Outside the large floor-to-ceiling windows, snow was falling in a pristine white curtain. Inside the spacious penthouse living room, Seok-won, freshly returned from Miami, sat on the sofa with Landon.
"So, he thinks there's no future for the company under interim CEO Jeff Collier's leadership, and that's why he's planning to sell off his entire stake?"
Seated to his left, Landon nodded.
"Yes. Despite the company's struggles, Collier recently managed to secure $661 million in corporate bonds through Goldman Sachs, giving Apple some much-needed breathing room. But internally, he has lost trust and is facing significant backlash."
"Because of the large-scale restructuring?"
"That's right. While it was meant to cut costs, laying off 6,000 employees at once and axing numerous unprofitable projects was bound to have serious repercussions."
Landon shrugged and continued.
"It's true that Apple had been running inefficiently, and given the precarious state of the company, restructuring was inevitable. But let's not forget—Steve Jobs played a big role in worsening Apple's financial situation."
"Apple did spend quite a bit of money acquiring Jobs's company, NeXT."
"They offset part of the $420 million purchase with treasury stock, but they still had to pay $380 million in cash. For a company already struggling, that acquisition must have hit them hard."
Leaning back into the plush sofa, Seok-won nodded in agreement.
"Even on a basic level, that means they've already spent nearly half of the money they raised from the bond issuance."
"If word gets out that Steve Jobs, the man Apple brought back at great expense, is dumping all the stock he received in the deal, Jeff Collier is going to feel like he's been stabbed in the back."
At a time when Apple was desperately trying to make a comeback, Jobs's move was like dousing their efforts with ice-cold water. No doubt, Collier would feel utterly betrayed.
As Seok-won pondered the situation, his brows furrowed.
'Wait… was Apple's downfall really this rapid?'
The company's excessive spending and arrogance had undoubtedly led to cracks in its once-solid foundation. But as the saying goes, even a wealthy family takes three years to go bankrupt. If his memory served him correctly, Apple had managed to stagger along for a few more years.
'Jeff Collier wasn't supposed to step down until next year, and that's when Steve Jobs was supposed to return as CEO.'
Come to think of it, even Collier's appointment as interim CEO had happened earlier than expected.
'This must be another butterfly effect caused by my interference.'
As that thought settled in, Seok-won recalled an old memory involving Manager Oh.
~~~
Vroooom!
A scooter roared down the street, its engine blaring as it came to a screeching stop in front of a shoemaker's shop.
A young man, barely past twenty, stepped off, still wearing his helmet. In one hand, he carried a metal delivery case marked with bold red lettering: Bokseonggak.
He pushed open the sliding door of the shoemaker's shop and stepped inside. Manager Oh, who was lounging with one leg propped up, lazily wiggled his foot, clad in worn socks with a telltale case of athlete's foot.
"What the hell took you so long? I ordered ages ago."
"You know how busy it gets during lunchtime. If you don't want to wait, call earlier next time."
The young man shot back at Manager Oh's gruff complaint while setting down the metal delivery case.
As Seok-won pulled out two bowls of jajangmyeon and the complimentary fried dumplings, placing them on the newspaper-covered table, the delivery guy muttered under his breath.
"If you want free dumplings, at least order a large portion. Two regular bowls? Seriously?"
"Hey, I've been a regular for ten years. I should get free dumplings by default."
"So what? You only ever order jajangmyeon. Not exactly a big spender."
"I get tangsuyuk sometimes."
"Oh, sure. That super expensive dish."
Ignoring the sarcasm, Manager Oh changed the subject.
"Did you bring extra pickled radish and onions like I asked?"
With a huff, the delivery guy pulled out another small container wrapped in plastic.
"Here you go."
For all his grumbling, he still made sure to bring what was requested. Their relationship was hard to define—were they friendly or just bickering out of habit?
"Just leave the bowls outside when you're done."
"Yeah, yeah."
Seok-won nodded, and the young man extended his hand toward Manager Oh.
"That'll be 9,000 won for the two bowls."
"Alright."
With a sigh, Manager Oh pulled out a 10,000-won bill from his wallet.
"Back in the day, it was only 2,500 won a bowl. Prices are ridiculous now."
"We have to make a profit too," the delivery guy replied, handing over 1,000 won in change.
Manager Oh, already stirring his noodles with wooden chopsticks, gestured with his head.
"Keep it."
"Thanks!"
Grinning, the young man pocketed the bill before heading out.
"Enjoy your meal!"
With a rev of the engine, the scooter roared to life and disappeared down the street.
"What are you waiting for? Eat before the noodles get soggy."
Manager Oh popped a piece of pickled radish into his mouth and motioned for Seok-won to sit.
"Thanks for the meal."
"Yeah, yeah."
As Seok-won took off his work gloves and picked up his bowl, the radio on the side played the end of a song. A female announcer's voice came on.
[Recently, Harvard Business Review released a fascinating study ranking CEOs based on their impact on stock value. The top spot went to Steve Jobs, who passed away last November. Once ousted from the very company he founded, Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 and, before his untimely passing, managed to raise its market capitalization to an astonishing $359 billion. Over his tenure, Apple's stock delivered an average annual return of 35%. Truly remarkable. Coming in second is Amazon's—]
"Hmmm."
Seok-won let out a thoughtful hum as he listened.
Manager Oh picked up a fried dumpling with his wooden chopsticks, dipped it in soy sauce, and suddenly spoke up.
"Jobs might've been an icon of innovation and a great leader, but he wasn't exactly a genius when it came to growing his personal wealth."
Seok-won frowned in confusion.
"He took Apple, which was on the verge of collapse, and turned it into a giant. How can you say he wasn't good at making money?"
Manager Oh chewed on his dumpling before replying.
"Do you know how much he left behind when he died?"
It had been a major topic of discussion at the time, so Seok-won answered without hesitation.
"They said it was over $7 billion—nearly 8 trillion won in Korean currency. That's an insane amount."
"What do you think made up most of that fortune?"
"Well, since he was Apple's founder and chairman for so long, it must be mostly Apple stock."
Manager Oh smirked and shook his head.
"Nope."
"…What?"
"Two-thirds of his estate was in Disney stock. The rest was Apple shares."
"Disney? Where did that come from all of a sudden?"
Seok-won looked at him, his face full of question marks.
"The radio earlier mentioned that Jobs was once kicked out of Apple, remember?"
"Yeah, and?"
"Well, he was so furious that he sold off all his Apple shares. With that money, he founded a computer company called NeXT and later acquired an animation studio—Pixar."
Seok-won, now engrossed in the story, nodded in understanding.
"Looking back, it seems like a huge loss. But honestly, if I were in his shoes, I'd probably have done the same. I wouldn't want anything to do with Apple."
"But here's the twist—Apple ended up buying NeXT later on."
"For real?"
Hearing this for the first time, Seok-won's face lit up with curiosity.
"Yeah. And he sold it for a whopping $420 million—part of it in 1.5 million Apple shares."
"Wow, that's incredible," Seok-won exclaimed, his mouth wide open in amazement.
"But here's the funny part—Jobs ended up selling all those Apple shares again not long after."
"What? Why?"
"Unlike now, when Apple is thriving, back then, the company was barely hanging on. It was on the brink of collapse."
Seok-won nodded in agreement.
"I've heard that Apple had some rough times, but it's still hard to imagine."
"Jobs, who had returned as an advisor, didn't believe the management at the time could turn things around. So he sold off his shares. But many believe the real reason was a power struggle between him and the existing executives."
"Yeah, that makes sense. Considering he had already been kicked out once, things were probably tense between them."
"If he had held on to those shares instead of selling them twice, the richest person in the world wouldn't be Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos—it would be Steve Jobs."
Doing a quick mental calculation of how much Apple stock Jobs had sold, Seok-won nodded.
"That's totally possible."
"Well, even after selling them off, he still had 5.55 million Apple shares left when he passed away. So maybe he didn't regret it that much."
"Did he buy them back later?"
"If only. No, he got them all through stock options. That's what makes it even crazier."
Manager Oh clicked his tongue, muttering about how some people just had a natural talent for making money, even without trying.
Seok-won, who had been listening with a look of envy, suddenly had a thought and asked,
"Then where did all his Disney stock come from?"
"Remember how I said he ran two companies after leaving Apple?"
"Yeah. And you said Apple bought NeXT."
"The other one, Pixar, was acquired by Disney. They bought it for $7.4 billion, and in the deal, Jobs received 138 million Disney shares—making him Disney's largest shareholder."
"Jobs was Disney's biggest shareholder?"
Seok-won's eyes widened in shock.
The combination of the meticulous and perfectionist Steve Jobs with Disney, a company known for preserving children's innocence?
No matter how he thought about it, it was a bizarre pairing—making it all the more surprising.
"Yeah. At one point, two of the biggest corporations in America were practically in Jobs's hands."
"That just proves how incredible Steve Jobs really was."
As Seok-won spoke, he suddenly looked down at the bowl in his hands and let out a panicked shout.
"Oh no! My jajangmyeon!"
"I told you to eat it before it got cold."
"Ugh, whatever. It's completely ruined now."
Manager Oh chuckled, amused at Seok-won's self-inflicted misfortune, and popped the last piece of pickled radish into his mouth.
~~~
Seok-won, briefly lost in his thoughts, pushed his memories aside and tapped the armrest of the sofa with his fingertips.
"We're not the only ones who received the acquisition offer, are we?"
"I confirmed that the same offer was made to other major funds and pension institutions as well."
"What's the asking price per share?"
"Fifteen dollars per share."
"That would put the total at about $22.5 million."
"That's correct."
Landon frowned slightly, his expression skeptical.
"That's about 10% lower than the current stock price. Given how bleak Apple's situation is—bad enough that even its founder is offloading his shares—I think we should pass."
To Wall Street, Apple was nothing more than a sinking ship, slowly but surely going under.
'Of course, I know that Apple will eventually make a historic comeback, becoming the first company to reach a $3 trillion market cap. But even so, $15 per share isn't exactly a bargain.'
If they waited a little longer, Apple's situation would worsen, and the stock price would likely drop below $10 per share. There was no need to rush into buying at a premium.
That was precisely why they had focused on acquiring shares in companies like Microsoft and Cisco while deliberately avoiding Apple.
'But the problem is… the person selling the shares is none other than Steve Jobs.'
This deal could be a rare opportunity to establish a good relationship with Jobs.
Deep in thought, Seok-won stroked his chin before finally turning to Landon.
"We'll acquire Jobs's shares."
Landon looked taken aback, as if he hadn't expected such a decision.
"Apple is struggling—left out of the internet boom and reporting weak earnings. Is there really a need to buy in?"
"I believe it's a company with real potential, and it's not going to collapse that easily. Plus, $22.5 million isn't that much money. In fact, I can use my personal funds for the acquisition. That way, there won't be any issues at all."
Technically, whether it came from the fund's capital or Seok-won's personal wealth, it was all the same.
Seeing how firm his decision was, Landon didn't argue further and simply followed the order.
"If that's what you want, understood."