“Tis the times’ plague, when madmen lead the blind.”

William Shakespeare, King Lear

There was once a small but international US Corporation, whose CEO was a stern and uncompromising elderly man called V, who was the King Lear of his age. He lived in nostalgia for a disappeared past and did not want to recognise the new world that had emerged. He was so strict that he used to insult one of the frustrated, well-educated, go-getter young executives, who was called M. From that moment on, M began to plot with other younger ones how to get rid of V. V, who had suffered much in life, had difficulty with all this stress from the young and finally became overcome by dementia. At last, the young ones succeeded and M saw that triumph awaited him. All he had to do was to seize his chance.

True, they had to use violence to get rid of V, as he stubbornly refused to die, and at one point one of the young executives even tried to kidnap him. Nevertheless, V was gone at last, M’s personal grudge was satisfied, and all could be reshaped in his own image, as he had patiently been planning during his several years of frustration. Although patient, he could brook no contradiction. Now the other young ones, all rather weak and also disciples of M and whom he could manipulate at will, had their greedy eyes set on an alliance with another much bigger Corporation. They thought that an alliance with a Corporation 100 times bigger, which had long been resisted by V, would bring them all the big time and big money.

From this moment on, M and his team took over altogether. After all, M came from the upper echelons, he was the son of a Government Minister, he had completed higher studies and was very clever. He deserved power. However, M did not want to occupy the throne, rather he wanted to be the power behind the throne so he could pull the strings. The unpleasant task of occupying the throne could be fulfilled by his puppets. So he had L, a lovely, but elderly, poorly-educated, weak and malleable man, made the next CEO and an alliance with the big Corporation was made.

This alliance was supported by the vast majority, who worked for the small Corporation, though not because they sought power and riches like the executives. They were simply fed up with the isolationist antics of the past. Only a few really old or fanatical ones resisted. However, as the elderly L soon died, M replaced him with another puppet, this one, called H, was another lovely, but weak and malleable man. Now although H was scared stiff of M, he unexpectedly stood up to M in certain areas, wherever he could. M got very angry at this. How dare anyone resist him. M always eliminated anyone who resisted his high-handed and unprincipled ways and H had to bury the scandals for M.

Eventually, M got so angry that he began to undermine H, intimidating him and reinforcing his clique of young bloods, promising them even more power and riches. In this way the health of H worsened under pressure from the young bloods, who were led by and used by M. M began to sign all documents by autopen, behind H’s back. From this moment on, H was sidelined. In despair, H fell into dementia. Some days he knew his name, other days he did not, just like V before him. Then his physical health also gave way and he too died. H was replaced by M with another very weak character, N.

Much younger, N too was weak and malleable, just like L before him. In exchange for the flattering title of CEO, N had to take charge of all the scandals that M had been sweeping under the carpet for years. N knew that he was doing wrong, but his conscience was poorly developed and he was too weak to stand up for principles. Elsewhere, all were now waiting for the death of the by now elderly M, not least the big Corporation, with which M had allied himself. The big Corporation had for years been greedily and quite ruthlessly eyeing the valuable real estate of the small Corporation, like a tree with low-hanging fruit. They used to say there, a merger is OK, but ‘mergers have to be completed by acquisitions’, in other words, a single and unified administration, making the unneeded redundant.

They waited very patiently, as the small Corporation began to decay from the inside, as incompetent and greedy executives took over and argued among themselves. Disputes and scandals among the once young, but now ageing executives became ever more common. One scandal followed after another and court cases became frequent. When the rotten fruit fell, the big Corporation would take the lot. Outside the little Corporation, yet other Corporations waited alongside, as the sailors began to jump from the sinking ship of the little Corporation and were rescued and welcomed by them. Given the warm welcome, more and more jumped.

All could see what was going to happen, even M, who, now elderly, finally realised that his karma was coming: all his decades of intrigues had been for nothing. Death was coming and all his work would be swallowed up by the big Corporation. His little empire would be lost. It had all been labour in vain. Here was his Shakespearian tragedy, the tragedy of an old man, repeating the fate of V and becoming a new King Lear.

“Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise.”

Fool, Act 1, Scene 5, King Lear

Then something quite unexpected happened inside the big Corporation….

(To Be Continued)