Jim Wharton asked in a weak voice to come to Little Rock, Arkansas.
“Is it serious?”
“They say there’s no way to recover. They told me to prepare my heart because time is short.”
After receiving Jim’s call, Jaesung headed to Arkansas with his entire family.
“Of all things, blood cancer—it’s really tricky even from a doctor’s perspective.”
“There’s nothing we can do. He was perfectly healthy until just recently, but suddenly his energy drained away.”
Sam Walton, who had appeared healthy as recently as last winter, was now preparing for his final moments due to blood cancer.
Blood cancer is a cancer of the blood or lymphatic system that spreads throughout the body, with no specific tumor site.
Thus, there was no target for surgery, and no sharp treatment method.
In the future, targeted therapies for blood cancer cells would emerge, administered directly into the blood, along with radiation therapy and bone marrow transplants, giving higher cure rates compared to other cancers—but those drugs hadn’t been developed yet.
“Fortunately, his mind is clear, so he’s finished handling the inheritance issues and will without any problems.”
“He’s working for the family right up to the end.”
As the owner of Walmart, a global company, inheritance could have shattered family relationships, but Sam Walton cleanly completed the succession without much noise.
Having neatly resolved the important matters, Sam Walton wanted to say final goodbyes to his acquaintances before passing, and Jaesung’s family was invited.
“I’m sorry for making you come so far.”
“We came comfortably thanks to the private jet you lent us again.”
“Grandpa Sam. Daddy will fix you, so get better soon and get up.”
“Haha. If I want to see Jenny’s dance again this winter, I absolutely have to recover.”
Sam greeted the family and finally took Jaesung’s hand, saying.
“Thanks to you, I was able to become close with your family. Even after I’m gone, I hope you’ll maintain a good relationship with the Walton family.”
“Even if you tell me to stop visiting, I’ll keep coming to play, so don’t worry about that.”
Sam, who highly valued Jaesung’s potential, asked him to continue managing Walmart’s IT systems and maintaining ties even without him.
“Truth is, I wanted to leave even a little inheritance to you and Jenny, but doing so might actually worsen relations with my descendants. Don’t feel too bad about it.”
“I’m earning plenty well enough without inheritance, so don’t worry.”
Though he felt a bit disappointed that Sam Walton, whom he thought he’d grown close to, was giving nothing, accepting it would clearly cause problems.
“Haha. Somehow, I feel like when you grow up, you’ll be richer than my own children. Stay close with Dorothy too.”
Their conversation with Sam was more everyday than expected, and he enjoyed reminiscing about Jaesung and his sister dancing at summer camp.
After talking like that, they returned home, and a week later, Jaesung’s family flew back to Arkansas for the funeral.
“Thank you for coming from so far.”
“My condolences. Sam has gone to a good place.”
They greeted the bereaved and, once the funeral schedule ended, Jim Wharton spent time alone with Jaesung.
“Father talked a lot about you, saying to keep the relationship going forward.”
“I want to keep riding the private jet, so call me often.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Jaesung agreed to attend Walton family gatherings going forward.
He greeted the grieving Walton family, and Warren Buffett, who had come to the funeral, spotted Jaesung and approached.
“Seeing acquaintances leave one by one makes me feel I don’t have much time left either.”
“Grandpa Buffett, you’ll live to 100 and still be active past 90, so don’t worry about that.”
“Living long is good, but I’m not sure if having to keep working is.”
“Men’s health worsens when they stop working and change their rhythm, so if you keep working, you’ll live long.”
Though he loved his work, Warren Buffett briefly shook his head imagining working until death, then relayed that Sam Walton had asked him to look after Jaesung well.
“I was planning to just help set up the investment corporation, staff it, and be done, but since it’s old man Sam’s dying wish, I suppose I should educate you properly.”
“Educating an eighth-grader on running an investment corporation?”
“Having dealt with you so far, I think it’s entirely possible. Age really is just a number.”
Despite his middle school appearance, with a 40-year-old mind inside, Jaesung wanted to show something special in conversations with Warren Buffett, openly sharing what he’d felt and learned managing companies.
Buffett recognized this potential in Jaesung and said he wouldn’t raise him as Berkshire Hathaway’s successor, but would treat him similarly and push him hard Spartan-style over the summer.
“If I can learn directly from Buffett, it’s an honor for me.”
“Haha. I don’t go easy just because you’re a middle schooler. I’m looking forward to seeing how much you can keep up.”
From Buffett’s view, the schedule bordered on child abuse, but for Jaesung, who’d survived Korea’s cutthroat private education, it wasn’t much burden.
Thus, Sam Walton’s funeral ended, and after returning to Seattle, finishing the second semester of eighth grade at the top of the school, the long summer vacation arrived.
As promised, he took his mom and sister to Omaha, spent time together, then as his sister attended Walmart summer camp, his mom went to Arkansas with her.
Jaesung stayed alone in Omaha, living at Buffett’s house and commuting to Berkshire Hathaway together.
“Is it really okay to eat McDonald’s every day and drink Coke?”
“I’ve maintained the same diet for over 30 years now, and since I’m fine, there seems to be no problem.”
“Definitely seems like different genes from Asians. If Koreans eat like Americans, blood sugar spikes right away, and we’d get diabetes.”
Seeing Buffett live long on a typical American diet suggested genes played a bigger role than food.
Buffett started each morning analyzing economic newspapers and major news, teaching how to analyze companies for investment and read accounting books.
He showed practical methods like efficient investing and tax handling, and Jaesung, with management experience despite IT companies, absorbed his teachings without difficulty.
“As I always emphasize, not losing money is most important. So long-term investment in solid companies that won’t fail, while their stock is still cheap, is the wisest way.”
“I can’t believe Coca-Cola stock fell that low.”
“I accumulated massively at historic lows, but even after, if it drops below fair value, I keep buying.”
Coca-Cola, one of the signature stocks in Warren Buffett’s portfolio, he only accumulated—never selling a share in over 30 years.
Eventually, he’d receive nearly a trillion in annual cash dividends from one company alone.
“So what companies will you invest in?”
“I’ll invest in startups with special technologies that will change the future and proper management philosophies.”
“I wish I knew such companies too. Then I wouldn’t have to painfully analyze numbers every day.”
Jaesung said the flow was toward internet stocks, so he’d follow the market, but Buffett advised against riding irrational hype and to invest steadily by the book.
For a while, the dot-com bubble would record insane returns, so Jaesung couldn’t lie to him—who’d watch his investments—saying he’d invest by the book.
Thus, getting scolded by Buffett, he completed the investment corporation and holding company, hiring reliable staff and setting up management.
“Time flies. Contact me if anything comes up.”
“See you at the shareholder meeting. Drinking Coke is good, but let’s jog lightly together too.”
As summer camp ended, mom and sister came to Omaha, and Jaesung, having learned all he needed, returned home with family.
“Was summer camp fun?”
“Yeah. A lot of kids from last year came, and I made new friends. They asked why you didn’t come, oppa.”
Having attended almost like royalty last year too, he was past camp age, and his sister decided this would be her last before entering middle school.
“Summer vacation’s still left—what do you want to do?”
Last year was hectic helping start Amazon.com, but this vacation had no special plans, leaving much free time.
When mom asked if there was anything he wanted, Jaesung thought briefly and said there was somewhere he absolutely wanted to go.
“For basketball, can’t you watch in Seattle?”
“Lakers vs. Bulls games aren’t here. The first meeting between Michael Jordan and rookie Kobe Bryant—I have to see it in person.”
Jaesung said he wanted to watch the basketball game in LA, and mom agreed, saying they’d shop on Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive too.
“Oppa, do I really have to wear this?”
“Of course. Today is the day two legends meet for the first time.”
Jaesung made his sister wear the jersey with Kobe’s early LA number 8, wore one himself, and entered the arena.
The jerseys were big on still-growing Jaesung and young Jaeeun, but they pulled it off fashionably.
He told mom and sister—who didn’t know NBA well—that Kobe would become famous, but Kobe Bryant, debuting straight from high school, was still a rookie spending most of the season on the bench.
“Eddie Johnson or Nick Van Exel aside—Kobe Bryant jerseys? Are you acquaintances?”
Seeing the Asian siblings in Kobe jerseys, a middle-aged white man beside them asked.
“I wore it because I think he’ll grow into LA’s franchise star. Since he debuted this year, I have to get an autograph on his first jersey.”
“Haha. Yeah. If he becomes a star, the first-year autograph is important.”
Jack Nicholson, a die-hard Lakers fan sitting beside Jaeeun, liked the cute, handsome Asian siblings and replied.
“Hey, rookie! Looks like your first boy and girl fans are here—sign for them.”
Jack Nicholson called over the still-youthful-faced Kobe Bryant, who happily ran over and signed the backs of Jaesung and Jaeeun’s jerseys.
“Wow! First time signing for young fans besides acquaintances. Thanks.”
“We came from Seattle to see Kobe. We’ll come again.”
He got Kobe Bryant’s autograph, but Kobe only played briefly as a substitute in the second half, without much impact.
He wanted Michael Jordan’s autograph too—still active—but getting one from the superstar wasn’t easy, so he strategized to focus on the just-debuted Kobe.
The newly debuted Kobe would remember for life his first Asian boy and girl fans from Seattle.
The game was a Lakers loss, but with expensive front-row seats, it was thrilling, witnessing the meeting of a legend and one becoming legend with his own eyes.
Scoring hand-signed debut Kobe jerseys, enjoying shopping in LA, they returned home.
“Today, is it okay not going to your friends’ house?”
“The Musk brothers are tiring if met too often. I’ll be at the engineering department.”
Though still vacation, dad went to Stanford for a conference, and naturally Jaesung followed.