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Thomas Wolf II was the next order of business. He retained his position as vice president of the Wolves and inherited a modest amount of money. According to Mr. Crawford, there was a lot more set up in a trust if he made it to the age of forty.
Thomas had just turned thirty-five. We all knew that our uncle Tommy, his namesake, had died at thirty-nine in a drunk-driving accident.
Thomas nodded.
“Everyone needs goals. Guess Dad missed the memo that I’m clean and sober now.”
Harris Crawford told Danny the amount of money he was receiving.
“You’re kidding, right?”
Crawford peered at Danny over his reading glasses.
“Have I ever struck you as a big kidder, son?”
“It’s not enough,” Danny said.
“Nevertheless.”
Crawford looked out at Danny and said, “But you maintain your quarter share of the Wolves, as do all Joe’s children. I’m sure you saw thatForbesrecently established the value of the team at three billion dollars. Do the math on what your shares are worth.”
“What about being president of the team?”
“You retain that title,” Crawford said, “as Jack maintains his title as publisher of theSan Francisco Tribune.”
Jack nodded.
“So are we done here?”
“Not quite,” Harris Crawford said.
He looked at me over the reading glasses now.
“As for Jenny.”
Crawford took a deep breath.
“I’ll read this as it’s written. ‘It is so stipulated that my only daughter, Jennifer Elise Wolf, assumes the role of chairman of the board of Wolf, Inc.’”
As that news sunk in, the air suddenly changed in the office even as I felt most of the air leaving my body. “The majority of the voting shares on the board are now transferred to her,” Crawford continued.
Not everyone immediately processed what he’d just said.
As someone who’d briefly practiced law myself, I certainly did. When my father and I were still on speaking terms, he explained to me one time that voting shares are what give you the hammer in business.
A hammer he had just handed to me, even as I honestly did struggle to catch my breath.
Nobody spoke until Danny Wolf said, “Wait…what?”
“Chairman of theboard?” Jack said. “She’s barely still a member of thefamily.”
Danny was shaking his head, like a horse being bothered by a fly.
“What’s he saying here? The only vote on the goddamn board that mattered washis.”
Crawford took his glasses off, placed them on the desk in front of him, and stared at my older brother.
“Was there something in there that you didn’t understand, Daniel? I feel as if the language is self-explanatory.”
