Volume 8 / Chapter 266
TL: LightNovelCafe
Editor: Isleidir
When articles about JS Foundation’s official launch came out, the focus was not on the foundation but on the funding and Jun Hyuk’s income.
It is partly because the foundation’s detailed business information had not been released yet so they did not have much material to write about, but it was mostly because the amount of initial funding was incredible and most of that had come through Jun Hyuk.
The details of the contributions were what could be considered Isaac Stern’s entire life savings, 42% of Stern Corporation stocks, affiliated businesses including a record label, JS Center, and lastly, the $2 billion that Jun Hyuk invested.
Jun Hyuk is at the center of all of this. Forbes magazine already announced musicians’ incomes and with an annual revenue reaching over $2.5 billion, he even earned the nickname of One Net Company.
A Forbes article that described it as the only company that can grow 100% annually, ended with a last line briefly mentioning that JS Foundation might be able to receive more than $2 billion in donations from Jun Hyuk every year, garnering much interest.
JS Foundation’s homepage became covered in comments requesting aid, and the office phone rang constantly.
After the foundation’s official launch date, business team leaders, the 4 directors who were appointed as temporary directors, and Chairman Yoon Kwang Hun held a marathon meeting to decide on their first order of business.
They debated passionately again regarding their claims to the ideal business and priority issues, but everything was urgent from an objective viewpoint.
Everything from medical treatment, drinking water, food, housing, animal protection for endangered species, and even support for music and art fitting to Jun Hyuk and Stern’s names were discussed.
Yoon Kwang Hun only listened quietly for a few days until no new projects were brought up before finally speaking up.
“I heard your opinions well until now. But there’s still a question that has not gone away.”
Yoon Kwang Hun slowly got up and slowly paced the conference room while exchanging looks with everyone.
“Aren’t they businesses that the super rich like Bill Gates and big corporations have poured money into for decades? But why hasn’t the situation in Third World countries improved? The death rate is actually increasing. Isn’t that true?”
“Well that’s because everything until now have just been temporary measures. Unless the respective countries become politically and economically stable, these are issues that can never be resolved. Charitable foundations will just forever be temporary measures.”
“But it is because those temporary measures exist that millions of people survive.”
“A foundation cannot get involved in a country’s internal affairs.”
The people participating in the meeting came forward to respond to Yoon Kwang Hun’s question, but the 4 directors did not speak. They have already experienced Yoon Kwang Hun. They know that the Chairman did not ask because he does not know, and it is just an introduction to bring up his opinions.
“Right? We’re just a temporary measure. Countless foundations are working on being that temporary measure right now. But do we need to do it too? Can’t we get a little closer to the fundamental problem?”
“Chairman. It looks like you have something you’d like to say… We’re listening.”
One of the directors spoke up cautiously. Yoon Kwang Hun frowned.
‘That guy. This needs to go according to scenario to have dramatic effect… He’s cutting it short.’
Yoon Kwang Hun coughed twice, went to the whiteboard, and wrote a word with an exclamation point.
HIGHWAY!
When he put the pen down, some looked bewildered, some looked astonished, and some just looked confused.
The directors let out long sighs and spoke as they shook their heads.
“Chairman, that’s just a dream.”
“Everyone’s thought about it at least once, but it’s work that everyone’s given up on. Realistically…”
“Realistically… Yes. That’s an important word. Realistically.”
Yoon Kwang Hun cut the director off and quietly smiled.
“I’ll let you in on an ugly reality. Will you listen to me and tell me your thoughts?”
Yoon Kwang Hun wrote numbers on the board. The first number he wrote was 100.
“If a foundation with $1 billion in funding is established, do you know where the greatest cheers come from?”
African refugees? Doctors Without Borders? UNICEF? They each came up with different groups in their heads.
“It’s Wall Street. The $1 billion funding will go into Wall Street and they’ll operate that money. And they’ll make business with just the proceeds since they can’t use all of the fundings.”
Once the foundation distributes the money into bonds, stocks, and funds as investments, business starts with the proceeds.
“The people on Wall Street raise and lose tremendous amounts with this money. And they throw it anywhere. And that’s 2 to 4% of the proceeds. The place that profits most is Wall Street.”
Yoon Kwang Hun thought of his past and smiled bitterly. He played with funds like this countless times, and the money he made was much more than the amount that was used as funding.
Yoon Kwang Hun wrote the number 2 in front of the 100.
“Isn’t it so ridiculous? There’s $1 billion, but you can only use about $20 million every year. And the attainment rate is only 10%. There’s going to be the unbelievable transformation of $1 billion to $20 million.”
The last number was 0.2.
Attainment rate is when someone donates $10 and there is a value that the relief case receives. A 10% attainment rate means that when a charity foundation donates $10, ailing refugees would receive $1 in aid.
That is because of the enormous cost to transport. There is no path to the remote wild of Africa. There are also a lot of places where workmen must be hired to carry it on their backs.
If there are landslides and rivers that cut the path off, emergency medicine needs to be transported by helicopter. Often times, there is the ridiculous situation where $1,000 worth of medicine needs to be transported for $20 million.
Yoon Kwang Hun wrote HIGHWAY because he is saying they should create that path.
“Chairman. Then are you saying that instead of operating our foundation’s funding, it should all be poured into clearing up roads?”
“Yes. Let’s start with the $200 million that Jun gave us in cash. And let’s put in all of the funding we get every year. There’s no way we could do it with $20 million, but we can start if we have $200 million.”
He means to construct roads all over the African continent. But $200 million can only begin the project.
A heavy silence lingered in the conference room. To think of such a reckless business. Yoon Kwang Hun broke the silence.
“Let’s start being honest. Do you think no one started this because there isn’t enough money?”
There were people whose faces turned red.
“We can’t brag about building roads, can we? They only look at the logo and name on the box of relief goods they hold in their hands. They could never know the existence of JS Foundation.”
It is also a reason why enterprise foundations do not like road construction. It is human instinct to want not just the right hand but the entire body to know what the left hand is doing. Enterprises cannot help but think about image enhancement.
“Let’s think about the results. If bridges and roads are created, there will be significant savings in transport costs. Attainment rates will raise to 50%. Malaria vaccines will increase by fivefold. Food support will increase by fivefold.”
“But we don’t have nearly enough funding for that. No matter how much money we pour into it, we won’t see results.”
“Do you think a network of roads throughout an entire continent can be achieved through us alone? We need to start it and gather people who share our thoughts. That is ultimately what our JS Foundation will need to do.”
The meeting participants thought of the term ‘ideal mind’.
They are people who dream of an ideal society. It felt like they had rediscovered a term that reality had been pushing away.
“Then what do you think about starting with research? We can look into the details of the areas that are most urgent first…..”
“Of course. It’d be a mistake to push through recklessly. Putting a complete plan together comes first.”
Yoon Kwang Hun quietly watched the directors share their thoughts and nodded. This much means that he has achieved his goal.
It is enough that he has planted the seeds in their minds that HIGHWAY is not an impossible project that they cannot even look at.
If he slowly persuades them and advances step by step, it will become a dream and goal that they all share.
6 months from the day that Yoon Kwang Hun first brought up HIGHWAY, JS Foundation’s official announcement set the world abuzz again.
“….. Our JS Foundation could construct a 10,000 mile road and stop the project because we run out of funding. Then, we believe that someone will share in our thoughts and follow suit to help us advance even 10 more miles.”
Yoon Kwang Hun explained the project in front of countless reporters and bowed his head, after which the reporters did not hesitate to applaud him.
President Stern was also in the conference room, and realized again that he had made the right choice. This Korean father-son duo had made his older years the most plentiful and honorable.
When this project became known via the media, the top people of Africa did not hesitate to express their gratitude toward JS Foundation’s decision and they began to sign on in order to support the cause in any way that they could.
As Yoon Kwang Hun had expected, wealthy people from all over the world who were in agreement with their plan began to donate funding.
It is a moment in which ideals are becoming reality.
Jun Hyuk watched Yoon Kwang Hun’s press conference from the studio recording room. He burst out in laughter and shook his head.
“You really can’t stop him.”
Jun Hyuk knows where Yoon Kwang Hun’s project began. An American TV show! He remembered an overwhelming scene.
He is executing a project that has so many realistic barriers that it can be included in a dramatic TV show. It is reckless, but he is someone who is difficult to hold back.