Episode 185. Life has to be lived to know.
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
I stopped by the US subsidiary of World Telecom and finished the inspection.
We visited the UFC’s operations headquarters.
CEO Roy White and major shareholder, casino tycoon Allen Putty, were there.
After greeting each other, we sat down at the table and continued our conversation.
First Roy asked me.
“Do you have any good suggestions to hear on the phone…?”
“of course. Now, we have come up with a way to overcome the difficulties the UFC is experiencing due to the ban.”
Roy frowned.
“Also. That’s right. Can I hear what the plan is?”
I smiled and offered a proposal.
“Before that, watch this.”
Roy looked at Allen after reading the proposal.
“This is an equity investment proposal.”
“Equity investment?”
Roy handed the proposal to Allen.
“yes. Let’s read it.”
I read the proposal and said to them, who were pensive.
“As you know, I am a businessman. To be honest, I can’t do anything that doesn’t benefit me. Anyway, the financial situation is not good these days, and if I have a stake, I have a reason to help myself, so I think this is a necessary proposal for each other.”
Of the two, Allen spoke first.
“But a 60% stake seems a bit excessive. Anyway, the love I put into the UFC is quite substantial. Plus, more than $40 million has been spent on it so far. Mathematically, 60% of that money is $24 million, but I’m also interested in asking them to pass it on for just $15 million.”
“Because the amount invested and the value of the stake are not always proportional. So far, you’ve only been seeing losses. Considering that, it is rather expensive. Besides, if I had the stake in this state, it would only cost me more money, wouldn’t it be better to sell it to me?”
With Allen’s still dissatisfied face, I added one more suggestion.
“Then, what if we give up the entire investment and return the stake if we do not turn to the black next year?”
Roy asked with a surprised face.
“Are you going to give up your equity and investment?”
“yes. That is how confident we are in the normalization of the UFC.”
At first glance, this may seem like a risky proposition.
For me, who knows how the UFC will revive later, turning a profit next year was not at all difficult.
Allen rubbed his chin and fell into deep trouble.
“If that’s the case, I can’t refuse. I will accept it.”
I smiled and opened my mouth.
“Mr Putty. You made an excellent choice.”
“You will know that over time. So, can we now hear about Mr. Kang’s plans for UFC normalization?”
“Sure. There are three things I have brought to the normalization plan.”
Allen asked with a surprised face.
“Do you have three?”
“That’s right. Since we have prepared this much, we can offer the same suggestions as before.”
“Indeed… I’ve heard a lot of people say that he has excellent business skills, but there was a good reason for that.”
“haha. It’s not a good place to live on this floor. So, let me tell you about the first room.”
I gave them the materials I brought.
Seeing this, Roy hardened his face.
“..This?”
“The biggest cause of the current crisis is the ban on broadcasting. This is a document that summarizes the rules that need to be added to the UFC to solve it. The biggest reason the UFC is considered violent is that there are often situations in which fighters can be seriously injured, and the UFC has been more of a fight than a fight. In order to make it a broadcastable sport, we need to make some new rules to limit the behavior of the players.”
Roy looked displeased with my words.
“The great thing about UFC is that it allows for a lot of play with fewer rules. You’re telling me to give up on that now… but it’s not easy to understand.”
“There are advantages to having fewer rules. It’s very provocative and can grab people’s attention. But the rules themselves have many advantages. It can ensure the safety of the players, and because the rules are set, the players have to fight very fiercely. Then, the skills that the viewers know come out at an unexpected time, and at that moment, the viewers feel great pleasure. That’s why boxing, where you can only use two fists, is still so popular.”
I continued to look at them in thought.
“Mixed Martial Arts, which can use both arms and legs, has its own charm that sets it apart from other sports. Adding a few rules to restrict players doesn’t make them less attractive. I assure you that if the number of injuries to players is greatly reduced, the ban on broadcasting will be lifted easily, and the popularity of mixed martial arts will increase even more.”
Allen, who listened carefully, nodded and looked at Roy.
“Roy. I don’t think that’s the only way to think. Listening to Mr. Lecture’s words, I think we may have been stuck in a mold so far.”
“Are you stuck in a mold? What do you mean? The reason we’ve been working so far is to break the mold that holds the current martial arts…”
“I am stuck in the thought that I have to break the mold. Even without breaking the mold, there are many other ways to revive mixed martial arts.”
Allen’s words gave Roy a shocked expression.
“I was trapped in the thought that I had to break the mold…”
Allen said to me, leaving Roy to stare blankly into the air.
“What you just said touches my heart. So what about the second option?”
“It’s a UFC promotion.”
“PR is very important. But isn’t it the problem of how to promote well?”
“Yes. That’s the way I’m going to create a reality show that shows how the UFC’s youngsters grow.”
Roy, who was quietly listening to me next to him, suddenly clenched his fist.
“Growing reality show…that’s right, that’s it!”
As me and Allen looked at him, Roy continued with excitement.
“I felt I needed something new to get people into mixed martial arts, rather than just show the game…that was it. One of the original charms of martial arts is that you overcome hard training and grow step by step, right? If you can show it to the viewers, you will soon fall in love with the charm of martial arts.”
As a brilliant executive who later grew the UFC into a $4 billion organization, Roy quickly understood what I meant.
“This is the plan I prepared with that thought in mind.”
Roy, who looked happy for a moment, asked me.
“By the way, if you’re going to make a reality show, how are you going to broadcast it? Even though I’m saying this, our UFC is not well-received by the broadcasters, so there will be very few broadcasters who will put out a show about us.”
“There is at least one.”
Roy was delighted with my words.
“To be precise, we are not a broadcaster, but we can broadcast on a platform that provides video content called Dflix.”
“Ah, the video service where you can choose the program you want to watch?”
“You know.”
“yes. One of our players showed it to me a while ago. But maybe he has a relationship with D Flix…?”
“It’s one of my businesses.”
Roy nodded at that.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
I took out the third room, looking at their faces that almost fell over.
“The third is the recruitment of excellent players.”
“..if it’s a good player, there’s still enough, but…”
“It would be. But aren’t they mostly Americans?”
“I mean, we want to select the best players from all over the world. Don’t discriminate between East and West. Wouldn’t it be better to have more players? Besides, Asian players will be quite effective in attracting Asian viewers.”
Roy nodded.
“Mr. Lecture is correct. As a businessman, you have a wide field of vision. Clearly, our audience is biased towards white people. Asian players should also look into it.”
“I would recommend one. There is a very good fighter named Myung-Ho Yoon.”
“ah! I know. He enlisted in the army, a pride middleweight champion, right? Come to think of it, there was a story that Mr. Kang was a friend… Haha, I guess this is a bit selfish?”
“I can’t say no. But it is true that he is a good fighter.”
“I know. Mr. Yoon is a player I have been keeping an eye on, so I will suggest signing him when he is discharged.”
I said to Roy and Allen.
“How is it? If I had told you this much, I think you would have gained a little trust in me.”
Allen smiled and held out his hand.
“It looks overflowing. I hope to go along well. partner!”
Roy nodded in agreement.
The next day, I finished signing the equity investment contract.
#Early January 2004.
It was one of the three largest display companies in Korea.
The whole country became noisy with the sudden application for legal management of RG Display, which was ranked in the top 5 globally.
Normally, there would have been a lot of media talking about the worst economic crisis since the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Perhaps it is because TM Display continues to break new records in the display industry by exceeding 15 trillion won in operating profit in 2003, there were hardly any places like this this time.
I was alone with Chanmyung Kim, who was promoted to president at the end of last year.
President Kim looked at me and made an expression of mixed emotions.
“When I joined here, I never imagined the day would come when RG displays would collapse. On the other hand, I imagined our company going to collapse countless times. But, it seems that life has to be lived to know. I will meet the CEO and see our company reborn as the world’s largest display company…”
If I hadn’t twisted the history, this court case would have been on this side.
“Right. Life is so fun.”
President Kim glanced at me and opened his mouth.
“CEO. There are rumors that creditors are trying to sell RG Display, have you heard of it?”
“..a presumptuous question, but what would you do if that was the case?”
“Are you asking if you want to acquire RG Display?”
I just cut it off.
“Not at all.”
At that, President Kim put on a surprised expression.
“why? President Kim thought I could take over?”
“Honestly, I thought you would. We are going to expand the line anyway, because it is more profitable to acquire an existing company than to build a new line.”
“The 10th generation line is the end of the new LCD line. I don’t want to build any more. So there is no reason to buy RG Display as well.”
“Are you saying that LCD demand has already reached its peak?”
“It is not. The demand for LCD will continue to increase in the future. However, it is because it is most efficient to stop the line extension at this point. If you add more here, the LCD will become unbearable when it enters the game of chicken later. It will cost a lot to maintain. This is just right.”
Chicken game.
It refers to a situation in which an endless war of attrition continues until one of the two competing groups gives up.
In my previous life, there were only two chicken games in the LCD field.
The first was Korea and Japan, the second was Korea and China.
As a result of the chicken game, Japan was eliminated first.
Because I know that Korea will eventually withdraw from the LCD business after being pushed by China.
To prepare for this, it was necessary to adjust the line size.
“..a game of chicken? There is still no competitor who can do that… What are you talking about…?”
“This is China. In the future, China will grow very fast. Among them, it will follow the LCD field the fastest. The money is more semiconductors, but the display is easier to chase after.”
“It’s China, so there is no company with that much capital, so will that happen?”
“It is a private company. But the Chinese government has a lot of money. First of all, there is a basic economic power that comes from a population of 1 billion. If the Chinese government puts their mind to it, it’s not a big deal to give them 10 trillion won or 20 trillion won. Just like Korea’s government-led industrial growth in the 1970s, the Chinese government will soon step in and lead industrial growth. As expected, the display is probably at the forefront. It’s money, and, as I said before, it’s relatively easy to follow. Especially since it proves that we can make more than 15 trillion a year from displays, so the chances of that would be even greater.”
“I have heard and found that it is true.”
“Besides, the RG display doesn’t even have a 10th generation line, so we don’t need it anymore. You can think of the 2nd generation of the 10th generation line being built now as the end of the LCD line we will be building. Oh, and that doesn’t mean we don’t build new lines.”
“Does that mean you’re going to build a line other than LCD?”
I smiled and answered him.
“yes. Now is the time to build the OLED line!”
Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED).
As a result of scouting former Wooshin University professor Hwang Jumin and continuing research and development for two years.
This next-generation display, which has many strengths compared to LCD, has been raised to a level that can actually be produced and sold.
Now all that remains is to build a mass production line.
I was thinking of producing OLED for smartphones there.
