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All these men were known by the news media, all were celebrities in their chosen fields, but none were identified with membership in the Foundation. That was a sec known only to the men in the room and their close associates. They flew across oceans and continents, weaving their webs in all sorts of strange places, takings toll while amassing unheard-of profits.
They listened with close attention in silence as the' chosen chairman, the billionaire head of a German banking firm, reported on the current crisis facing the diamond market. A regal man with a bald head, he spoke slowly in fluent English, a language every national around the to understood.
"Gentlemen, because of Arthur Dorsett we are facing a profound crisis in a vital area of our operations. Appraisal of his conduct by our intelligence network points to a diamond market headed into dark waters Make no mistake about it, if Dorsett dumps over a hundred metric tons of diamonds on the retail market street-beggar prices, as he is reported ready to do, this sector of the Foundation will totally collapse."
"How soon will this take place?" asked the sheik an oil-rich country on the Red Sea.
"I have it on good authority that eighty percent Dorsett's inventory will be on sale in his chain of recd stores in less than a week," answered the chairman.
"What do we stand to lose?" asked the Japanese head of a vast electronics empire.
"Thirteen billion Swiss francs for starters."
"Good God!" The French leader of one of the world's largest women's fashion houses rapped his fist on the table. "This Australian Neanderthal has the power to do such a thing?"
The chairman nodded. "From all accounts, he has the inventory to back him."
"Dorsett should never have been allowed to operate outside the cartel," said the American former secretary of state.
"The damage is done," agreed the diamond cartel member. "The world of gems as we know it may never quite be the same again."
"Is there no way we can cut him off before his stones are distributed to his stores?" asked the Japanese businessman.
"I sent an emissary to make him a generous offer to buy his stock in order to keep it out of circulation."
"Have you heard back?"
"Not yet."
"Who did you send?" inquired the chairman.
"Gabe Strouser of Strouser & Sons, a respected international diamond merchant."
"A good man and a hard bargainer," said the Belgian from Antwerp. "We've had many dealings together. If anyone can bung Dorsett to heel, it's Gabe Strouser."
An Italian who owned a fleet of container ships shrugged unemotionally. "As I recall, diamond sales dropped drastically in the early eighties. America and Japan suffered severe recessions and demand dropped, kindling a glut in supply. When the economy turned around in the nineties, prices shot up again.
Is it not possible for history to repeat itself?"
"I understand your point," acknowledged the chairman, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms.
"But this time a chill wind is blowing, and anyone who depends on diamonds for a living will be frozen out. We've discovered that Dorsett has budgeted over $100 million in advertising and promotion in all the major diamond buying countries. If, as we have come to believe he will, he sells for pennies on the dollar, high diamond values will be a thing of the past, because the public is about to be brainwashed into thinking they are worth little more than glass."
The Frenchman sighed heavily. "I know my models would certainly look at other luxurious baubles as an eternal investment. If not diamond jewelry, I would have to buy them expensive sports cars."
"What is behind Dorsett's odd strategy?" asked the CEO of a major Southeast Asian airline. "Surely, the man isn't stupid."
"Stupid like a hyena waiting for a lion to fall asleep after eating only half its kill," replied the German chairman. "My paid agents throughout the world banking network have learned that Dorsett has bought up seventy, perhaps as high as eighty percent of the major colored gemstone producing mines."
There was a collective murmur of awareness as the latest information sank in. Every man at the table immediately recognized and assimilated Arthur Dorsett's grand plan.
"Diabolically simple," muttered the Japanese electronics magnate. "He pulls the rug from under diamonds before driving the price of rubies and emeralds through the roof."
A Russian entrepreneur, who ran up a vast fortune by buying shutdown aluminum and copper mines in Siberia for next to nothing and then reopening them using Western technology, looked doubtful. "It sounds to me like-- what is that saying in the West?-- Dorsett is robbing Peter to pay Paul. Does he really expect to make enough on colored gemstones to make up for his losses on diamonds?"
The chairman nodded to the Japanese, who replied, "At the request of our chairman, I asked my financial analysts to run the figures through our data systems, Astounding as it seems, Arthur Dorsett, the House d Dorsett chain of retail stores and Dorsett Consolidated Mining Limited stand to make a minimum of $20 billion American Perhaps as high as $24 billion, depending on a predicted rising economy."
"Good Lord," exclaimed a British subject who owned a publishing empire. "I can't begin to imagine what I would do with a profit of $24 billion."
