The transfer of SS Oil's shares was finalized swiftly.
My grandfather personally flew to Saudi Arabia for negotiations.
The agreement was confirmed on the spot, and SS Group exchanged SS Oil's shares for cash.
There was nothing to worry about up to this point.
The real challenge was securing investment funds.
The amount of investment we could secure from Aramco would determine the scale of the companies we could acquire.
Another day passed.
As soon as I arrived at the headquarters, the chief of planning hurriedly delivered an urgent report.
"The chairman is returning to Korea today."
"He wouldn't take my calls, but it seems he contacted the planning office directly."
"Additionally, he's bringing an important guest with him. He has instructed us to make full preparations."
An important guest?
It was likely Salman.
I had invested a great deal of effort in building a relationship with the future crown prince, and he had been instrumental in establishing the Aramco joint venture.
"It looks like he's coming with royalty. Arrange for security personnel at the airport and inform a few friendly media outlets. Taewoo Group must provide the highest level of hospitality. Reserve all the rooms in Taewoo Hotel."
"We'll prepare something on par with a state visit. But clearing out the entire hotel isn't part of the standard protocol. Isn't that excessive?"
"Saudi royalty moves trillions of won with a single word. It's better to overdo it than to fall short."
I emphasized this point several times.
The Saudi royal visit was undoubtedly to personally inspect the joint venture's progress.
If we made a strong impression here, the size of the investment we received could change drastically.
This wasn't something I could leave solely to the planning office.
I even enlisted Captain Kang to oversee security and personally went to the airport with several executives to greet them.
"The chairman will be arriving shortly."
"Everyone, be prepared. Even the smallest mistake is unacceptable."
We stood on high alert, waiting for my grandfather and his guest.
Finally, the airport doors opened, and they stepped out.
But the guest wasn't who I expected.
Instead of Salman, someone of an even higher status had arrived in Korea.
"Welcome, Crown Prince Abdullah."
I greeted the crown prince fluently in Arabic.
It wasn't the future crown prince, Salman—it was the actual Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia that my grandfather had brought with him.
How was this even possible?
Then, I recalled my grandfather's business acumen.
Though not as exceptional as David, he possessed A-grade social skills.
"Are you the young man who recovered the Saudi royal family's jewel? I've heard a lot about you from Salman."
"Thank you for remembering me. I deeply appreciate Your Highness's visit to Korea."
"I wanted to see for myself what kind of company would be working with the Saudi royal family."
"If you haven't decided on accommodations, may I suggest staying at Taewoo Hotel? We've reserved the entire hotel for you."
"Haha, there was no need to clear out an entire hotel just for me. This is quite the hospitality. Let's go then."
I took a step back.
At that moment, the reporters finally snapped out of their daze and began clicking their shutters.
The arrival of Saudi Arabia's future king was a massive news story.
Some journalists were even filing real-time reports back to their newsrooms.
Meanwhile, we left the airport and headed toward the hotel.
It wasn't until we were in the car that I finally had a chance to speak with my grandfather.
"How did this happen? I never expected the crown prince himself to visit Korea."
"Neither did I. It all happened because Salman kept praising you endlessly."
"So, you're saying that Salman's influence brought the crown prince to Korea?"
"That's one way to put it. He wants to personally inspect the joint venture before making his investment decision."
This wasn't a bad situation at all.
Taewoo Chemicals, Taewoo Heavy Industries, and SS Oil—
These were all companies that I could confidently present without any embarrassment.
The crown prince's schedule was packed.
From last-minute meetings with high-ranking government officials to a meeting with the president-elect, the itinerary was relentless.
Only after these formalities were completed did it become the business sector's turn.
The CEOs of Korea's top 10 conglomerates had all gathered in one place.
Thanks to my connections with the Saudi royal family, I was able to participate.
Everyone else in the room was a corporate heavyweight.
But even these influential figures—titans of Korea's business world—were nothing more than small shop owners in front of Crown Prince Abdullah.
The wealth of the Saudi royal family was estimated to be at least 1,000 to 2,000 trillion won.
Even if you combined all of Korea's major conglomerates, they wouldn't come close to matching that fortune.
"I've heard that Korea is facing difficult times. However, I believe in the resilience of East Asia. I hope to build strong relationships with many companies today."
One by one, the CEOs stepped forward to shake hands with Crown Prince Abdullah.
With a single handshake, billion-dollar MOUs were being signed.
It was possible to think that after all my efforts to build ties with the Saudi royal family, other companies were now swooping in to reap the rewards.
But I knew better.
An MOU wasn't a binding contract.
Right now, they might be making billion-dollar promises, but an MOU could change at any time.
In reality, Saudi Arabia's royal family rarely followed through on MOU commitments.
Promises meant nothing—contracts did.
Securing a massive pledge through an MOU was meaningless.
In the end, only a legally binding joint venture agreement would guarantee real investment.
And today, the only company to secure an actual joint venture agreement was Taewoo Group.
Crown Prince Abdullah had signed a contract for a 6 trillion won investment in Taewoo Refinery.
This amount exceeded my expectations—far more than I had anticipated.
Considering we were giving up shares in Taewoo Chemicals and Taewoo Heavy Industries, the investment seemed excessive.
"That concludes today's schedule."
With visible fatigue, Crown Prince Abdullah rose from his seat.
The banquet ended with thunderous applause from the gathered CEOs.
At last, I approached my grandfather to ask about the unexpected increase in investment.
"Was there a reason for the sudden increase in funding?"
"I'm not sure myself. After speaking with the fund managers from the Saudi royal family, they decided to raise the investment amount."
"So, rather than just the refinery, they see value in the entire Taewoo Group?"
"That's how I see it. The fact that Taewoo is a major corporation with zero debt likely played a significant role."
There had to be a hidden factor.
Perhaps they realized that I was the head of SAVE Investments.
Or maybe they discovered that Taewoo Group held an extensive portfolio of valuable patents.
Whatever the reason, it didn't matter.
The key takeaway was that we had just secured 6 trillion won in immediately usable capital.
As I was sorting through my thoughts, I noticed something.
The CEOs of Korea's largest conglomerates were now approaching my grandfather—bowing their heads in respect.
"Thanks to you, Chairman, we were able to secure an excellent MOU with the Saudi royal family. This is a huge relief. We're truly grateful."
"It was a brilliant decision to appoint Chairman Kim as the head of the Federation of Korean Industries. We never imagined you'd bring the Saudi Crown Prince himself."
The conglomerate leaders were now lavishing praise on my grandfather.
Signing trillion-won MOUs made him seem like a savior to them—at least for today.
But would they still feel that way in a few years?
By this time next year, they'd realize that an MOU meant nothing.
With Taewoo Chemicals and Taewoo Heavy Industries merging, the once nominal joint venture had expanded significantly.
Meanwhile, SS gas stations across the country rebranded as Taewoo Gas Stations and began operations under the new name.
While all this was happening, I boarded a flight to the U.S.
For now, I could leave Korea's affairs in my grandfather's hands—it was time to turn my focus back to the U.S.
Upon arrival, my first stop was SAVE Investments.
There, Dimon, who had been serving as acting CEO in my absence, greeted me with enthusiasm.
"Boss, you're finally here! It's been way too long. I was starting to think you sent me to the U.S. just to forget about me!"
"Come on, I'd never forget you. In fact, I'm here to personally bring you back to Korea."
"So, it's finally time to return? Every time I saw news about Korea, I was itching to get back into action."
"There's no shortage of companies ripe for acquisition."
We exchanged knowing, almost wicked smiles.
For most businesses in Korea, this was a crisis—but for us, it was an opportunity.
"When do we head back?"
"First, I need to wrap things up in the U.S. How's the record label acquisition progressing?"
"Thanks to Steve getting involved personally, things are moving smoothly. And with our stake in MCA Records, we're backing the negotiations. It should all be settled before the year ends."
By January, the iPod would be unveiled to the world.
Before that happened, we needed to finalize all MP3-related business moves.
"What about the legal disputes with the P2P sites?"
"Thanks to our lawsuit, P2P sites have skyrocketed in popularity. Some media outlets have even published malicious articles claiming that we're intentionally promoting them."
I couldn't argue against that.
After all, our goal all along was to boost the visibility of P2P sites.
Only by doing so could we increase the value of legitimate music platforms—ensuring that our own streaming service dominated the U.S. market.
"There's no need to respond to those articles."
"Honestly, there's not much we can say in rebuttal. The lawsuit itself has fueled MP3 adoption among the public."
MP3s were gaining traction, but at this stage, most people still downloaded MP3 files and burned them onto CDs for playback.
The only dedicated MP3 player available was the MPMan by Digital Cast (Saehan Digital), which held just eight songs on its 32MB storage. CDs were still the cheaper and more convenient option.
"We need to launch our music platform through MCA Records in January."
"Everything is ready. We've scheduled the launch to coincide with CES."
"We'll also be launching a music platform in Korea. Work with Taewoo's IT division and make sure it goes live by February at the latest."
"No problem. The Korean launch will proceed smoothly as well."
Dimon was truly a remarkable talent.
And he wasn't the only one—SAVE Investments had another exceptional individual on board.
"Boss! I've set up a meeting with the IMF executives. Turns out a lot of them are alumni from your university, so it wasn't too hard to arrange."
David approached me with his usual charm.
His networking skills were unparalleled—setting up a meeting with key figures from the IMF was no challenge for him.
"It'll be nice to catch up with my seniors from school."
"There are plenty of Harvard alumni at the IMF. Since you'll be heading back to Korea soon, strengthening connections in the U.S. now will be beneficial."
At this point, Korea's economic sovereignty had essentially been handed over to the IMF.
For future mergers, acquisitions, and corporate strategies, maintaining a strong relationship with the IMF would be crucial.