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Art Dankwalther was an eccentric billionaire (some say trillionaire) who seemed hellbent on destroying Novatech piece by piece. He was a former Fuchi company man, a high-finance theorist who worked as one of Fuchi's beancounters until 2056, when he was fired by Fuchi due to cutbacks. He was turned out into the street and sank into the life of booze, BTLs, and homelessness. That would have been where the story ended had it not been for a certain bequest in Dunkelzahn's Will:

"To Art Dankwalther, I leave the sum of 34,586,224,739.58 in UCAS dollars. According to my calculations and accounting for conversion of the original currency, inflation, and a 1 percent interest per annum, this settles my debt to your ancestor for the gold piece he kindly lent me for the last meal we shared."

Amazingly enough, Art was so deep into BTLs that he did not claim the bequest until 2059, soon after Novatech rose from the ashes of Fuchi. While he was trying (and failing) to get his job back at Novatech, he was grabbed by the Draco Foundation, and after a quick confirmation of his identity, he turned from rags to riches overnight. He started living the big life among the rich and famous.

However, after a chance encounter with Richard Villiers, Dankwalther's mind snapped, and he decided his purpose in life was to take down the employers who fired him and turned him down. He decided to get back at Fuchi through Novatech, using his considerable resources to try to tear it apart through the business he knew best: corporate takeovers and financial wizardry.

It is rumored that he is responsible for the dissolution of Tokugawa Technologies, and had a hand in the crippling of the Gunderson Corporation. If these rumors are true, then they were probably a "warmup" for the main event. He used his considerable financial resources to try to outmaneuver, outwit, and outplay Villiers and Novatech, and would not rest until Novatech finally is dissolved. It was rumored that Novatech placed a five million nuyen bounty on Dankwalther, dead or alive. It was also rumored that Dankwalther will beat that offer if an unspecified job is done for him.

Game Over: After the Crash

While Dankwalther's efforts proved to be effective at crippling Novatech financially, he was not prepared for the next maneuver that Villiers would try: the Novatech IPO, offering shares of Novatech stock to go public. Despite Dankwalther's desperate efforts to destroy Novatech before that set time, he failed. With the huge influx of cash, Villiers seized most of Dankwalther's assets in hostile takeovers. An Omega Order was approved against Dankwalther and his assets, and he was hit with a Thor shot before he could escape his hideout.

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