I Will Tell the Truth (2)
I told Jason Kim’s wife that I would buy back Mimir’s rights.
I promised her I would restore the name Mimir instead of Minerva, and make sure the world knew Jason Kim had created it.
I intended to keep that promise, no matter what it took.
What mattered now was how to tell the world.
Anyone might think the answer was to simply go to the press and expose everything, but it wasn’t nearly that simple.
First, the moment a private equity executive exposed the fraud of a company he had already acquired, the optics would be terrible. If I handled it badly, it could even affect future takeovers.
Second, just like in my first life, Rolf would of course deny everything, and that would drag the whole thing into a battle over the truth.
Someone had to stand up and refute him, and it would be a problem if that someone was me.
So I needed someone else to expose the scandal properly on my behalf. Fortunately, there was exactly one man suited to the job: Ranjin Kumar.
When it came to an exposé, who delivered it and why mattered just as much as the facts themselves. Public reaction could change drastically depending on that.
In truth, the most effective person to come forward would have been Jason Kim’s family. But Julia didn’t want herself or her children to become public figures.
Even in my first life, she had never said a word about it. That was why I had never even known her name or what she looked like.
But once the truth came out during the lawsuit with the patent troll Patrol, Ranjin Kumar had been the first to step forward and condemn Rolf.
He gave interview after interview, and later even published a book about the case titled The Truth and Lies of a Genius.
There was a reason he had targeted Rolf Buchi so relentlessly.
The two of them had been MIT classmates and business partners. Rolf had founded Tinting back in college, and Ranjin had worked there with him.
Thanks to Tinting’s breakout success, Rolf Buchi gained both wealth and fame. Ranjin Kumar, who had worked beside him, received almost none of the attention.
Rolf went around saying Tinting had succeeded solely because of him. He’d taken not just the money, but all the spotlight, too.
Later, the two of them co-founded TalkIt together.
But at the company’s most difficult moment, Rolf left with Sid and founded Cooloud.
While Ranjin fought desperately to keep the dying company alive, Rolf rode Cooloud’s success straight to the top.
What’s more, in various interviews, Rolf would talk about TalkIt as though it had done well while he was running it, only to collapse after he left because the people who stayed behind managed it incompetently.
How do you think the man listening to that felt?
No matter how furious or jealous he had been, there was nothing he could do about it before. But if an opportunity to bring down that genius’s reputation was suddenly right in front of him, that changed everything.
I asked him, sounding exasperated.
“Why are you so worked up? Is there some reason you absolutely have to get this out?”
“W-well……”
Of course it was because of his anger and jealousy toward Rolf. But he couldn’t say that directly, so he reached for a different reason.
“Because I’m Jason Kim’s friend.”
“His friend?”
Were the two of them even that close?
“Ah! And didn’t I introduce Jason to Rolf in the first place? In a way, some of this is my responsibility, too. I want to set this right.”
I nodded as if I understood.
“I see.”
Exposing someone out of jealousy was ugly, but stepping forward for a friend was something to be praised.
Still, I soon looked troubled.
“Our company can’t really take the lead on this. The investors would object. So I’m afraid……”
Ranjin cut me off, his face set with determination.
“Then I’ll do it.”
I deliberately widened my eyes in surprise.
“You will what?”
“I’ll expose it.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
I spoke in a tone of genuine concern.
“Think about it. What do you suppose happens if you’re the one who exposes it?”
“What happens?”
“You’ll become incredibly famous.”
He looked stunned.
“F-famous?”
“Yes. Reporters from all over will come running to interview you, and the public will have its eyes fixed on you. Journalists will keep asking you about every last one of Rolf Buchi’s other actions—things like whether he actually lacked real talent and merely passed off other people’s achievements as his own, or only polished himself up to look like a successful businessman, or betrayed his partner and poached employees to start a new company, or took only his own cut while leaving everyone else to fend for themselves. They’ll dig up every petty bit of misconduct they can find and ask you about it one by one. Can you handle all that hassle?”
“I can!”
For some reason, that only made him burn even more fiercely with the desire to expose the truth.
“So you’re willing to tell the truth no matter what happens? Even if it means you become famous and have the media’s spotlight turned on you?”
He nodded as hard as he could.
“Of course. Even the dead Jason Kim would want that.”
I let out a long sigh.
“If you’re saying that much, then there’s no point in trying to stop you anymore.”
“I’m going to tell the world the truth. That’s justice.”
Excellent.
People could throw themselves into anything, as long as they believed it was justice.
If I had pushed him from the start and told him to expose the scandal, he would have hesitated. But by acting as though I wanted him to keep quiet, I’d only fired him up more.
You couldn’t beat someone who enjoyed what he was doing.
I handed him a contact card.
“This is Trish O’Connor’s number at the Wall Street Times. I’ll let her know you’re going to call.”
Trish O’Connor.
She had been little more than an unknown reporter, but after breaking the Thomas Motors scandal first, she became a household name. In particular, the sight of her cornering CEO Brad Button at the event had become a major talking point.
People recognized her on the street now, greeting her or asking for photos. Thanks to that, tips were pouring in from every direction.
It’s great that my scoop blew up, but……
The pressure of following it up was no joke.
What am I supposed to write about this time?
As I was reviewing the latest articles, I came across one written by Vanessa.
“Oh! It’s an article about Cooloud. Huh? She even got an interview.”
It covered the story behind Mimir’s development, the future of the cloud market, and Cooloud’s planned IPO.
But the important part was the interview with Rolf Buchi.
In that interview, he had even talked about a concrete roadmap for going public.
So he really wasn’t joking when he bragged about meeting Rolf Buchi at a party while visiting LA and becoming friendly with him. This is why connections matter.
Cooloud was one of the most successful startups in Silicon Valley. It was still private, so investing in it was difficult, but once it went public, the door would finally open.
Maybe that was why the article was getting so much attention.
Good. I’ll start working hard on my reporting from today on.
Before that, I was going through the incoming tips when my phone rang. The moment I saw the name on the screen, I answered cheerfully.
Trish: “Hello?”
Miru: “Hi.”
Trish: “Miru, are you still working in Silicon Valley?”
Miru: “Yes. I’m about done with what I was doing, so I’m getting ready to head back.”
Trish: “What were you working on?”
Miru: “I acquired Cooloud.”
Trish: “Cooloud……?”
Miru: “Yes.”
Trish: “Wait, what? Continue Capital acquired Cooloud?”
Miru: “Yes.”
Trish: “Cooloud is a hundred-billion-dollar company……”
Miru: “More importantly, I have a tip for you.”
Trish: “Don’t tell me it’s a scoop?”
Miru: “Maybe. I’ve sent you the materials, so you can decide for yourself whether it’s a scoop or not after you look.”
Trish: “Just a second.”
Miru: “Take a look and then call Ranjin Kumar.”
Trish: “Got it!”
After selling my stake to Continue Capital, Rolf Buchi canceled every scheduled TV appearance, interview, and lecture and shut himself away at home.
Through his employees, he also heard that Alex had sold all of his shares and left the company, too.
The new CEO was Sid Lucas.
Some people might have wanted to sell the company and enjoy a quiet life, but Rolf Buchi was not one of them. What he wanted was a glamorous life that commanded everyone’s attention.
He knew very well how quickly the public’s interest faded.
Most likely, he would just be forgotten little by little from here on out. The only comfort was that Cooloud’s success would remain his success, at least in people’s minds.
But he had no intention of surrendering to despair.
Should I found another company?
It wasn’t the first time he had done it.
He was an excellent developer, and his business instincts were equally sharp. On top of that, he still had name recognition, so if he announced a startup, investors would line up to fund him.
I’ll prove my success wasn’t because of Minerva. Who knows? Maybe I’ll build a company that does even better than Cooloud.
With just a few words from him, people would gather, and money would gather with them. Building and growing a company would be easy enough after that.
Starting a fintech company might not be a bad idea.
As online shopping expanded, payments were rising right along with it. But there were still a few inconveniences left.
People without credit cards, especially, faced all kinds of restrictions.
What if I made payments happen with a single click, then used big data to analyze each person’s credit and let them pay later?
He was sketching out his next business in his head when his phone rang.
The caller was Vanessa Rose, a reporter for the New York Times. I had interviewed with her once before, and the article had gone live just yesterday.
There was nothing wrong with staying on good terms with a journalist. If she wrote the piece well, I could promote my business without spending a cent.
And she was pretty attractive, too.
He answered.
Rolf: “Hello?”
Vanessa: “I-is this true?”
Rolf: “What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Vanessa: “I was thinking about it, and I figured you must be talking about me leaving Cooloud. I’m planning to start a new business now……”
Vanessa: “No, that’s not what I mean. I heard people are saying you didn’t develop Mimir yourself—that you stole it from someone else.”
Rolf: “What? Who the hell is saying that!?”
Vanessa: “A man named Ranjin Kumar made the accusation.”
Rolf: “What did you say?”
Vanessa: “He’s saying it’s all over WST right now.”
Rolf: “…….”
Vanessa: “This is fake news, right? You told me all about the story behind the development during our interview. My article hasn’t even been out for a full day……”
Rolf: “…….”
Vanessa: “Rolf?”
Her voice drifted farther and farther away, until I could barely hear her anymore.
This can’t be right. There’s no way Ranjin could have known……
Rolf ended the call and hurried to look up the article. He didn’t even need to search long; it was already sitting at the very top of the news section.