Reborn in 2010, the AI ​​in my mind is too powerful.

After the meeting, Chen Yiran returned home and her thoughts were still on Samsung.

Samsung, already a country within a country, decisively entered the market during Chen Yiran's early EDA phase, gaining goodwill in the process. Now, it has surpassed TSMC in chip manufacturing, becoming the industry leader, with all its data exceeding expectations.

In 2012, Samsung Group's total revenue accounted for 27% of South Korea's GDP, and Samsung Electronics' exports accounted for 33% of South Korea's total exports. Samsung Electronics also accounted for 30% of the total market capitalization of the South Korean stock market.

There's an even more alarming statistic: if Samsung were completely excluded, South Korea's export growth rate would turn negative.

Simply put, Samsung is an invincible behemoth in South Korea. Samsung is also a barometer of the South Korean economy; if Samsung coughs even slightly, the South Korean economy will catch a cold or fever.

This is also a classic South Korean saying, referring to three unavoidable things in life: death, taxes, and the origin of Samsung.

There's a long-standing rumor on the Chinese internet that Samsung is essentially working for the US, but that's only half true.

Samsung Group is firmly controlled by the Lee family's secretariat, an internal family office with more than 200 people directly managing the strategy, human resources, legal affairs, and government relations of its subsidiaries.

By utilizing various cyclical and cross-shareholding arrangements, Samsung has firmly maintained its grip on this giant ship.

This is the classic octopus-like structure of South Korean chaebols: A controls B, B controls C, and C controls A. The family can lock up the entire group with very little cash.

However, in terms of equity returns, foreign investors take 49% of the annual dividends.

Moreover, although Samsung's investors are all financial investors, such as Capital Group, BlackRock, and Vanguard, they do not participate in management and only earn dividends and stock appreciation.

However, they all hold preferred stock, which enjoys a fixed high dividend preference. This means that after the company makes a profit, the preferred stock dividends must be paid first, and only then will the remaining profits go to the common stockholders. Essentially, Samsung Electronics is giving American institutions a super dividend right.

This also limited many of the Li family's decisions, as they often had to consider the reactions of foreign shareholders. Although unclear accounts and minor squandering of company funds generally went unnoticed, they couldn't go too far.

Chen Yiran certainly didn't want to be just a financial investor. If Samsung Group wanted to hold shares in Aurora, then Aurora Group couldn't be a mere financial investor; it had to be a strategic shareholder.

To truly gain entry into the board of directors, one must be able to deeply influence Samsung's strategy, and even, if one thinks further ahead, potentially influence South Korea as well.

Moreover, Chen Yiran was not being delusional. In the past, the Li family would never have accepted any strategic investment or allowed outsiders to join the board of directors.

But things are different now. The Li family is facing the issue of succession. Although Chen Yiran doesn't have a deep impression of it, Jasmine has unearthed his long-buried memories.

Based on two videos on Bilibili, it appears that after Lee Kun-hee's heart attack in 2014, the Lee family had to consider succession. Simply put, Lee Jae-yong needed to use various means to get Cheil Industries to merge with Samsung Real Estate at a low price.

However, the American hedge fund Elliott resisted, attempting to block the acquisition through a proxy fight. Of course, Kobayashi's video seems to have only scratched the surface.

According to the intelligence we at Carnivorous Plants have obtained, Elliott likely planned this all along. They secretly hoarded a large amount of Samsung Electronics stock, probably to hinder Lee Jae-yong's succession plan. They even directly sent people into the board of directors to gradually gain control of a portion of Samsung's management.

Of course, they ultimately failed, partly due to Lee Jae-yong's bribery, which led the president to authorize the National Pension Service to vote in favor. But I actually think that even without this incident, Elliott wouldn't have succeeded.

Given the prevailing social norms in South Korea, it's difficult for them to accept foreign companies on Samsung's board of directors; the government will definitely create obstacles.

Chen Yiran thought for a moment and remained optimistic: "But the situation is different now than before my rebirth. We're not breaking in; we're being invited in. First, we want Samsung, and Samsung definitely wants to invest in Aurora. It's a win-win situation; they'll help us remove the obstacles from the South Korean government."

Another point is that Elliott's threat is real; we can secretly take some of their equipment. We can show it directly to the Li family, instill fear in them, and then they'll beg for our help.

Another important point is that South Koreans are gamblers by almost everyone. Samsung's stock price has skyrocketed, even boosting the overall South Korean stock market, all because of me.

We can make our statement directly.

Samsung invested in Aurora Group and joined its board of directors. Aurora should also invest in Samsung and join its board – that's fair. If the South Korean government blocks us, then all our future cooperation with Samsung will have to be reconsidered.

Samsung's stock price definitely won't hold up then. South Korea, a country with a population of dissidents and the world's most pro-democracy protesters, will absolutely descend into chaos. The shareholders will help me, and they'll completely destroy the government!

Your logic seems sound. However, I have a different opinion: the country that loves protests the most in the world is definitely France.

"That makes some sense."

Chen Yiran stopped thinking about these trivial matters. Anyway, Bain Capital would take the lead, and he could step in as the good guy if they encountered resistance. In business, you also need to play the good cop and the bad cop.

Two weeks later, Chen Yiran took Olson, who was already quite pregnant, to the hospital again for a mid-pregnancy fetal systemic malformation screening.

Christmas is just around the corner, and the hospital is decorated for Christmas.

The examination went smoothly, and the fetus was normal. At the doctor's instruction, Chen Yiran saw her son's little head on the screen.

During the subsequent questioning session, Olsen, who was recently experiencing hormonal fluctuations, tearfully asked the doctor if she could spend Christmas in a place with snow.

The doctor was very perceptive. Seeing Chen Yiran slowly shaking her head, she decisively said, "No, of course, it's not that cold places are bad for pregnant women. But you're in the warm climate of Silicon Valley now. If you suddenly go to a snowy place, like New York, you might not be able to adapt, and it could easily lead to an accident."

Olsen asked blankly, "Is the Greater Bay Area considered to have a warm climate? It's only seven or eight degrees here, it's not like Los Angeles."

"We also have a Mediterranean climate, so there's not much difference. The main thing is that it doesn't snow here, so we can't go to places that are too cold and snowy."

Seeing that Olsen was about to cry, Chen Yiran quickly brought up the child, Pidan, who was standing at her feet: "Hey, you should also think about Pidan. He's lived here since he was little and can't stand the winter at all. Whether we take him or not, it's so pitiful for him to be left here alone."

Olsen pulled up the preserved egg, hugged it, and began to complain.

As they walked out, Chen Yiran whispered to the doctor, "She's been getting inexplicably sentimental lately. Are you sure there's nothing wrong with her?"

Are you feeling down all the time?

"No, it just comes and goes. Most of the time she's normal, but sometimes she gets really weird. We watched Home Alone yesterday, and she cried during the movie. But this morning, she was playing frisbee with Pidan in the yard for ages, laughing so happily."

"How are your sleep and appetite?"

"That's all fine."

The doctor smiled: "Don't worry, it's nothing to worry about. It's just normal hormonal fluctuations during pregnancy. As long as she's not constantly depressed and doesn't have sleep and appetite problems, then it's fine. Besides, this isn't anxiety; it's just simple emotional fluctuations, which makes it even less of a problem."

"Okay, thank you, doctor."

Chen Yiran caught up with Olsen ahead and said, "Alright, your parents are coming over for Christmas, so forget about the snow. I'll take you to see the game instead."

Are there F1 races in San Francisco?

"Let's go watch the NBA. I think the Warriors are pretty good. Let's go ask them if they're willing to sell."