Chapter 15
“Nolan, before we characterize historical transactions—”
Nolan looked at him.
“Did you know?”
Charles stopped.
“Know what?”
“That Bellweather's closure was planned before we purchased it.”
“No.”
“Good.”
Nolan looked around the table.
“Anyone?”
Silence.
“Because if the answer changes after today, resign before I find out.”
Mara almost smiled.
There was the old Nolan.
But this time, the aggression was pointed in a useful direction.
Nolan continued.
“We found eleven acquisitions where material operational plans were withheld or misrepresented.”
Another director spoke.
“Elliot has been retired for years.”
“That doesn't make the workers less unemployed.”
“We cannot undo decisions made a decade ago.”
“No.”
Nolan nodded.
“But we can stop pretending the money we made has no relationship to what happened.”
He distributed another document.
Mara knew this one.
She had helped tear apart the first six drafts.
Charles read the title.
PIERCE NORTH INDUSTRIAL RESTORATION FUND
His eyes widened at the number.
“Eight hundred million dollars?”
“Initial capitalization.”
“Nolan, that's insane.”
“No.”
Charles looked at him.
“Do you understand what this does to our annual distribution?”
Nolan almost smiled.
Then he looked toward Mara.
She knew exactly what he was remembering.
Do you even understand this?
Nolan looked back at Charles.
“Yes.”
He pointed to the first clause.
“The question is whether you understand who paid for that distribution in the first place.”
The room went silent.
Mara smiled.
Now he understood the contract.
The fund did not simply write checks.
Mara refused to allow that.
Former workers from the eleven affected companies were located.
Unpaid medical expenses connected to lost coverage were reviewed.
Retraining grants were offered.
Pension shortfalls were examined.
Communities could apply for redevelopment investments.
Three closed factories reopened under employee-led ownership structures.
Two became training centers.
One became a regional manufacturing cooperative.
Not everything could be restored.
Some people had died.
Some families had moved.
Some towns had never recovered.
There was no check large enough to make history unhappen.
Mara made sure Nolan understood that.
He did.
Then came Elliot Vance.
He appeared on television before Nolan could confront him privately.
Elliot was seventy-three.
Silver-haired.
Elegant.
Calm.
He called the investigation “revisionist corporate theater.”
He said Nolan was trying to rewrite his own history.
Then he said something that made Mara stop washing a plate.
“Nolan Pierce knew what those acquisitions required. He became a billionaire because he had the courage to make decisions other people wouldn't.”