Chapter 12

Sunday morning, Boston, Massachusetts

“All right, Io. How are gonna get the Wall Street ultra-earners and ultra-institutions and ultra-abusers in one place to hear the bad news?”

“Abusers?”

“They are people who think that it is productive to exchange paper with each other, and make millions doing it, while regular people don’t get that opportunity. To me that is abusing regular people.”

“Sounds like you’re a socialist,” Io offered with a chuckle.

“What does the best paid nurse working in a hospital make per year? In the United States, I mean.”

It took Io 1.7 seconds to reply. “$112,400 – last year. 2061.”

“And the head trader at Goldman-Chase – what’s he make?”

“With salary, bonus and stock options, he took home $671.4 million.”

“That’s ... what? 50,000 percent more?”

“Actually almost 600,000 percent more.”

“SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND percent? Do you feel that the highest paid stock trader is that much more valuable to society than the best nurse in the country?” asked Armis simply.

“Obviously not.”

“I want to redress that a little. And it wouldn’t bother me if the top 1% got to pay for the improvements that need to be made in the rest of society. But to do that, I think we need to get them all in one place and give them the bad news.”

“I don’t know, Armis. I think that...” and they debated what-to-do for several hours. Eventually, they reached a decision that would be a realistic first step.

New York City

Goldman-Chase Ltd. was the largest institutional banking organization in the world. It was in a continual battle for the title ‘largest’ with Credit Suisse Deutsche Bank. Goldman was certainly the biggest in the U.S. The office of the Chairman received a delivery by messenger at 9:03 am on Monday. The messenger had instructions to deliver a similar message to the C.E.O. and President immediately thereafter. At 9:10, an email would be sent to the top 100 earners in the company.

The same was going on in the other top ten corporate banks and trading companies in the U.S. A similar message was going to other hedge funds. The message read:

Gentlemen and Ladies:

This is an invitation to a select group. The target audience is the top earners in the financial and securities industry. I will be discussing my ideas dealing with the future of your industry and your compensation in that industry.

I cannot compel anyone’s attendance at this meeting, which will take place at 4:00 p.m. New York time, on this coming Tuesday, at Carnegie Hall, in Manhattan, and via teleconference in other financial centers. The guest list is limited, so don’t bring any others with you.

Perhaps you have heard of my appearances in Madrid, Sao Paulo, and Rome. I hope you will attend the meeting at Carnegie Hall. I expect that this meeting will produce even more surprising results.

My best regards,

Armis

The name ‘Armis’ was, by now, a well known one, since the news blitz following the Madrid, Sao Paulo, and Rome appearances. She also sent similar notices to the leaders of the financial industry in every major financial center in Europe, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sydney. People there were invited to major auditoriums (or auditoria, as Io would have it) in every city. It’s nice to have a virtually unlimited bank account when it becomes necessary to rent a space anywhere in the world.

The virtual network was, of course, child’s play for Io. She just needed a few technicians to set up the equipment, which, if you have very deep (electronic) pockets, was something that could be done in a few hours.

Armis thought that some armed guards would be a good idea, considering the type of news to be delivered. Io thought that she could cover it with some mini-drone shooters. They compromised by doing both. Io had some contacts with former SEALs and Rangers, and a few calls – and some payments – made the security team happen.

Armis went to another movie on Monday afternoon. She was a fairly plain, Clark Kent style glasses, ripped jeans, long auburn-haired grungy chick, who was watching Superman XXII at the cheap movie theater. She liked movies shown on the big screen, not on the little screens of a comm or TV, or worse, on the mental screen.

She was in an upstairs apartment in the Carnegie Hall building by Tuesday morning, going over what she wanted to say and all the statistics, even though Io could supply them in an instant.

By about 2:00 p.m., there were several thousand people crowing the entrance to Carnegie Hall, which seats only 2804 souls. The guards and ushers at the doors had a list of people who were invited, and they began to admit people on the list. Others were politely told to leave. No exceptions. No press. The government was there, of course. Agents from the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, the Treasury Department and other agencies were there, but they were not admitted. Finally, close to 4:00, someone showed up with a court order and six people were admitted – three from the Fed, three from Treasury.

Armis appeared near the ceiling of the stage and floated down to about five feet about the deck. “I’m sorry to have called you here for nothing. There are six uninvited attendees, from the U.S. government, so we will not be proceeding today. There is nothing of concern to any agency of the government – or any government. This is just an informational meeting on both sides. But I will not proceed with uninvited guests. They – and the press – will be provided with a full audio recording of the meeting afterwards. That will, of course, be available to you as well. As of now, I will be returning in 15 minutes to see if they have left. Similarly, in the overseas venues, guests not on the list will have to be excluded.”

The government men stormed the stage, but Armis had blipped out. The President of Suisse/Deutsche Bank US and the CEO of Goldman-Chase had also run up to the stage. There was a knot around the security men; they were large men who were not backing up against eight middle aged ‘suits.’

The bankers were trying to get the g-men to leave. There was a discussion – to call it heated would be an understatement of gargantuan proportions. The Suisse/Deutsche Bank man gestured to the guards. “These gentlemen will be leaving. They have no right to be at a private meeting. We will deal with any legal issues later on.”

Two former Rangers approached closer to the g-men. “Can we please do this peacefully, gentlemen?” asked one. The six government men – none of whom was under 50 – agreed. They were escorted from the Hall, and the doors were locked.

A reporter from the Wall Street Journal had his credentials plastered against the glass. “We have a right to know,” he shouted. The guard on the inside of the door simply shook his head.

‘Since we’re giving them a copy of the proceedings, ‘ Io comm’d to Armis, ‘why not let them in.’

‘Because, ‘ Armis answered, ‘we’re setting the rules here. I want to set precedent.’

Io was again impressed by the maturity of the young girl she’d been thinking of as her underling. Now she made a note that that status would have to be reappraised.

In 14.5 minutes, Armis reappeared above the stage in the main auditorium of the Carnegie Hall building. The two executives were standing off to one side. “The government men are gone. May we – you – proceed now?” said Mr. Goldman-Chase.

“Yes, of course. Please resume your seats.” The conversation was played over the sound system here and around the world. She quickly checked the comm feed from Io. “I note that government representatives are present in Hong Kong and Berlin, uninvited as here. And in London, the press is present, despite our firm statements that they were to be excluded. Sorry, gentlemen, but those three locations will be excluded from the network.” ‘Make it so, please, Io.’ And the screens and audio went dark in London, Berlin and Hong Kong, creating several hundred unhappy people at each site.

“Now, remaining gentlemen and ladies around the world, let us get down to business. I will make a brief statement, which I will complete without interruption,” she said with some emphasis. “You, most likely, will not like what I have to say. After my remarks, I will take your questions, first from New York, then in rotation from other cities. There is a proctor in each location who will pass out the microphones to those asking questions. I would ask them to stand in each location so you may recognize him.

“In most developed countries, about a century and a half ago, there were some men who gathered great wealth to themselves at the expense of others. In the United States, they were called Robber Barons. Those in what was the Holy Roman Empire may be familiar with the term Raubritter. These men captured power and enriched themselves.

“I put it to you, that you are all modern day Robber Barons.”