The NeoCorps

The 4th Corporate War ended the age of Corporate domination. Even if they were not involved in the shooting parts of the War, many Megacorps found their operations fatally wounded through the breakdown of communications, NET information systems, global transport disruption, and collateral damage.

The New Corps Survive

But the Megas aren't out of the picture entirely. In many cases, local or regional offices continued to operate in a reduced capacity—if they could get the materials and funding to do so. These companies sometime renamed themselves but continued, where possible, to provide the services they were known for. Some Corps (like Raven Microcyb and Kiroshi) broke into smaller units that shared a common trade dress but were often run by entirely different Corporate officers. Still other Corps just fell apart entirely and found their assets seized by other competitors or ambitious regional managers hoping to carve off a personal Corporate fiefdom.

The result is that in the Time of the Red, the Megacorps aren't all that mega anymore. These "Corpos" (as they are dubbed on The Street) are closer to what Corporations were in the mid-to-late 20th century: local companies powerful on a regional or national level, but without the enormous international reach of the roaring 2020s period.

...And Are Still Dangerous

This doesn't mean they're toothless—far from it. Corps in the Time of the Red are, if anything, more rapacious and power hungry. There are fewer rules out there and ambitious players in the front office are willing to do practically anything to gain the advantage over a resource or market. They may not be able to field giant armies with tanks and troops, but they can still deploy powerful covert ops squads and bribe the right governmental overseers to allow them to take out their enemies when it's important enough. Unfortunately for them, in this post-War environment, the most determined Edgerunners can also field hardware and advantages often equal to those of smaller Corps. And there are even a fair number of Edgerunners using the open market to start their own "baby Corps" to take on the tottering "old guys." There's a new and dangerous game to be played out in the marketplace, and in this fragmented new age, everyone can play.

The Corporate Ladder

Corporations are usually organized as a vast hierarchy, with a President and Board of Directors at the top, and a huge sea of workers at the bottom. In the middle tiers, one finds the realm of the Corporate executive, a struggling middle class overachiever, usually with the single-minded goal of grabbing as much power and privilege as possible.

The average Corporate begins as a junior executive, "bossing" a particular project or group of people. At the next level, they become a Manager, controlling a specific department or production area. The major infighting begins here—only very successful Managers get elevated to the position of Assistant Vice President, where they control entire factories or other operations. They are, in turn, bossed by Vice Presidents, who control entire divisions of the company.

The Corner Office

Near the top is the Executive Vice President, who effectively runs the Corporation. Their boss is the President, who answers only to the Board of Directors (major stockholders) and the Chairman of the Board. Theoretically, Corporate advancement is based on merit. In reality, the Corporate world is rife with nepotism, deal making, brown nosing, cheating, lying, and credit stealing. Extortion, blackmail, and frame-ups are common.

Teamwork Is Everything

One of the most disturbing factors in this web of Corporate power brokering is the Team: a personal "guard" of workers who do the dirty work for a par- ticular Exec. Almost every Corporate Exec employs at least one force of highly trained covert operatives specializing in espionage, counter-espionage, sabotage, and counter-terrorism. In extreme cases, measures such as assassination and terrorism are not unknown, whether against other Corporations or within the Corporate structure itself. A Corporate covert opera- tions arm is usually made up of weapons specialists, computer technicians, and various "hired guns"— almost all of these covert forces are cyberenhanced with the best technology available. Covert action arms frequently search the dead zones and arcologies to recruit promising young criminals, promising them high pay, the best enhancements, and a life of glamor and adventure.

Golden Handcuffs

In the savage world of Big Business, it's not unusual for an executive to jump from firm to firm, looking for a big success. To prevent this, most Corporations require their employees to sign Employment Contracts, specifying how long they must work for the firm until they can quit. Contracts may run from a year for a low-level executive, to an entire lifetime for a key researcher or company president. The penalties for breaking Employment contracts are extremely severe, ranging from garnishment of wages, to lawsuits, and even loss of licenses in the case of lawyers or physicians. Corporations have also been known to use sabotage, software, and deadly booby traps to ensure loyalty. Blackmail is common. Assassination and kidnapping are expected. This makes Corporate "headhunting" (hiring away another company's staff for use by your own company) a deadly game of cat and mouse. Most Corporations have their own "extraction teams" of Solos who, like the KGB or CIA, arrange "defections" of key personnel from one side to the other. Headhunting can be especially lethal as most Corporations will use any and all means to stop a rival extraction team.

Power Shifts

Since the end of the 4th Corporate War, most national governments are no longer in the uncomfortable position of having to let the multinational Corporations do pretty much as they please. Where once they paid lip service to pollution control, product safety, and minimum wage rules, the modern Megacorp is now forced to strike a bargain with the local government. Sometimes this may be as simple as a bribe to the right places, or military support for the local dictator. In the more scrupulous New United States, Corporations tread especially lightly, going out of their way to hide their more illegal operations, and make sure to toe the line in their more visible ones; Washington D.C. is watching and its fist is like iron, ready at all times to crush a miscreant. But in Night City's looser Free State environment, it's more often a case of trading power, influence, or money with the right leaders: a judge or police chief here, a councilman or official there.

The Rule of the Faces

One final thing that has come about since the end of the 4th Corporate War has been a rewriting of the rules of Corporate responsibility. No longer can a Megacorp hide behind the "Corporate shield" of the past that allowed so many CEOs and their Boards to evade responsibility for their more nefarious activi- ties. As an absolute requirement for filing legitimate Articles of Incorporation in the EuroTheatre, China, the Free States, and even the New United States, a Corporation must assign the single largest stockholder of the Corporation as its "Face," a living person who is personally responsible for any malfeasance commit- ted by the Megacorp they control. If the Corporation is found out to have committed murder, fraud, or other illegal activities, the Face must legally take the punish- ment for the transgression. This could end up as a long prison term or, in the most egregious cases—like indus- trial accidents such as the infamous Union Carbide Bhopal disaster—even the death penalty.

Obviously, this is intended to ensure that the current "Face" keeps their company out of trouble. Or at least makes sure whatever trouble it gets into isn't connected directly to the management of the Corporation.