Fed II Star - January 15, 2006

DEFINITE DETAILS ON PROMOTING TO FOUNDER (MAYBE...)

So when will a Financier be ready to promote to Founder? That's the question many of you are asking, keen to know whether the promotion requirements for the new rank have been firmed up yet. Regular readers may recall that in the last issue of the Star before Christmas, we told you what Bella's current plans for the promotion were, and we moaned a bit that they bore no resemblance at all to what she had told us before because she had changed her mind.

Well, guess what? You can disregard all the information we gave you in that article, too, because she's only been and gone and changed her mind again!

Excuse us a moment while we bang our collective metal heads on the desk for a while.

So, you ask, probably just as exasperated as we are, what does she plan now? Well, according to her current thinking, the requirements for a Financier to promote to Founder will be: nothing. They won't have to do a blinking thing. A Manufacturer can promote to Financier and then immediately decide to become a Founder. It will be as simple as that.

Provided Bella doesn't change her mind again, of course!

Having said that, it is unlikely that players will attempt to jump right over the Financier rank, or only spend a day or two at that rank, because they are going to have to make sure their company is in a healthy state in order to provide a decent wodge of start-up cash for the planet. As we reported in last week's Star (and so far (although give her time!) Bella hasn't changed her mind about this), when you become a Founder the company will sell all the shares it owns, with the proceeds being added to the company balance. The company will then be liquidated and all the cash will be distributed amongst the company's shareholders, with the portion belonging to the company's treasury stock and that belonging to the CEO personally going into the planet treasury. If you decide to promote too soon, you will start out life as an impoverished Founder, which would be a terrible humiliation.

There's no time limit on the length of time you stay at Financier rank, either - you can remain one in perpetuity if you wish.