The Famous Millionaire

Chapter 259

“It’s interesting for adults as well as children. Our family watched it together, and we didn’t feel at all we wasted our money.”

“My son watched it four times this week, but he says he wants to watch it again. I have to pay for it, but I don’t think it’s a waste of money.”

“Where can we find this kind of pleasure with 1,000 won? If you haven’t done it yet, just watch it now.”

Typically most of the reviews for programs like it were good or bad, but Super Kenny had no bad review at all. All the reviews were positive.

Above all, kids wanted to watch it because those who watched it already boasted to his friends in kindergarten or elementary schools.

“I’ve watched it already. Haven’t you yet?”

“So interesting. Just watch it.”

Then they came back home, pressing their parents to pay for the movie.

In fact, 1,000 won was not a lot of money at all. The price of ice cream or cookies was usually over 1,000 won. If the kids could stay happy for a week by watching the movie, 1,000 won was nothing.

Accordingly, the parents gladly paid for Super Kenny, and then there came about new reviews about it. The number of payments totaled over 20 million per month the world over. It was America that recorded the most number of payments, followed by China and Japan. There were about 400,000 payments in Korea.

What was more surprising was that the popularity of Super Kenny hadn’t reached its climax. Thanks to its going viral on the internet, Super Kenny was gaining popularity rapidly. The projected profits next month would grow much bigger.

“Looks like we’re going to rake in 100 billion won,” said Kyungsu.

100 billion won.

At a glance, it might look like a mirage.

But it was not impossible when they examined the status of the business.

Tony World, the biggest animation movie company in the United States, spent more than 100 billion won producing a movie. That means they were confident they would make more than 100 billion won with just one movie.

In fact, most animation movies generated more than that. As for box office hits, they raked in more than ten billion dollars. Converted in Korean currency, it was 10 trillion won.

If that was the case, there was no reason that Super Kenny could not make 100 billion won. Though its picture quality was not the best because it was intended for TV, its price was much cheaper. Above all, its reviews were more favorable than any other review.

“In my opinion, we will be able to make 100 billion won within one year. Maybe more than that,” said Kyungsu.

Hyunwoo felt satisfied, too. Aside from the revenues, the box office hits of animated movies would build the confidence of his staff and the students now studying at Ani & Funny. And they will be the driving force of making another Super Kenny.

Hyunwoo was especially impressed with Yenam Noh’s discerning eye for excellent animated movies. As long as Yenam was beside him, Hyunwoo felt he would never fail in his movie business.

It was already 3 pm when he checked the time.

“My how time flies! I’ll be on my way first,” said Hyunwoo.

He hurriedly headed for the KOVE office because he had an appointment with some guests exactly at 3 pm.

He arrived there five minutes early, but his guests were already waiting for him in the office.

When he entered the office, they, five all told, stood up and bowed to him.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Hyunsang Chu, president of Nanotech. This is Prof. Jinwoo Kim with Kwangmyong Univ. and this is chief development technician of our company...”

Mr. Chu introduced his party one by one.

Hyunwoo shook hands with them gladly and discussed the main topic.

The reason for their visit was simple. They wanted Hyunwoo to make an investment as Nanotech and Kwangmyong Univ. developed a wonderful item through joint research: carbon nanotubes.

Hyunwoo roughly knew what it was. Actually, Taeho Min was also looking for a way to utilize carbon nanotubes as a transparent electrode material for organic solar cell development.

But Hyunwoo was curious about one thing.

“I understand carbon nanotubes were created a long time ago and they can be mass-produced, right? I don’t understand when you said you developed it...”

Prof. Kim came forward to answer his question.

“At present, the most typical method of producing carbon nanotubes is to apply high temperature and high pressure to carbon dioxide...So the production cost is very high. It’s about 500,000 won per gram.”

Hyunwoo was aware that carbon nanotubes were very expensive.

Prof. Kim continued, “We also developed ultrasonic waves to mix ferrocene with xylene. It’s not yet commercially available, but it’s a remarkable breakthrough. If it is successful for commercial use, the production cost will drop to less than 10,000 won per gram.”

Now Prof. Kim began to mention technical terms like ferrocene and xylene and Hyunwoo could not understand at all.

But that was not important.

Prof. Kim’s point was that Nanotech discovered a much more economical way to produce products in high demand.

“We have developed a solvent that can dissolve graphite itself. The temperature and pressure needed to separate carbon are much better. When we apply ultrasonics, it can increase the yield by more than 99%.”

“Can you lower the production cost then?”

“Based on my calculation, it is less than 1,000 won per gram.”

Hyunwoo’s jaw dropped at that. If that’s true, those companies demanding 500,000 won per gram would not be able to compete in the market.

Prof. Kim continued, “More encouragingly, the use of an electromagnetic field in a plasma state allows the growth of carbon nanotube fibers larger than 10 cm right from the initial processing stage.”

Hyunwoo felt it was really a great discovery, but it was just his own impression. If a professional expert were here now, he might have a different opinion.

At that moment, he recalled Taeho Min. He would have sized up the situation more accurately.

If Taeho also evaluated their discovery positively, he would ask Korea Quality Certification Association for a formal test so that he can check out its business feasibility.

Hyunwoo took the five guests to Haenim School, where Taeho has a research office.

And then he asked them to explain to Taeho about their discovery.

Nodding his head, Taeho said, “Great. It has great business feasibility.”

“Of course. If you invest, you can retrieve your investment within one year,” said Mr. Chu confidently.

But Taeho said cautiously, “What’s really important is the quality of carbon nanotubes. If single-walled carbon nanotubes could be produced at that price, that would be a remarkable achievement.”

“You must be an expert in the field. In fact, that’s our weak point. It’s difficult for us to produce single-walled carbon nanotubes right now. We need more research on that.”

“Then, what you have developed is...?”

“It is a complex form of single wall and multiple walls. But take note of the production cost of less than 1,000 won per gram. This is a remarkably lower price.”

“What about environmental problems? If you produce lots of environmental pollutants in the production process, that will be a big issue.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. The solvent we have developed is easy to purify and can be recycled, too.”

Taeho nodded again.

Looking at Hyunwoo, Taeho said, “In fact, I’m not well versed in carbon nanotubes, but it looks like their discovery seems pretty promising.”

Hyunwoo felt his reply was satisfactory enough.

“Thanks, Dr. Min.”

Hyunwoo immediately contacted Korea Quality Certification Association for help. And the association formed a group for verification in about 15 days.

Even though the government paid 50% of the test costs in subsidies, the verification fee amounted to 60 million won.

The verification took about 15 days. Originally, it was ten days of tests, but as Hyunwoo asked for ‘perfect’ verification, they added five more days for additional tests.

The outcome was that they passed the test. The reassurances by Hyunsang Chun and Prof. Kim were all true, and there was nothing hidden in their briefing.

Mr. Chu came back to see Hyunwoo at the KOVE DREAM office.

“So, how much do you want me to invest?”

“Well, we want to establish a completely new process. Accordingly, we are going to build a new building and new equipment. I want you to invest 6 billion won in the initial stage of construction,” said Mr. Chu.

Hyunwoo’s eyebrows furrowed at that. Though he felt it was a large investment, it was much more than he expected.

But that was not all.

“I think it will take at least six months to normalize the production. I want you to invest one billion won per month until then.”

According to Chu, he mentioned a total of 12 billion won in investment, but Hyunwoo felt that was not a big problem because KOVE DREAM’s revenues were huge, and that the investment funds would be paid in installments over the next six months.

“If I invest 12 billion won, how much stake can I claim?”

Mr. Chu could not answer easily.

Instead, he mentioned something else.

“As I hear, you don’t interfere with the management and its authority on human resources no matter much stake you have in a certain company. And you also transfer your stake to the company when its president is financially able to stand on his own feet.”

“That’s right.”

Hyunwoo nodded lightly.

Only then did Mr. Chu brighten his face.

“Let me give you 40% then. Nanotech will invest four billion won, and Kwangmyong Univ. will invest one billion won, and the foreign investor OneStar has agreed to invest ten billion won.”

At that moment Hyunwoo’s face was distorted.

“Did you say OneStar?”

“Why are you surprised?” asked Chu with a strange look.

OneStar was of the same family of DonStar, which became a hot topic because of its controversial takeover of Korea Exchanges Bank several years ago.

Of course, OneStar and DonStar were formally separate funds, with independent management, but in Hyunwoo’s eyes, both funds acted like the same entity. Besides, the real owner of the two funds was the same person.

“Mr. Chu, you already know the controversial takeover of Foreign Exchanges Bank several years ago, right? Do you have any reason to attract the investment of OneStar deeply related to DonStar?”

“Of course, I know that. But their investment condition is very good. They said they would do their best to transfer US and Japanese carbon nanotubes technology to us.”

Hyunwoo snorted at that.

“Doing their best? Have you secured their promise about the name of the technology to be transferred and the exact time of technology transfer?”

“No, we haven’t. But OneStar needs to enhance the technology in order to make money. I think they will do their best to transfer the technology. They have already completed investment in a company involved in carbon nanotubes and have a great stake in that company. They are going to transfer its technology to us.”

Hyunwoo was not persuaded.

Hyunwoo said bluntly, “I won’t invest in any company if it has OneStar’s investment. If you want to receive my investment, just drop OneStar from the contract.”