Chapter 95. I Will Reveal the Truth (3)

[(WST Exclusive) The Myth of the False Genius: CoolCloud CEO Rolf Butch Exposed for Stealing Dead Friend's Program]

(Excerpt) Despite being a startup for only three years, CoolCloud rapidly rose to become the fourth-largest company in the cloud industry.

At the center of this success was the artificial intelligence program Minerva, known for its superior performance compared to any other program used by cloud service providers.

CoolCloud's founder and CEO, Rolf Butch, repeatedly claimed that he developed Minerva and even shared anecdotes about its development.

However, it was all a lie.

The actual developer was his MIT classmate, Jason Kim, and the program was originally named Mimir.

Jason Kim developed the program entirely on his own and planned to use it to start a business.

During this process, Jason showed his program to Rolf Butch for advice. However, before he could start his business, Jason died in an accident. Upon learning this, Rolf Butch stole the program and claimed it as his own.

Thanks to betraying his dead friend, Rolf Butch gained the reputation of a genius in Silicon Valley and amassed enormous wealth.

The informant, Ranjin Kumar, was...

This was not just a simple accusation.

The article included an exclusive interview with Ranjin Kumar, who presented several pieces of evidence and harshly criticized Rolf Butch.

The internet was in an uproar.

- What? Rolf Butch was a fraud?

- No way! He's so famous.

- Is this true? He stole a program from his dead friend and claimed he developed it?

- To a developer, a program is like a child.

- In an industry where copying a single line of code can lead to lawsuits, how could he steal an entire program?

- So everything he said in his speeches and interviews was a lie?

- How shameless. Is he even human?

- He was giving talks everywhere, but it turns out he's trash.

- Did he even get into MIT by lying?

- Should we investigate everything he's done? Who knows what else he might have stolen?

- What? So the genius was Jason Kim, not Rolf Butch.

- Could Rolf have killed Jason Kim? Maybe he coveted the program so much that he said, "Now it's mine"?

- No way.

- But what does CoolCloud do?

- It's a B2B company, so you might not know much about it, but it's the fourth-largest in the cloud industry. There are even talks of a $100 billion market cap.

- $100 billion? Ha, it's all a bubble.

- Thomas Motors is collapsing, and now CoolCloud too. What's going on this year?

- I heard he stepped down as CEO.

- Did he get caught and get kicked out?

As he read the article and comments, his whole body trembled.

Phone calls and messages flooded in from all directions, asking if the content of the article was true.

He couldn't understand it.

'How did Ranjin find out about this?'

At that moment, a name popped into his head.

Rolf immediately called the person.

[Hello.]

He shouted.

"What the hell is going on!?"

[What do you mean?]

"I'm talking about the article that just came out! Are you pretending you don't know?"

[Ah, that one? I saw it too.]

"You broke the promise!"

[What promise?]

"To keep it a secret!"

[Did I say that? I don't remember.]

"I clearly said it!"

[Is that so? But what does it matter?]

"..."

[It's not like I exposed it. What can I do about an old business partner exposing it?]

Rolf was momentarily speechless.

"You, you told him!"

There was no evidence, but he was certain.

[If that's what you think, there's nothing I can do.]

"Why? Why did you break the promise?"

[They say a verbal promise can be broken.]

"..."

The person who said that was none other than him.

Rolf shouted at the other end.

"You think I'll just sit here and do nothing!"

His opponent, Han Miru, replied indifferently.

[What will you do?]

"What?"

[Will you sue? In this situation, you'll just make yourself a laughingstock.]

Rolf spoke with a quivering voice.

"Wh-why are you doing this to me? Do you have some grudge against me?"

[Of course not. I have no feelings towards you. To be precise, I don't even care.]

"Then, why?"

His opponent explained in one sentence.

[Because it's the truth.]

Rolf collapsed and wailed.

"Arghhh."

* * *

Seeing Rolf sobbing, I felt a bit sorry for him.

But even if it wasn't me, this would have come out eventually. In the first cycle, he was forced out of the company and had to give up some of his shares.

So, did Rolf struggle after that?

Not at all.

He still owned over 10% of CoolCloud, making his net worth over $100 billion.

With that much money, does it matter if he gets some hate?

But this time, it will be different. He will be left with only $1 billion.

Still, with that much money, he can live happily, though he will be hated for life.

Ranjin Kumar, like a fish in water, enthusiastically tore into Rolf. He will probably write a book about it soon.

The impact of the exposure was significant, but not as much as the Thomas Motors scandal.

CoolCloud's market cap is more than twice that of Thomas Motors, but Thomas Motors is a B2C company and is listed, with many small shareholders. CoolCloud, on the other hand, is a B2B company and is not listed.

People tend to care less when their own money isn't involved.

However, the shock to industry insiders was even greater. Another self-made success story, following Mercedes Watson and Brad Button, had crumbled.

This incident will likely significantly reduce CoolCloud's value, but since it doesn't fundamentally damage the company's core value, customer attrition will be minimal.

Next, news of Continuum Capital's acquisition of CoolCloud came out.

[(WST Exclusive) Continuum Capital Acquires CoolCloud. Rolf Butch and Alex Preston Sell All Shares and Resign]

[The exact sale price is unknown...]

[CoolCloud Appoints Developer Sid Lucas as New CEO]

David issued a statement.

"First, I sincerely apologize to the families involved. Rolf Butch, who committed the wrongdoing, has sold all his shares and resigned as CEO. Our company has worked with Jason Kim's family to secure the rights properly. Therefore, starting now, we will change the name of the program and service from Minerva to Mimir and officially recognize Jason Kim as the developer. Additionally, we will change the company name to Snow Crash and introduce new services."

Following the Thomas Motors scandal and the successful acquisition of CoolCloud, David Rockheart's reputation grew even higher.

By now, the private equity funds that missed out on him must be kicking themselves in regret.

* * *

With this, my schedule in Silicon Valley was complete.

Having finished our work, we decided to return to New York.

We had achieved all our goals before coming here, most importantly, the successful acquisition of CoolCloud, which will become the world's largest company in the future.

It was not an easy task, even with knowledge of the future.

In the past, I would have thought it impossible and given up without even trying. But not anymore.

Does this mean I've changed?

Sid asked me.

"What will you do now?"

"Go back to Korea."

"Why not stay in the U.S.?"

"I have some things to do in Korea."

He looked a bit disappointed. I patted his shoulder lightly.

"I'll be back often."

"Okay. Next time, let's watch Zombie Knight together."

"..."

That's a bit much.

"Take care until I see you next time."

"Got it. Have a safe trip."

I said goodbye to Sid.

As we were leaving the hotel with our luggage, David asked.

"Can you really raise $8 billion in six months?"

That's about 9 trillion won, right?

How many people can raise that much cash in six months? Even Chairman Yoo Jae-ho might find it impossible.

"Can't we take a loan?"

He asked incredulously.

"Is that possible?"

"Probably not."

There is an M&A technique called LBO.

Leveraged Buyout, where you borrow money using the target company's assets as collateral to acquire the company.

This way, you can buy a company with no money.

However, CoolCloud has almost no valuable assets. It's operating at a loss, and it has significant debt. Moreover, the acquisition of the remaining shares is not yet complete.

It's as hard as a shrimp swallowing a whale.

"Forming a consortium to raise investment might be possible. Many investors will be interested in acquiring CoolCloud."

"But in that case, we would have to share the shares."

I want it all.

"Do you plan to raise $8 billion alone in six months? Moreover, you only have $68 million left in capital."

"Is it impossible?"

"Can I be honest?"

"Yes, please be honest."

David said firmly.

"It's impossible."

Of course, that's what I expected.

But he added immediately.

"But if you're the boss, it might be possible."

I burst out laughing.

"Ha ha ha!"

It seems he's starting to believe in me.

"You're right. Money can be made."

* * *

Unfortunately, the return flight is also in economy class.

I originally planned to take a business class flight back after making money, but I spent it all, so there's no choice.

I need to save every penny now.

After a 5.5-hour flight, we arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport.

It was quite a long journey. Thinking about it, I never traveled abroad for this long in the first cycle.

We pulled our suitcases out of the airport.

I said to David.

"Thank you for all your hard work."

"No problem."

"Are you going home to rest now?"

He shook his head.

"No, I'm going to the hospital. My daughter is waiting."

His expression showed he wanted to see her as soon as possible.

"Can I come with you?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. Since we'll be working together from now on, it would be good to meet her. Is that okay?"

He thought for a moment and said.

"There's no problem with that. But before we go to the hospital, we need to stop somewhere."

"Where?"

"O'Connor's Pub. I want to buy the hamburger you mentioned. My daughter loves hamburgers."

"..."

You're a fool. A fool who only thinks about your daughter.

"But can you bring outside food to the hospital?"

"Sometimes it's allowed. Of course, we should avoid unhealthy food."

I nodded.

"Follow me. I'll show you the way."