Chapter 10 - The valuation sabotage plan
The central secret was not that Ethan wanted to destroy my company.
He wanted to damage it just enough to buy into it cheaply.
His plan depended on something called a valuation adjustment.
Cross Meridian’s preliminary term sheet contained a clause allowing price renegotiation if Vale experienced:
Material client losses.
Major reputational events.
Systemic technology failures.
Regulatory problems.
Before closing.
Normal deal protection.
Ethan saw opportunity.
He believed he could manufacture several controlled failures that looked like:
Ordinary software defects.
No injuries.
No occupied homes targeted.
No catastrophic theft.
Just enough bad publicity to make investors nervous.
Then Cross Meridian could argue:
Vale’s technology risk had been understated.
Reduce valuation.
Increase Cross’s ownership percentage for the same investment.
Ethan estimated privately that every 10% valuation reduction could increase his family’s economic upside by tens of millions over time.
Did Cross Meridian’s board approve this?
No.
Did Ethan’s father?
Evidence eventually showed:
No.
This was Ethan.
Colin.
And two outside operators.
The first two breaches were deliberately staged.
The stolen property was real.
But the targets had been selected because:
Owners were away.
Insurance coverage was high.
Access routes were predictable.
Ethan convinced himself:
Nobody gets hurt.
Insurance pays.
Vale looks incompetent.
Cross buys cheap.
Then third failure.
The one Lily overheard.
It was supposed to happen at a high-profile charity gala protected by Vale.
Not that night.
Four days later.
A credential would allow unauthorized entry into a restricted service corridor.
Someone would photograph access.
Leak footage.
No theft planned.
Just humiliation.
The video could trigger media coverage before the board met to approve Cross Meridian’s investment.
Lily accidentally recorded Ethan discussing final timing with Colin.
When she refused to surrender the phone, Ethan panicked.
He was not beating her because she “defied” him in some ordinary household dispute.
May you like
He was trying to destroy evidence of a multimillion-dollar valuation sabotage scheme.
And he chose an eight-year-old as the easiest witness to frighten.
