An auction held at Sotheby’s auction house—where the world’s elite gathered—was a place you couldn’t even enter without an invitation.
To reinforce the perception that auctions were a culture of the upper class, Sotheby’s carefully screened participants again and again before sending out invitations.
A world known only to them, unknown to ordinary people. That was the Sotheby’s auction house.
They even said that being invited to a Sotheby’s auction was proof that you had entered the upper class...
There was even a strict dress code for auctions. They always went to great lengths to maintain the dignity of the auction house.
It was the complete opposite atmosphere from the more public-facing Christie auction house.
That didn’t an Christie’s auctions were in any way inferior, of course.
“The British Pri Minister, Princess Anne, and even Prince Andrew. British royalty and nobility are all gathered here.”
After scanning my surroundings, I headed toward where Princess Anne and Prince Andrew of the British royal family were standing.
The security guards protecting the royals watched warily.
“Your Highness.”
I matched my accent to British English.
The two, who had been conversing with others, turned their attention toward .
“I’m Kim Muhyuk, from Korea.”
Rather than returning my greeting, their eyes showed they wanted an explanation.
“I run a small business in Korea. And... I am also the owner of a Premier League club, Leeds United.”
“Leeds?”
Andrew reacted to the ntion of Leeds United.
“I heard that place was acquired by Dream High in the United States.”
“I am the actual owner of Dream High.”
“Oh?”
A man who appeared to be his secretary leaned in and whispered sothing into Andrew’s ear.
“You’re more famous than I expected.”
“It’s an honor to et you, Your Royal Highness.”
“Hahaha. An Asian well-versed in royal etiquette. Your English pronunciation is excellent, too.”
Interest flickered in Andrew’s eyes.
“Today’s auction might get a bit overheated. To think the owner of Dream High would be participating.”
At that mont, a man approached Andrew and .
“Your Royal Highness. It’s been a while.”
“Well now. Isn’t that Chairman Jacob Wallenberg?”
Wallenberg?
That family that ford one pillar of Baltiche?
“Your Royal Highness still looks vigorous as ever.”
“As for , I’m still young, but my successor has already been knocked out. What is there left for to do?”
“Your Highness.”
His secretary tried to stop him, but Andrew paid no heed.
“How is the head of the Wallenberg family doing?”
At the ntion of the family head, the smile on Jacob’s face vanished.
“Aren’t you and I both already knocked out of the succession?”
“Your Royal Highness, we’re not like the British royal family. Without ability, succession is out of the question.”
“The ability of Marcus Wallenberg, the family head, is outstanding. Who else but the head himself would perfectly et the criteria to be the Wallenberg heir?”
Though brief, their exchange revealed a great deal of information.
First, Prince Andrew harbored imnse hostility toward Crown Prince Charles.
And second, relations between the head of the Wallenberg family and the Jacob Wallenberg standing before were far from good.
“Being the head and succession are separate matters. Our family always has two successors competing. This ti, it simply happened to be Marcus and .”
“That may be so, but the head is Marcus Wallenberg.”
Their conversation ca to a halt.
I seized that brief mont.
“Pleased to et you. I’m Kim Muhyuk, running a small business in Korea.”
Jacob’s gaze shifted from Andrew to .
“Greetings. I’m Jacob Wallenberg.”
Perhaps still in a sour mood, his tone was sharp.
A hostile look flew my way. Well, he couldn’t vent his irritation at Prince Andrew after hearing sothing he didn’t like.
Andrew laughed loudly at the sight.
“Now then, Chairman Jacob. You’re not the sort of person to react like that. You must know the na Dream High, don’t you? I hear he’s the owner.”
“Ah! Charlie?”
“Yes. Please, call Charlie.”
He took my outstretched hand.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. I was told you were young, but you’re even younger than I expected.”
“Thank you.”
“Then I’ll leave you two to talk. I’ll be on my way.”
Seemingly having lost interest, Andrew moved off with Princess Anne.
“I never expected to et one of the heirs of the Wallenberg ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) family, who essentially carry Sweden’s economy.”
The Wallenberg family motto was ‘To be, but not to be seen.’ It was the source of the power that allowed them to dominate Sweden’s economy for over a century.
“Our family traditions are what they are.”
“Esse, Non Videri.”
I spoke the Wallenberg family motto in Latin.
“Oh! You know it?”
“I run my business in much the sa way. If it’s the Wallenberg family motto, I know it better than most.”
There were companies operated by the Wallenberg family.
What was distinctive was that even heirs did not directly own shares in those companies.
The holding company Investor controlled the corporations, and Investor itself was controlled by three foundations established by the family.
The foundations held only about 23% of Investor’s shares, yet possessed 50.1% of the voting rights.
This was possible due to Sweden’s unique culture. As the Wallenberg family’s influence over the Swedish economy grew in the early 1900s, frequent disputes arose between labor unions and managent. In the end, they reached a grand compromise between labor, managent, and governnt, creating the Saltsjöbaden Agreent.
By introducing differential voting rights for founding families, corporate control was acknowledged, but 85% of company profits were paid as corporate tax.
That was why, even after more than a century of one family steering Sweden’s economy, no one criticized them.
“Hahaha. Thank you for thinking so highly of us.”
At that mont, an announcent rang out that the auction was about to begin.
Before entering the auction hall, I made a quiet proposal to him.
“Would it be possible for us to et separately and talk soti?”
“Would there be any reason for us to et privately?”
“Baltiche—and Chairman Marcus.”
Jacob, who had been walking toward the entrance, slowly turned his head toward .
“What exactly are you talking about?”
“That’s sothing we can discuss next ti.”
This man, too, knew of Baltiche’s existence.
After all, even if Marcus was the family head, if Jacob had shared the responsibility of managing the family as a successor alongside him, there was no way he wouldn’t know about Baltiche.
I took a business card from Manager Ma and handed it to him.
“If you’re interested in talking with , contact there. Then...”
Leaving Jacob behind, I entered the auction hall and organized my thoughts.
‘That was an unexpected gain.’
It wasn’t called upper-class culture for nothing. To think I’d et one of the heirs of the Wallenberg family, who rarely engaged in public activities.
Upon entering the hall, staff checked my invitation and guided to my assigned seat.
Perhaps Peterson had put in so effort—I was given one of the private rooms reserved for VVIPs.
The room contained a telephone and a set of buttons, and along the wall was a small refrigerator.
Simple refreshnts were laid out on the table.
I sat down and looked out over the auction floor. I could see Peterson engaged in a serious conversation with soone.
The auction hall was divided into three main sections. In the center sat bidders participating in person, while one side was for telephone bidders, and the other was occupied by agents representing written bids.
“It seems this auction has certainly drawn a lot of attention.”
There were quite a number of people participating via telephone or written bids rather than attending in person.
For telephone bidding, Sotheby’s staff handled the calls and placed bids on behalf of those not present.
It was mainly used by people who didn’t want it known that they had made a purchase.
Written bidding involved submitting, in advance, the desired item and maximum bid. The sheer number of written-bid agents ant that an enormous amount of interest was focused on this auction.
“Ladies and gentlen, I’m Peterson, and I’ll be conducting today’s auction. I see many familiar faces. It’s good to see you all alive and well again.”
It felt like a cold joke to , but participants accustod to British humor burst into laughter.
“At today’s auction, we’ll be presenting only the pieces carefully selected by Sotheby’s. In addition to the five works already disclosed, we’ll be auctioning five undisclosed works as well—for a total of ten items.”
Gathering this many people in one place was no small feat, even for Sotheby’s.
Aside from the pieces I had consigned, there was a high chance that today’s lots included many valuable or rare works.
“Then, let us begin.”
An attendant brought in the first lot, placed it on the table beside Peterson, and removed the cover.
“The first piece was presented by the Hongzhi Emperor—revered as one of the greatest rulers of China’s Ming dynasty—to Empress Xiaochengjing of the Zhang clan...”
Peterson explained the history of the piece. People checked their programs and listened intently.
“A gift from Hongzhi, the only romantic among Chinese emperors who devoted himself to a single empress. What a beautiful story.”
After lavishing praise on the item, Peterson announced the opening bid.
“We’ll start at five million dollars. Incrents of one hundred thousand.”
At last, the first auction began.
The bids rose quickly.
“Ten million dollars. From here on, incrents of one million.”
From the outset, the bidding was fierce. The final hamr price was twenty-three million dollars, won by an unknown telephone bidder.
The subsequent items were those already introduced in the auction invitation.
Most were sold between ten million and fifty million dollars. Not a single lot went unsold.
“This is interesting. What do you think, Manager?”
“It’s my first ti seeing an auction like this, so it’s fascinating.”
I didn’t place a single bid.
It wasn’t that there were no appealing items, but none that made feel compelled to win them.
“Now, we move on to the undisclosed pieces. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that today’s auction was prepared for these. The sixth lot is...”
An attendant brought out a small wooden box. Inside was a small Buddhist statue.
“The statue you see here was made in the 7th century, in a small East Asian kingdom called Baekje...”
I frowned and spoke quietly to Manager Ma beside .
“Doesn’t it look like they put this up for sale just to make buy back a Korean cultural artifact?”
“It certainly seems that way.”
It felt like an item offered with the intention of prompting to bid directly.
“This is the gilt-bronze Avalokiteshvara statue, discovered together with the gilt-bronze Standing Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva currently designated as a National Treasure of Korea.”
It was a Korean cultural artifact of national-treasure caliber.
“The starting price is three million dollars. Incrents of one hundred thousand.”
I didn’t join the bidding imdiately. The price would rise anyway, so there was no need to jump in at the start.
The bids climbed steadily, surpassing ten million dollars.
“Ten million dollars. From here on, incrents of one million.”
At fifteen million dollars, it stopped climbing.
To think a Korean national-treasure-class artifact was worth only fifteen million dollars—not even two hundred billion won.
I pressed the button and picked up the receiver.
“Thirty million dollars.”
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