French restaurants take dining etiquette very seriously.
Dress codes, table manners—everything.
But we ignored all of that.
And surprisingly, the restaurant owner didn't seem to mind.
"Your Romanée-Conti has arrived. A Great Vintage from 1990, an exceptional year for Burgundy."
"Bring us a few more bottles of the same."
"Right away."
We tossed back the million-dollar wine like it was cheap beer.
Not a single sip was savored.
The restaurant owner didn't frown—quite the opposite.
With every bottle we emptied, his smile only grew wider.
At this point, who cared about etiquette?
"Where were we?"
"You were saying a carbon-neutral era is inevitable. If fossil fuel consumption keeps rising, Earth is doomed."
"Which means electric cars aren't just an option—they're a necessity."
"I've been interested in EVs for over a decade now. The sooner they go mainstream, the better our chances of survival."
Musk sounded almost like a conspiracy theorist.
But I knew better.
This wasn't paranoia.
I had lived through the consequences once before. The rising global temperatures. The irreversible changes.
"I share your interest in EVs. In fact, I invest over a billion dollars a year in battery technology."
"I misjudged you. I sincerely apologize for raising my voice earlier. I didn't realize I was talking to someone this forward-thinking."
Musk was completely sloshed.
His speech was slurred, his face flushed.
But his eyes—his eyes were deadly serious.
No, beyond serious.
There was a madness in them.
"I invest heavily in batteries, but mass adoption of EVs is still years away."
"Even if we switch to EVs, we're only delaying the inevitable. It's time to consider… a new planet."
"You mean terraforming Mars?"
"Wow! You get me! Nobody on Wall Street has ever understood me like this. You're all money-hungry hyenas, and yet… you actually care about Earth's future? I'm shocked."
…Was it the alcohol?
Musk was showering me in praise.
Good thing my own face was already red from the whiskey.
"Terraforming Mars is a distant dream."
"It's not distant. 1969. Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. Thirty years later, and we've barely advanced."
"That's because the Cold War ended. Governments stopped funding space exploration."
"Exactly! People think technology just falls from the sky. They forget—innovation needs money. It needs attention."
"Money is one thing. But public interest? That's harder."
"If I have to turn myself into a clown to make people care, so be it!"
…This was not the Elon Musk I had envisioned.
Not yet.
But I was looking at the man he would become.
Without realizing it, I found myself checking his detailed profile.
And yes—he was exactly the Elon Musk I knew.
A genius with not just one, but two S-tier abilities.
A mad visionary who thrived on the unexpected.
"Then let's do this. I'll handle the money. Space industry, EVs—whatever you want. I'll fund it."
"Having SAVE Investments on board is reassuring, but for now, I plan to start with my own money from the PayPal sale. A hundred million dollars should be just enough to get things rolling."
A hundred million dollars was no small amount.
But Musk wasn't launching just another tech startup.
This was space exploration.
Compared to semiconductors or LCDs, space development required an exponentially larger initial investment.
"A hundred million won't cut it. I'll put in two billion as an initial investment. That's more like it."
"You're saying… you'll invest as much as the entire PayPal acquisition price?"
"As an initial investment. And over the next ten years, I promise to invest at least ten billion more."
Musk went dead silent.
Then, as if the alcohol had instantly worn off, he straightened up.
Suddenly, the table stacked with empty bottles seemed almost embarrassing.
"If you're investing ten billion dollars… that's more than enough to realize everything I've envisioned."
"But even angel investors don't hand out money for free. How much equity do you want?"
Just like that, he was back in business mode.
The drunken billionaire from a minute ago? Gone.
This was Elon Musk, the entrepreneur.
"Forty percent. I think that's a fair offer."
"For an unlaunched startup, a ten-billion-dollar investment for forty percent equity… that's actually reasonable."
"On one condition. For the EV business, I want a 50/50 joint venture. I've already invested heavily in battery technology, so this is a non-negotiable term."
At this point, EVs were even less realistic than space travel.
A barely existing industry.
So Musk didn't hesitate.
"Fine. I want space. EVs are just a stepping stone for terraforming Mars."
"For Mars exploration, EV technology is crucial."
"EVs are just the beginning. What really matters is rocketry."
He leaned in, eyes burning with intensity.
"Rocket launches cost a fortune. Unless we cut those costs, terraforming Mars is impossible."
And just like that, the conversation was back to Mars.
Musk looked obsessed.
Like a man who needed to go there.
"To reduce launch costs, shouldn't we develop a system to recover rocket boosters? Even if we could retrieve just the first stage, we could cut launch expenses by at least 20%."
"If we could reuse boosters more than ten times, we'd slash launch costs by over 50%!"
Musk's eyes widened in astonishment.
Was this really something to be shocked about?
After all, booster recovery technology was something you yourself would create.
Of course…
Not now.
That would happen far in the future.
*
With business in the U.S. wrapped up, I returned to Korea.
It was only a short 3-day trip, but the outcome was massive.
I had secured a connection with Musk, who would go on to lead space and EV industries.
I had also built relationships with the founders of YouTube—a company destined to become a tech giant.
In terms of value, this trip had been worth at least tens of billions of dollars.
"Vice Chairman, welcome back! You must still be jet-lagged, yet you came straight to work instead of going home. Please, take care of yourself. The Chairman may have returned, but if you collapse, it could shake the entire group."
"I actually got more sleep than usual. Look at my face—don't I look better?"
"Well… now that you mention it, you do."
I had slept soundly throughout the long flight.
The exhaustion that had built up over time had finally dissipated.
"Did anything happen while I was away?"
"Nothing major to report. KakaoTalk and Facebook continue to show steady growth, but that's about it."
"What about Samsung Electronics' new smartphone? How's the market response?"
It had been a while since Samsung's first smartphone hit the shelves.
By now, customer feedback should have started rolling in.
Of course, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect.
"The response has been… terrible. Compared to the iPhone, the optimization is a mess, and they still haven't solved the battery overheating issue. It feels more like a beta test than a real product."
"Even so, Samsung has a loyal customer base. Didn't it still sell well?"
"In terms of sales figures, it's not exactly a failure. But many users ditched it—some went back to feature phones, while others switched to iPhones."
Samsung had just launched what was already being mocked as a "trash phone."
But I didn't laugh at them.
Because I knew—these early failures would eventually lead them to develop a top-tier smartphone in record time.
"The number of smartphone users will only continue to grow. That's great news for us."
"I wish CL Electronics would enter the smartphone market as soon as possible, but I haven't heard any news from them."
"CL is still focused on feature phones. And now, with Samsung's bad reception, they're even less inclined to invest in smartphones."
"That's… unfortunate. By the way, Taewoo IT's revenue must have skyrocketed, right?"
Especially KakaoTalk—since Taewoo IT held a significant stake, its rising revenues directly benefited the company.
"Taewoo IT's revenue is impressive, but its operating profit margin is even more remarkable. In terms of profitability alone, it's generating more profit than Taewoo Construction. The real game-changer is our gaming platform, which successfully entered the Chinese market—bringing in a massive influx of cash."
"As expected, China is a gold mine. Though… it's a gold mine that won't last much longer."
"What do you mean by that?"
Right now, the Chinese market was indeed a gold mine.
With its massive population and booming economy, any company that successfully expanded there could make a fortune.
But soon, China would implement strict regulations—closing off its market. In the gaming industry, many companies would fail to obtain licenses, making it increasingly difficult to enter.
That meant we had to maximize profits while we still could.
"The Chinese market is unpredictable. We need to push as many Korean games into China as possible—right now."
"Most Korean game developers are already entering through Taewoo IT. In fact, we're receiving daily inquiries from small and mid-sized game companies looking to expand into China."
"That's good to hear."
"Also, Taewoo Semiconductor's losses have significantly decreased, reducing our cash outflow. In fact, we now have an excess of retained earnings, and we're debating how to use it."
Now that was music to my ears.
Imagine having so much money that you're struggling to figure out how to spend it.
"With KakaoTalk stabilizing, it's time for us to enter the fintech sector."
"You mean… integrating financial services into KakaoTalk?"
"What's more profitable than transaction fees? Every smartphone user will be a potential customer—there's no reason not to do it. Plus, we already developed the technology."
I had been brainstorming ideas daily with Chu Min-jeong, and we had plenty of fintech concepts.
To commercialize those ideas, I had mobilized Taewoo IT and Taewoo Securities experts—ordering them to develop the necessary technologies.
"Since this is a financial business, there are a lot of legal factors to consider. We'll make sure everything is compliant before launching."
"There could be political issues too. But we're in the final stretch of the current administration, so it won't be a major problem. Launch it as quickly as possible before the government changes."
"Vice Chairman… If the administration changes, we might face political backlash. We don't want to give politicians an excuse to target us."
The Planning Director was clearly worried about election funding.
Taewoo Group wasn't the only conglomerate not providing election funds—which meant there was a high risk of political retaliation.
And fintech, in particular, had multiple regulatory gray areas that could be easily scrutinized.
"But we can't let fear stop us from taking action. If problems arise, we deal with them. Simple as that."
"…Understood. We'll expedite the launch as much as possible."
Election season was fast approaching.
Would history unfold exactly as I remembered?
I watched with keen interest.