…”

Woosung grinned. He planned on making the price go as high up as possible. In his previous life, it peaked at 20,000 dollars, but perhaps he could even get it to reach 50,000 dollars this time.

“And why wait till 2017?”

Woosung owned the cryptocurrency dealership equipped to deal with any kind of cryptocurrencies including Ethereum and Ripple. In his previous life, the cryptocurrency prices peaked in 2017, but this time, he didn’t have to wait till 2017.

“I will collect Ethereum and Ripple, and then get Choi Gichul to get interested in them.”

Daeyang.

Woosung had to destroy Daeyang. Everything he did was to achieve this goal.

***

Blue House business meeting.

Most businessmen were in their 50’s and 60’s. Among them, one young man stood out. He was in his twenties. He was wearing a clean suit but nothing fancy. His watch and shoes were all clean but nothing expensive. Yet among all the men in their luxurious outfits, this young man stood out the most.

The meeting was aired live on TV. When it was Woosung’s turn to shake hands with the President, all the camera’s zoomed in.

“Make sure to get a good shot of Kang Woosung.”

Lee Parksung greeted Woosung.

“Haha, nice to meet you. I’m Lee Parksung. Congratulations on your successful launch of XFeed.”

“Thank you. It’s all thanks to you, President.”

“Haha, I didn’t do anything. It’s all because of your hard work.”

“Haha, thank you.”

They shook hands for 30 seconds with bright smiles for the cameras. Afterwards, the President shook hands with the rest of the businessmen. Among them was Choi Taemin.

Woosung and Choi Taemin’s eyes locked. Woosung grinned. Choi Taemin smiled politely, but it didn’t reach his eyes. When Woosung’s expression turned mocking, Choi Taemin’s face became rigid.

However, they were in a public place.

Choi Taemin couldn’t show his anger. Woosung approached him and shook his hand.

“Long time no see, Vice President Choi.”

Choi Taemin could barely hide his hatred.

“Long time no see.”

“I’m sorry to hear about the Chairman and your younger brother. I don’t know what to say.”

Woosung studied Choi Taemin’s face carefully. Choir Taemin’s eyes brows were flinching. He was also sweating.

Woosung thought.

‘TK Chairman knows something. Choi Gichul’s reaction to my call was also strange.’

Woosung added quickly, “I used to have conversations with Choi Gitae often. I am sad to hear what has happened to him.” Woosung paused and glared at Choi Taemin. He continued, “Choi Gitae used to tell me he is afraid. He said he felt like someone was out to get him…And this happened. Did he say anything to you by any chance?”

Choi Taemin replied bluntly, “You are very interested in my family business.”

“Haha, I was just worried because we were close.”

Suddenly, a waiter came by to lead them to the next room. Woosung followed him while Choi Taemin gritted his teeth.