NAME: THE CHAIRMAN
CID: 1-974-151
Race: Human
Age: N/A
Occup: N/A

The undisputed ruler within the Conglomerate hierarchy is known as “The Chairman.”

The Chairmanship is a position cemented through the sheer number of undiluted C-Shares (voting stock) and is currently such an astronomical figure as to give the Chairman virtual dictatorial power.

The only mechanism known to override a Chairman’s decision is a non-amendable article within the Founding Charter known as the Unity Clause. The administrative failsafe was created in case a Chairman attempted to take actions so adverse to Conglomerate survival as to rally vehement political enemies to set aside their differences and stop such decisions from becoming reality. This action requires a super-majority (75%) vote of all C-Shares to nullify an action of The Chairman.

It should be noted that the Unity Clause can only be used to stop the Chairman from executing what is universally accepted as bad policy by overriding him. It does not allow for creation of legislation in lieu of the Chairman who wields a near-ubiquitous right to put forth legislation.

The Unity Clause is not known to have been used in session since the mid-24th century. At this extraordinary point in history, the Chairman sought to dissolve the Board and seize absolute control over the Conglomerate. Despite having bribed the vast majority of the Board to support the move, the Chairman's use of the Conglomerate Military Service Bureau (CMSB) to imprison (and in one instance, assassinate) Board Members proved so alarming, all remaining C-Shareholders united to stop what they saw as not only an end to their own lives, but the rapid disintegration of the Conglomerate into civil war. CMSB leadership also observed the tenuous situation fomenting rebellion and, through the use of the Unity Clause allowed the coup to unfold in the boardroom rather than at gunpoint. The loss of confidence by the Board and CMSB for his recklessness forced The Chairman from power. It is believed the deposed Chairman’s shares were liquidated and distributed among the Board Members, thus avoiding his execution for treason.

This share reallocation remains the largest single transfer of Conglomerate C-Shares on record. The Snowen Exchange (so named for the only public figure in negotiations: Snowen 1-598-012) was not merely to spare the former Chairman from death, but all transferees who might have otherwise inherited the shares according to standing Conglomerate law. A portion of his shares were placed in a soft black budget reserve for CMSB special projects.

The terms, share value and implementation remain between CMSB leadership and the Board, but went far to solidify CMSB loyalties according to the Founding Charter than follow a wayward Chairman against the Board.

The ability to rally super-majority agreement on any matter is such a statistical improbability, it is generally accepted only a threat to the very existence of the Conglomerate itself would ever allow the Unity Clause to be wielded again.

When one ascends to Chairmanship, their identifying name and CID are expunged from all MACODAX (Master COnglomerate DAta matriXes) and replaced by the title, “The Chairman.” This occurs for two reasons. First, the identity of the new Chairman and his family is secured without obligatory mindwipes of fellow Conglomerate Major Shareholders (CMSs). Second, before the Chairman retires because of age or bad health, they can adopt a new identity free of their term as the Conglomerate’s leader and live out their time as one of the hyper-wealthy.

Share transferee databases are retained in the mysterious, highly guarded “Deck 19-5” (See Touchpoint: Council Chamber) and accessed through undisclosed mechanisms. (Note: The transferee database was opened for the Snowen Exchange through direct, physical coercion of The Chairman. This suggests the physical presence of the Chairman (and other key officers) is required to decrypt this information.)

The absolute name purge/shuffle is a privilege reserved only for a retiring Chairman. Deep cover PARACOM (PARAmilitary COMmand, the CMSB’s special operations division) agents are afforded a similar procedure to ensure their cover identities aren't compromised. However, unlike the Chairman's MACODAX wipe (which leaves no record whatsoever in any machine in Conglomerate space), agent CIDs and encrypted MACODAX entries are retained somewhere in the impenetrable heart of PARACOM.

The current Chairman took power in the closing days of 2565. His 151 year reign is the result of careful manipulation of loyalties and a business savvy that has confounded many of his would-be challengers. As is the norm, no one is sure where or how the current Chairman accumulated such a vast number of C-Shares.

Under his guidance, the Conglomerate's overall holdings and future growth prospects have never been brighter, granting the Chairman both an unusually supportive and malleable Board that enforces his brutal dictates. His success is seen as a threat by some. So much so that an underground movement has taken root within certain circles of the Board’s Level One shareholders seeking to restore a number of sovereign rights for new world negotiations. Chief among the movement’s goals are the elimination of coerced relocation and their belief that the Conglomerate maintains a dangerously low threshold for World Zeroing operations (the eradication of all sentient life, or life in general, of a planet). World Zeroing only occurs when a resource world’s inhabitants answer calls to negotiation with violence. Such worlds are only approached for the purpose of material resource acquisition.

Known as the Advance Planetary Negotiations Committee (APNC), the fledgling coalition has gained enough traction and member share commitments to acquire official candidacy status for full Conglomerate recognition. Such an event would give the APNC tremendous leverage in the Conglomerate's powerful New World Acquisitions Rules Committee (NWAR Committee).

APNC members tend to refer to this same body by another arrangement of acronym letters: NEW WAR Committee. The Chairman vehemently opposes the APNC and will