Marlon Newton
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Marlon Newton was a famous inventor in the 1920s and 1930s. He is credited with the idea of Kedalfax's Public Work Program, which constructed many of Kedalfax's then-advanced structures, including the Newton Canal and the Rosendale subway system. He is also known for making the first sketches for a massive 54 km bridge-tunnel crossing the Straits of Neverford.
Life
Marlon Newton was born on September 1, 1902 to a middle-class family in Deerford. He had a sister, Elizabeth, and a brother, Mark. He attended public school, where he acceded in math and science. He was awarded a partial scholarship to Sempter State University. After graduating in 1924, he purchased a small number of shares in the Cremmel Motor Corp.. The success of that stock encouraged him to buy into many other companies. He sank the majority of his family's worth into the stock market. By 1928, he had stocks in the Kedalfax National Flight Corporation, First Kedalfax Bank, and others totaling over $200 million of today's US dollars in worth.
In late 1928, his mother convinced him to give the family back what he had borrowed, and to take some of his money out of the market. Within a year, the market began to fail. Due to his mother's advice, Newton was able to maintain a good portion of his money. He half-heartedly supported his family through the depression, barely giving them enough to get by.
In 1931, he suggested that the Kedalfaxian government give work to some of the unemployed people by beginning work on the South Canal in Simtropolis. As this project got underway, he suggested expansion of the same idea to other projects, including subway systems in some of the nation's cities.
In 1940, he made a personal loan to his college friend, James Devinson, so that he could found the Devinson Aircraft Corporation. In 1943, he decided to purchase part of the company to help Devinson pay off some of Devindon's debt. Devinson agreed. From 1943 until 1947, when the company had its IPO, the company was owned 50/50 by Devinson and Newton. In 1954, Newton sold his stock. The next year, an act was passed that disallowed companies from making a prophet off of war sales. This act dropped Devinson's stock prices tremendously, due to its large military aircraft division. After this stroke of luck, people started following Newton's investment patterns very closely, trying to make as much money as he had. Newton became a very powerful force in the investment world. Whenever he bought stocks from a company, the company's stocks became very desired, and so prices reliably increased. When he sold, they became less desired, and their prices reliably decreased. After realizing this, Newton began buying large amounts of a myriad of different stocks. The prices increased, and he became among the richest people in Kedalfax.
In 1960, Newton stopped his winning streak. Newton's mother became very sick. He sold off vast amounts of stock to pay for her care, causing a small recession in the economy. The Stock Exchange Committee realized that his selling was hurting the economy, and told Newton not to sell any more stock. Newton was forced to use his own money to pay for his mother's care. When she died in 1961, Newton was in debt for very large amounts of money, but held huge amounts of stock.
In 1963, he was able to convince the SEC to let him quietly trade some of his stock with the banks to pay off some of his loans. The trading was done in a basement in the Rosendale headquarters of First Kedalfax Bank. That same year, his nephew, Marlon Keegan, was born.
Keegan died on October 29th 1969, exactly 40 years after the date of the New York Stock Exchange crash. He died of a heart attack in his home.
Trivia
- Marlon Keegan, the first General Secretary of the IDU Council, is named after Marlon Newton, and is his grandnephew.
- The town of Newton in the Deerford area is named after Marlon Newton.
