The Pixar studio that Jaesung arrived at with his father was no longer the clean fusion of technology and art it once was; instead, chaos sprawled everywhere.
“Mr. Yoo. Welcome.”
“It feels like looking at a hospital emergency room.”
“Haha. It’s the final stretch, so everyone’s out of their minds. I’ll let Steven know, so please head to the executive office.”
The lobby staff explained that they were in the last phase of Toy Story, and everyone had been pulling all-nighters for days.
Passing animators with faces buried in monitors, they entered the executive office, where Jobs was pounding the keyboard with a grave expression.
“A Pixar shareholder has come to inspect. Don’t worry—the work is being completed successfully.”
“Everyone seems to be suffering a lot. It must have been trial and error since it’s the first full theatrical animation made entirely in 3D.”
“Ugh~! When I finish here, a problem explodes over there, and when that’s fixed, another error appears—I’m going insane.”
Perhaps because it was the final crunch, Steve Jobs appeared more prickly than before.
When problems arose, he could normally pressure the responsible person to fix it, but with funds running dry, he had to solve them himself.
“Do you need money?”
“I’m not at the point of taking snot-nosed kid money.”
“But last time you took my $1 million.”
Steve Jobs unleashed his signature reality-distortion field.
“$1 million is indeed snot-nosed kid money. Didn’t you spend all your money back then? And this time, we need much larger funds.”
Unaware that Jaesung had earned money from Costco and Walmart management programs, Steve couldn’t imagine the boy had over $30 million in cash.
“How much do you need?”
“Are you planning to ask your parents?”
When Jobs glanced slyly at Seokhoon, his father shook his head and said.
“University professors don’t earn as much as you think. The salary isn’t low, but it’s not enough to invest in a company.”
Hearing his father had no money to invest, Jobs sighed and said.
“If I can secure about $5 million, I could safely complete the film, but we’ve borrowed so much already that it’s hard to get it right now.”
“Then if I invest $5 million, how much equity will you give?”
Last time, $1 million got 5%, so mathematically it would be 25%, but that was early stage, and now the product was nearly complete, with Disney handling promotion and distribution—all it needed was final development funds.
“Disney is also positively expecting success, so for $5 million, about 10% equity.”
Originally holding 80% of Pixar, Jobs had gradually sold shares to secure development funds, eventually leaving himself with only 50%.
Confirming he still had room in his equity, Jaesung said he would invest $5 million.
“Jaesung. Isn’t $5 million too large an amount?”
“For the company, it’s not that much money. And Dad, you just saw the Toy Story trailer. This will definitely succeed.”
“Yes. Toy Story, into which I’ve poured years of blood and sweat, will remain a masterpiece in film history!”
Jobs spoke with pride in the animation he created, and as he said, Toy Story would become the world’s first full-CG 3D feature film, a monumental work in cinema history.
It received high praise for demonstrating innovation in animation technology, but beyond mere technical achievement, it delivered an emotional story through sophisticated storytelling and distinctive characters, earning top scores from critics and the public to join the ranks of masterpieces.
In box office terms, it recorded nearly $200 million in ticket sales in North America alone, topping the North American box office that year.
As a family-friendly children’s animation, it succeeded globally, leaving close to $400 million in film revenue.
I was truly shocked when I first saw Toy Story.
In 1995, when 3D technology was still crude, making the entire film on computers shocked many people.
When rewatching as an adult for nostalgia, the rough graphics shocked again, but for now, it was an unimaginable level of completion.
“By the way, do you actually have $5 million?”
“During winter break, I made a logistics management program for Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, and got $25 million. I sold programs elsewhere too, so cash is plentiful.”
Hearing he earned $25 million from a Walmart logistics program, a stunned Jobs looked at Seokhoon with trembling eyes, and his father nodded to confirm it was true.
“Hah! As expected, my eye for people was right. I don’t let just anyone into my office. Investor—would you like something to drink? Alcohol or coffee… no, that won’t do.”
As soon as it seemed Jaesung would invest $5 million, Jobs’ attitude flipped 180 degrees.
“Seeing even a young kid like you certain of Toy Story’s success, it’s really going to be a massive hit. Everyone here is an adult, so we needed feedback from a young customer.”
To the now-bright Steve, Jaesung said he would take 10% equity for $5 million.
Though the price had risen significantly from before, it was still cheap for Pixar equity.
As soon as the film released, Steve Jobs would list Pixar, pushing the company valuation over $2 billion.
15% would mean big money by year-end, but waiting a bit longer would allow swapping shares with Disney and becoming a major shareholder in Walt Disney.
With most investments concentrated in IT, Jaesung thought Walt Disney—before going off the rails with strange identity laundering and stock hitting bottom—would be suitable for portfolio diversification.
Later swap to Walt Disney stock and liquidate when Disney hits its second golden age.
In a good mood, Jaesung wrote the $5 million check, thus holding 15% of Pixar and becoming the second-largest shareholder after Jobs.
“Jaesung. As I always say, isn’t it too easy to spend such large money?”
“They say it releases on Thanksgiving, so by then you’ll know it was a good investment. The technology is outstanding, but the story and characters themselves are just too good.”
Seeing Steve Jobs too busy, they quickly signed the contract and left Pixar, heading to NVIDIA where Jackson Hong was.
“Hello, Dr. Yoo. James came too.”
NVIDIA no longer had its former vibrant atmosphere; instead, it radiated gloom and darkness.
“What happened? Everyone looks down.”
“The direction of the graphics semiconductor we made was fundamentally wrong. We’ll have to scrap everything and start over.”
Since they had poured their souls into founding it, the failure of the first product hurt deeply.
Driven to the brink, NVIDIA would confess to Sega America, surprisingly receiving additional investment and reviving.
If Jaesung helped now, they could endure short-term, but long-term they needed Sega’s support and restructuring.
“Cheer up, and if you need operating funds, contact me. I recently made a lot selling a program to Walmart.”
“Thank you even for the words. We’ll try to overcome the crisis with our own strength first.”
Still, he laid groundwork to keep one foot in the door and left the funeral-like atmosphere of NVIDIA.
“Seeing the company mood, starting a business is scary.”
“They say startups are like going to war. Win and get everything, lose and it’s over.”
His father disapproved of Jaesung investing in such risky ventures, but as his son said, results from Yahoo, Amazon.com, and Pixar would soon be visible, so he decided to wait.
Finishing the San Francisco schedule and returning to Seattle, Jaesung showed filial piety to reassure his parents and spent time frequenting the neighbor preparing the bookstore.
Soon after, the newly established Yahoo began aggressively hiring and grew explosively, serving as a guide for those still unfamiliar with the online world and daily renewing maximum visitor records.
“Yahoo really hit it big. It’s amazing you know Jeremy Yang and Dave Filo.”
“They also think highly of Amazon.com. Once Jefferson starts service, we can advertise cheaply on Yahoo.”
Originally, Amazon.com and Yahoo would form affiliate marketing with top exposure, and this time Jaesung planned to connect the two companies.
While Yahoo grew at a frightening pace, Jefferson Bezos poured heat into final preparations to open Amazon.com, and with Jaesung helping next door, spring semester passed quickly.
Netscape, invested early in the year, was rapidly conquering the market and making its name known, and struggling NVIDIA hadn’t received investment yet—all places Jaesung invested were sailing smoothly.
When summer break arrived, Jefferson invited acquaintances for a pre-open party and demo of Amazon.com, receiving positive responses from attendees.
A few days later, in July, Amazon.com finally launched service, and many orders poured in from day one.
“Packing deliveries is harder than I thought.”
“Having orders come in is something to be grateful for. And we should prepare for expansion soon.”
“Still, it’s a huge help that you’re on break and can assist. Once settlements normalize, we’ll need to hire staff quickly.”
With long summer break, Jaesung walked to Amazon.com headquarters each morning to help with order processing and packing.
Orders flooded more than expected, requiring the entire Bezos family to pitch in, and major shareholder Jaesung worked without even part-time pay.
It’s amusing that early Amazon had to handle customer service and shipping manually like this.
Though quite tough work, as Amazon growing into a global online logistics empire, it would become a memory in the future.
Hanging on at Amazon and spending a fulfilling summer break, his mother brought dreadful news.
“Jaesung. We got a call from Grandpa Sam Walton.”
“Is he doing well? He’s old, so he needs to take care of his health.”
“He knows summer break started and invited you and Jaeeun.”
American winter break is less than a month, but summer break over three months, so he had planned to visit Arkansas once.
“Of course we should go. This winter, come with Dad just for Christmas.”
He planned to show face briefly and return to Seattle, but Sam Walton employed wicked tactics.
“Walmart is holding a summer school for employee children. You and Jaeeun are joining too, so take this chance to befriend kids from across America. Mom worries you adapt too well to American school, but I want you to meet various peers.”
School life had settled into a framework, so being with middle schoolers caused little stress, but a three-week summer school eating, sleeping, and living away with strangers was a horrific disaster for Jaesung with a forty-year-old man’s mind.