One trillion dollars

One trillion dollars is a 2001 novel by the German writer Andreas Eschbach . The core plot begins in 1995 and links fiction with events and people from world history, such as the Asian crisis and the death of Lady Diana . A realistic parallel world is created.

action

The penniless pizza delivery boy John Salvatore Fontanelli from New York is asked by an Italian lawyer for a meeting at the Hotel Waldorf Astoria . He cannot explain at all how he got the honor. The four attending representatives of the venerable Florentine law firm "Vacchi" reveal to him that he has inherited over a trillion US dollars because he is the youngest male descendant of an Italian businessman who invested a modest fortune in an account half a millennium ago and this has increased in the course of time through interest and compound interest to that enormous sum (cf. Josephspfennig ).

At one stroke, John Fontanelli is by far the richest person on earth and his private wealth is greater than the gross domestic product of most countries. But his ancestor gave him the testamentary mandate in the form of a prophecy to restore the "lost future" to mankind with the help of money.

At first he enjoyed his new wealth, bought a villa and a yacht and provided his family with enough money that they never had to work again. The former computer programmer McCaine contacts him. At that time he created the computer program for Vacchi, with which the millions of accounts all over the world on which Fontanelli's money is stored are monitored. McCaine convinces Fontanelli that the prophecy meant that he could use his fortune to force humanity not to destroy itself anymore . That's the only reason he got the money. Fontanelli and McCaine set up a company to begin buying up other strategically important companies. The start is the hostile takeover of ExxonMobil . However, it quickly becomes apparent that his power has limits. At the same time, researchers on behalf of Fontanelli are investigating how one would have to influence humanity in order to save it. However, the scientists finally come to the conclusion that it is impossible to save humanity. McCaine keeps this information a secret and concludes that only a small group could survive the demise. As a consequence, he is pulling researchers away from their research on the HI virus so that the "useless" can mutually eliminate one another through this disease.

Fontanelli is kidnapped in Mexico City, but released unharmed after a while. He now suspects McCaine of ordering his kidnapping. He can't prove that, but since McCaine has embezzled billions of dollars in money from a consulting firm that belongs to him, he dismisses him without notice. A young researcher finds out that Fontanelli's ancestor, who allegedly laid the foundation stone for the enormous fortune 500 years ago, was in fact a bad businessman and was heavily in debt shortly before his death. An old letter, signed with “Jacopo”, a reference to Jakob Fugger , indicates that he had paid the debts for his illegitimate son Fontanelli and in whose name he had invested the original capital with the known conditions.

John Fontanelli has an idea. With the thought of the “ We are the people ” shouts of the demonstrations in the GDR, he wants to ensure that the people of the world elect a representative. This is intended to enforce the will of humanity against multinational corporations and states. Fontanelli sets up a foundation to organize the global election of a “world speaker”.

McCaine, now head of a tobacco company, is agitating against the election, as are many governments and companies around the world.

Shortly before the upcoming election, Fontanelli is shot and seriously injured by a former friend who has gone astray and was influenced by a group that remains in the background. At the moment of his death in hospital, Fontanelli realizes that it is precisely because of his death that humanity is forced to take the global election seriously in order to provide the "world spokesman" with sufficient legitimacy to withstand the power of his opponents around McCaine. Otherwise, Fontanelli's entire fortune would go to McCaine, according to a previous will. In this way, his big mistake - namely, blindly trusting McCaine and then forgetting the will that was drawn up in the times of successful collaboration - becomes the real engine through which the 500-year-old prophecy can still be fulfilled. Here, however, the novel ends abruptly. How exactly humanity should regain its lost future is left to the reader to consider.

people

John Salvatore Fontanelli

John Salvatore Fontanelli is the heir to the "Fontanelli Fortune". Before he inherits the fortune, he's a pizza delivery boy in New York . He founds "Fontanelli Enterprises" with Malcolm McCaine as managing director. With the help of “Fontanelli Enterprises” he wants to make the world a better place.

Malcolm McCaine

Malcolm McCaine is the managing director of Fontanelli Enterprises. He receives an annual salary of $ 100 million. McCaine is fired for an unauthorized transfer of $ 1 billion to a consulting firm he owns. After his dismissal, he worked for Fontanelli's competitors.

Ursula Valen

Ursula Valen is a history student from Leipzig. She works as a part-time journalist and researches the history of the Fontanelli legacy in the archives of the Vacchi family. A later joint trip to the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig becomes a key experience for John Salvatore Fontanelli.

Cristoforo Vacchi

Cristoforo Vacchi is a lawyer and the first padrone (head of the Vacchi family) to appear in the plot and the one who gives Fontanelli the sum of his fortune. He dies in the course of the plot.

useful information

The paperback page numbers are in billions of dollars. Some pages contain meanings of the amounts (for example, on page "$ 1,000,000,000": Annual damage caused by the corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera) in corn cultivation in the USA. )

expenditure

2001 First edition as hardcover by Lübbe , ISBN 3-7857-2049-1
2004 Paperback edition by Bastei Lübbe , ISBN 3-404-15040-6
2019 Paperback edition from Bastei Lübbe , ISBN 978-3-431-04128-6

Translations

English: One Trillion Dollars , transferred from Frank Keith ISBN 978-3-8387-5312-6
Turkish: Bir Trilyon Dolar , ISBN 975-308-380-7 ("Trilyon" because of the deviation of the number systems; see Billion )
Russian: Один триллион долларов , 2005. ISBN 5-8159-0572-0
Polish: Bilion dolarów , transferred by Joanna Filipek. (Solaris, Stawiguda) ISBN 83-89951-11-8
Dutch: De erfenis van Fontanelli , transferred from Jolanda te Lindert. (Karakter Uitgevers) ISBN 90-611-2014-4

radio play

One trillion dollars , a SWR production directed by Leonhard Koppelmann . Music: Henrik Albrecht , with Andreas Pietschmann (John Fontanelli and narrator) and Felix von Manteuffel (McCaine). Playing time 243 minutes in 35 tracks on 4 CDs ( ISBN 3-7857-1316-9 ) or 4 MCs ( ISBN 3-7857-1315-0 ). Released in 2008 by Bastei Lübbe under ISBN 978-3-404-77318-3 .

Some key events do not occur in the radio play. John's realization that money doesn't work is only mentioned briefly; there is no visit to an impoverished Filipino fishing village. Lorenzo's discovery of the multiplication of wealth by founding a bank is completely left out.

Audio book

In 2009, the German Central Library for the Blind in Leipzig published an unabridged audio book. Running time 28 hours 53 minutes on 2 CDs. AG ID: 1-0052253-3-8