[Mirikon]

Well, actually from the standpoint of the game world, EVO is probably the one of the three that would cause the least splash if it went down. NeoNET is primarily known for its tech stuff, as well as being the primary competition to S-K in Europe. Oh, and being the only other mega to have a dragon (openly) in the power structure. But all of the megas have their hands in every pie.

If you want a good primer on what the various megas do, check the Corporate Guide.

[Ursus Maior]

Actually EVO is a major player in the Pacific Rim and Europe, with a huge meaning for Russia. It's partially run by a Spirit and one of the largest producers of biotechnology, nano-technology and goods for metahumans. I think if they'd collapse, it would not only form a huge splash - as it indeed should, when a mega falls - but it would also change how the megas deal with metahumans. Remember that Yamatetsu was once one of the most racist corporations, before the leadership change during the 2050s.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

He's approaching it from a different angle than you, Ursus.  Unlike NeoNET (via RJR Reynolds) and Aztechnology, Evo is not one of the First Seven - the ones that cannot be disenfranchised, that are permanent members of the Court, and therefore permanently AAA corporations.  Of the three, a permanent takeout of Evo would be least cataclysmic.  However, they'd all be cataclysmic; the last two times it's happened have been ... major game changers, either in effect or in cause.

[Mirikon]

As Wyrm says, taking out NeoNET or Aztechnology would require, among other things, a substantial rewrite of the Corporate Court's charter. There's a reason why full on Omega Orders are rare, even against entities that are upsetting the entire playing board for everyone else. When Aztechnology tried to snatch all corporate property in Aztlan, the response was bombing a base. When Arty boy went to war with the Villiers, the court didn't bother getting involved until after he'd already chewed through an A and an AA corp as practice, and crippled Novatech to the point where the IPO was necessary.

To take out one of the original seven would then make it so that ANY of the original seven could be taken out.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Well, not exactly.  As we've theorized, all it would take would be one of the others to absorb the one ...

[Mirikon]

Well, not exactly.  As we've theorized, all it would take would be one of the others to absorb the one ...

And the fighting over who would get to absorb that piece would be LEGENDARY.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

I doubt it.  Acquiring it would most likely be accomplished by a certain sleight-of-hand.

[Mirikon]

I will laugh like hell if it is AZT that falls, and winds up in the Orange Queen's pocket.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Considering her utter lack of resources on that scale, I think that vanishingly possible.

[Nath]

Unlike NeoNET (via RJR Reynolds) and Aztechnology, Evo is not one of the First Seven - the ones that cannot be disenfranchised, that are permanent members of the Court, and therefore permanently AAA corporations. Of the three, a permanent takeout of Evo would be least cataclysmic. However, they'd all be cataclysmic; the last two times it's happened have been ... major game changers, either in effect or in cause.

The corporation to which Neonet owes AAA rating is JRJ International. The name is considered to be a reference of some sort to R.J. Reynolds company, or RJR (not "RJR Reynolds" - the second R is the one of Reynolds). But that's a reference. It has never been stated if that was to mean JRJ was a tobacco business, if RJ Reynolds existed in the SR timeline and if it was a component of JRJ. Oddly enough, it would be one of the few case, along with US broadcast television - NBC, ABC and CBS being replaced by NBS, ABS and CBC - where an existing corporation is only alluded to, instead of being mentioned openly - as BMW, General Motors, Hyundai, IBM, Apple and countless other have been.

The fall of Cross Applied Technologies was anything but cataclysmic. Lucien Cross death in an air crash was just a random event. Sure, it happened because of the second Matrix crash disrupted air traffic control. But air crash happens all the time for all sort of reasons. It could just have happened the week before. To say such accident is enough to crush a AAA rated megacorporation is to say any of them can vanish anytime.
But if you ask me, that section of System Failure was bad. The actual problem of the Seraphim suddenly becoming unreliable is barely addressed and then Ares performs a "magical takeover" sadly typical of SR that completely ignore the basics of how corporations are supposed to work.

To take out one of the original seven would then make it so that ANY of the original seven could be taken out.

Well, not exactly.  As we've theorized, all it would take would be one of the others to absorb the one ...

And the fighting over who would get to absorb that piece would be LEGENDARY.

I doubt it.  Acquiring it would most likely be accomplished by a certain sleight-of-hand.

The scenario would depend on the corporation. The founders' privilege is attached to the company proper. Ares Macrotechnology, Aztechnology, Mitsuhama Computer Technologies and Shiawase are founding corporations. The three others still are BMW, JRJ International and Keruba International, but the rating apply to their parent corporation - Saeder-Krupp, Neonet and Renraku Computer Systems (although the book mentions Richard Villiers personally owns JRJ, which I fail to understand how it could be done).

That is to say, the AAA guarantee could be attached to an empty shell. Aztechnology or Neonet could be dismantled, with Pemex, Dassault or Stuffer Shacks, or Novatech, Transys Neuronet and Erika going to different corps, and the AAA guarantee to another one. While for instance Ares Macrotechnology would be very interested in taking over Dassault, to further establish its domination on the defense industry, the only point in acquiring the AAA guarantee of Aztechnology would be to prevent Wuxing, Horizon or a AA corporation from getting it, which is a goal several AAA could agree on.

It's not clear however what the legalese that bind AAA rating and Zurich-Orbital Gemeinshaft Bank shares. It would make sense for the founding corporations to each have a nominal golden share in ZOG, and that those shares are the actual guarantee for AAA rating. Which could mean that if a founding corporation was to take over another one, it could get double dividends from ZOG and possibly even a second administrator seat. But it is also possible that such golden shares provisions would have been written in a way that prevent this.

[Aryeonos]

IIRC According to SR4s SOTA 2 Ares already ~sorta controls Dassault, and I think it was Espirit, which are both owned in a weird way by AZT. It was a weird work around for AZT to sell their product through whatever embargo they had on their military arms, but effectively Ares was ripping them off in the process. All this I've gathered from mixed reports and shadowtalk in the latter SR4 supplements. It wouldn't be that much of a stretch to me if Ares gobbled up much of AZT's major companies, though I always got the feeling from the books that Ares was kinda just holding on. Aztechnology always seemed kinda immovable to me, even if they were in a huge debt and kinda economically paralyzed.

But that's just what I've gathered and felt out, to me it seemed more like conflicting stories that the writers accidentally glossed over.

[Ursus Maior]

As Wyrm says, taking out NeoNET or Aztechnology would require, among other things, a substantial rewrite of the Corporate Court's charter.

No it would not, and I believe that is not at all, what the Wyrm said. The Corporate Court's charter does not state that Aztechnology is a permanent member, ORO Corporation is. The same goes for Saeder-Krupp (BMW) or NeoNET (JRJ International). Which was the example the Wyrm used.

True, this would be a hefty shakedown for the corp world, Aztechnology's demise most certainly more than NeoNET's, though, as the JRJ International seat seems to be a bit of a cursed item. But true, my angle is completely diffrent. I care more about what the corporations stand for, not how they are legitimized in the  Corporate Court's charter.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

ORO Corporation IS Aztechnology.  They did a name change; Aztechnology does not own ORO the way NeoNET owns JRJ International (thank you, Nath, yes, I know, I forgot the exact name, but hopefully the lesson was useful for others); they ARE ORO Corporation.  Therefore, if they were somehow reduced to the point where someone else COULD purchase them, the situation would change from 'we are X corporation to 'we own X corporation' for whomever purchased it.  The Starting Seven may never be able to be removed from the Court, but that just means that a different technique is going to be required to 'eliminate' them from the competition.

[Nath]

IIRC According to SR4s SOTA 2 Ares already ~sorta controls Dassault, and I think it was Espirit, which are both owned in a weird way by AZT. It was a weird work around for AZT to sell their product through whatever embargo they had on their military arms, but effectively Ares was ripping them off in the process. All this I've gathered from mixed reports and shadowtalk in the latter SR4 supplements. It wouldn't be that much of a stretch to me if Ares gobbled up much of AZT's major companies, though I always got the feeling from the books that Ares was kinda just holding on. Aztechnology always seemed kinda immovable to me, even if they were in a huge debt and kinda economically paralyzed.

But that's just what I've gathered and felt out, to me it seemed more like conflicting stories that the writers accidentally glossed over.

There only was one SOTA book published for the fourth edition, SOTA: 2073. It never mentions Dassault, and only mentions Esprit as the shipbuilder for a tug boat in the "street legal" section. The Ares Arms catalog only features Ares, Evo, Ruhrmetall and "Nizhinyi" (a Russian company, likely a reference to the Sokol company) products.

You may be thinking about either Mil Spec Tech or Mil Spec Tech 2. The former agglomerate two Ares Arms catalogs with two Dassault catalogs. While the Ares catalogs do contain Saeder-Krupp, Renraku, Saab, Federated-Boeing and Nissan products, the Dassault ones feature products from Aztechnology subsidiary, save one rail gun made by a Renraku subsidiary. The latter is one single Ares catalog, with products from Dassault, Lockheed, Regulus and Heckler & Koch. The page on the Dassault Zeta Bravo aircraft mentions a licensing agreement to sell it to customers outside of South America.

Otherwise, I never saw anything close to what you describe.

The Corporate Court's charter does not state that Aztechnology is a permanent member, ORO Corporation is.

Not only did ORO changed its name to Aztechnology, but it did so in 2022, the year before the establishment of the Corporate Court in 2023.

[Ursus Maior]

ORO Corporation IS Aztechnology.  They did a name change; Aztechnology does not own ORO the way NeoNET owns JRJ International (thank you, Nath, yes, I know, I forgot the exact name, but hopefully the lesson was useful for others); they ARE ORO Corporation.

That of course is true. But JRJ used to be a megacorporation, too, and they were eventually incorporated into the Fuchi conglomerate. These corps are not single entities, they are networks of diffrent companies joined under a common roof. And ONE of these companies owns a permanent ticket. Yes, ORO - owning the ORO ticket - was rebranded into Aztechnology, but given the diversified leadership structure and internal power-struggles of Aztechnology it's not easy to say which group controls the ticket and how this migh affect ownership. The AAA corporation controlling the ticket (now called Aztechnology) will for all eternity control a seat in the CC, but it cannot be guaranteed that the very autonomously lead regional AA subsidiaries of the AAA-entity might not split off, re-brand etc. and thus weaken the AAA-corporation now behind them. Whatever happened to JRJ can happen to all AAA corporations, because AAA-corporations usually don't own production assets directly. They own ownership over them.

But I guess all that is mute, until we know whim Catalyst decided to take the hit.