Chương 17: The Shareholders' Meeting
The afternoon arrived quickly.
Tony, dressed in a crisp suit and tie, made his way slowly to the top floor of Stark Tower.
As he pushed open the door, he saw that the conference room was already filled with people.
These were the shareholders and high-ranking executives of Stark Industries.
"Mr. Stark, are you alright?"
"Hello, Mr. Stark."
"Mr. Stark, it's good to have you back."
Amid the greetings, Tony, with Pepper by his side, made his way to the chairman's seat. Pepper took the first seat to his left.
Tony glanced at his watch, noting that it was already 2:00 PM.
"Obadiah isn't here yet? Looks like he doesn't plan to attend this board meeting."
Just as he finished speaking, the conference room doors opened again.
Obadiah, his tall frame and broad smile making him seem as cheerful as ever, walked in.
"Everyone, my apologies for being a bit late."
Seeing the man who had once been so close to him, Tony remained expressionless, merely nodding slightly.
But his attention was soon drawn to the blonde woman following Obadiah.
"Luna?"
Noticing the attention on her, Luna responded with a calm smile.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Luna."
Pepper stood up, her expression darkening. "This is a Stark Industries board meeting. Uninvited guests should leave."
Before Luna could respond, Obadiah winked at the shareholders and said, "Let me introduce Luna to everyone. She's the CEO of Umbrella Corporation, here to represent Umbrella at the board meeting."
"And just to remind everyone, Umbrella has acquired five percent of Stark Industries' shares. According to the rules, she doesn't need the chairman's approval to attend the board meetings."
As Obadiah's words hung in the air, the shareholders in the room stood up, applauding and expressing their welcome.
"Clap clap clap…"
"Welcome, Miss Luna, to our family."
"I didn't expect Umbrella to invest in us too."
"Indeed, especially in such turbulent times for Stark Industries."
As Luna was about to take her seat, Pepper, holding her tablet, demanded, "Why haven't I seen Umbrella's public listing announcement? There's nothing from the stock exchange either."
Pepper's tone was filled with suspicion as she stared at Luna.
In response to her questioning, Luna kept her smile and slowly took her seat among the shareholders.
"The transaction was finalized this morning, so the announcement hasn't been made yet. If you don't believe me, Miss Potts, you can check these documents."
With that, Luna placed her briefcase on the table and pulled out several documents.
As Pepper examined the stock transaction papers, disbelief was evident in her voice, "How is this possible? You couldn't have acquired five percent of the shares in such a short time!"
Though Stark Industries wasn't worth trillions yet, its market value still hovered around $300 billion.
Even with the recent events causing the stock price to drop by two-thirds, the company was still valued at around $100 billion.
Five percent of that would be $5 billion. Even if Umbrella had that much liquid capital, acquiring that many shares from various sources would not be an easy feat.
Luna raised an eyebrow, a faintly amused expression on her face.
"For that, we have to thank Mr. Stark."
Tony's brow furrowed at the mention of his name.
"What does this have to do with me?"
"Everything. If you hadn't shut down the weapons division and cut off ties with the military, those fund companies, institutions, and securities firms wouldn't have been so eager to sell their shares to Umbrella. And at ten percent below the secondary market price, no less."
In truth, if Stark Industries had been even slightly more stable, Adam wouldn't have been able to acquire five percent of the shares so quickly, especially at such a low price.
But with all the chaos surrounding Stark Industries lately—the closure of the weapons division, the end of military contracts, the delays in the Arc Reactor project, and the recent robot rampage—any one of these issues could have been a death blow to another company.
Even a giant like Stark Industries couldn't withstand this level of turmoil.
So Adam's rapid acquisition of shares wasn't surprising.
When Tony and Pepper realized that Umbrella indeed held five percent of Stark Industries' shares, their faces darkened, a sense of unease creeping in.
However, they didn't dwell on it too much, feeling that it wasn't a significant threat.
After all, they controlled thirty-nine percent of the shares, while Obadiah only had twelve percent. Even with Umbrella's five percent added, they would still hold a decisive advantage.
But the other shareholders were far less composed.
Due to recent events, their assets had shrunk by two-thirds.
With Stark Industries' market value around $100 billion, those holding significant shares faced devastating losses if they decided to sell at this point, as they would have to accept a price below market value, just like the fund companies and institutions.
This realization left many of the smaller shareholders glancing nervously at one another before nodding in agreement.
After some minor formalities, the shareholders' meeting officially began.
Pepper was the first to speak.
"The first item on today's agenda is the dismissal of Obadiah Stane from his position as CEO, and his permanent exclusion from any future Stark Industries board meetings."
Despite the gravity of her words, Obadiah's expression remained unchanged, while the smaller shareholders erupted in protest.
"Why fire Obadiah? Without him, the company's performance will plummet."
"What happened? Obadiah is a founding figure of this company!"
"That's right. The company can't do without him."
While Obadiah was a villain in Tony's eyes, to the average shareholder, he was an excellent CEO.
After all, nearly fifty percent of Stark Industries' revenue had passed through Obadiah's hands, and many key positions—managers, general managers—were held by his loyalists.
If Obadiah were to be dismissed abruptly, Stark Industries' stock would likely plummet further, and half the departments could grind to a halt.
Faced with the shareholders' questions, Pepper chose not to explain, her tone icy as she declared, "Let's proceed to the vote!"
If she hadn't made the mistake of handing over the USB drive containing evidence of Obadiah's crimes to the military, she wouldn't be in such a difficult position.
Now, with the military clearly protecting Obadiah and no arrest in sight, she knew the situation was dire. So, a direct vote was the only option.
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