Daniel preferred it that way. Real accountability looked more like meeting notices and difficult questions than a villain being dragged out of a room. It took time. It required people who disagreed to work within rules that still applied when one side had more money. He believed that if those rules survived the crisis, the company might deserve to survive it too.
On the morning of the shareholder meeting, Victoria stood alone in the lobby of Hale Meridian's headquarters and looked at the security desk. Years earlier she had imagined this building as a place where people would come to do work that mattered. The lobby still looked impressive. Light poured through the high windows, a sculpture made from polished metal turned slowly above the reception area, and the company logo shone against a wall of limestone. But she remembered Daniel's employee badge in her hand at the airport and realized that beautiful rooms could make it easier to forget who carried the weight of keeping them open.
The meeting began at ten. Shareholders attended in person and through a secured electronic platform. Attorneys verified the voting procedures. Independent inspectors reviewed proxies. A stenographer recorded the formal proceedings, while a separate public webcast carried the portions approved for release. The process did not resemble the shouting matches seen in fictional boardroom dramas. It was careful and occasionally tedious, which made the consequences more serious.
Frances presented the audit committee's findings to date. The company had identified substantial weaknesses in vendor approval, financial forecasting, and the handling of employee complaints. Several transactions were under active investigation. Outside advisers had prepared revised financial information, and the board had suspended the planned sale of the industrial service division. The company had also adopted temporary safeguards to protect employees and preserve records. Frances was explicit that allegations of individual criminal conduct would be determined through appropriate proceedings, not by shareholder applause.
Adrian's attorney had submitted a written response disputing the company's characterization of his work. Greybridge questioned the fairness of the valuation review. Northstar had been asked to document its own potential conflicts, and that documentation had been examined by independent counsel. The report contained criticism of management, but it also acknowledged mistakes by the shareholder group in maintaining a complicated relationship between investment influence and ordinary employment.
Daniel sat beside Evelyn Shaw in the middle of the room. He had declined a seat on the platform. Several cameras were trained on him anyway. During a break a reporter approached and asked whether he planned to replace Victoria as chief executive.
"No," he said.
"Do you want her removed?"
"I want the board to evaluate her leadership with the same seriousness it evaluates anyone else's. The company needs people who can admit mistakes and correct them. Whether she can do that is for the properly constituted board to decide."
"But you have forty-nine percent of the shares."
"Which is not a majority. The remaining shareholders have rights, and so do the employees and creditors affected by our decisions. Nobody should confuse influence with unlimited authority."
The reporter looked disappointed by the lack of a dramatic threat. Daniel returned to his seat and watched the next presentation begin.