[ WP ] One of the largest corporations on the planet , that has existed for 500 years , has an immortal man as the founder and CEO . He is the only immortal to ever exist , and this information has been public knowledge for so long that it is just an accepted fact .

The plastic coffee cup started getting uncomfortably warm in Alex hand, making her adjust her grip a little in some vain effort to take some heat off the palm of her hand. Taking a quick sip from the steaming hot coffee, she looked up at the red digits that counted the floors the elevator rushed past before her green eyes shot swiftly to her left, checking her reflection for anything amiss. Having passed her own inspection, Alex took deep breaths as the elevator slid into a stop and the little bell inside rang its ever familiar cold dinging sound just before the piano black doors glided aside. 
 
 `` Ms. Denton? He's waiting for you in his office right ahead.'' The ginger haired secretary told Alex the moment she was within earshot. 
 
 From the elevator there were n't that many options of where to go. There was a door leading to the stairway on the right hand side and the left hand side was nothing but shiny glass windows from floor to roof. Giving the secretary a quick if not slightly stiff smile, Alex walked down the hall and nudged one of the double doors open with her left shoulder. Not really a great way to make an entrance, but with her hands filled with coffee cup and laptop, Alex's options were limited. 
 
 The office she entered was bright and dominated by a pale color palette from the floor, walls and ceiling. A minimalistic glass desk with cold metallic legs rested on a coal black carpet with a dark grey office chair sitting behind it. A muffled thud came from the door as it closed behind Alex, catching the attention of the man who'd been standing by the glass wall looking through a telescope. 
 
 `` Alex Denton I take it?'' The man asked, straightening himself as he approached Alex with an open handshake and a polite smile. 
 
 `` Th-thank you for ha... I mean, yes. It's a pleasure Mr. Shen.'' Alex fumbled with her words as she barely managed to keep her coffee from spilling over while returning the handshake with her laptop tucked in under her arm. 
 
 `` Relax, I do n't bite.'' Mr. Shen said with a soft, disarming laugh. `` Please, have a seat.'' 
 
 After taking her seat and getting set up with her laptop, Alex was ready as she'd ever be to do the special interview of Wei Shen; the worlds only immortal. In the celebration of his supposedly 500th birthday the illusive and mysterious Wei Shen had offered a full 90 minute long interview to a student of School of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Usually interviews of this caliber is handled by seasoned veterans, but when you have enough money to buy a continent and a world sea, you tend to get things your way. 
 
 `` So, lets start from the beginning Mr Shen.'' Alex started before helping herself with a solid mouthful of coffee. `` Where did it all begin?'' 
 
 `` On September 13 or 14, 1515, near the town today called Melegnano, 16 km southeast of Milan.'' Mr Shen said, taking a seat behind his glass desk. `` I died, for the lack of a better term, for the first time at the Battle of Marignano.'' 
 
 From there the tale of Wei Shen's life spun out along familiar and well known facts. He traveled away from the war and managed to meet Leonardo Da Vinci, who taught him as much as he could in the last years of his life. While biding his time to master the things he'd been taught by Leonardo, Wei traveled Europe and fought various battles as a mercenary as means to earn some money. 
 
 The capital he raised was spent traveling to the new world on the other side of the Atlantic, where he spent decades to lay the foundation of what would later be the largest fortune known to man. With the near unlimited potential of the new world, Wei managed to dip his finger into a lot of success stories. He played nearly every angle and every war from the 1650s to the 1730s, later known as the golden age of piracy. While he did have his fair share of losses and deaths, looking back at it from a long term perspective, Wei Shen managed to gain far more than he ever lost. 
 
 `` What about 1776? Can you tell me about the deceleration of independence?'' Alex asked, her fingers finally finding a moments rest on her keyboard. 
 
 `` What is there to say? It's a well documented event. I never cared much for Mr Franklin's sense of humor though and I still felt uncomfortable on land after spending so many years on various boats.'' Mr Shen frowned, making a face as if he was focusing on some distant memory. 
 
 `` Is it true you supported George Washington financially?'' Alex pressed. 
 
 `` Those rumors are still floating around?'' Mr Shen asked, looking at Alex with a mixture of bewilderment and surprise. `` I never gave George a dime, though I did slip more than a coin or two to some of the men in his ranks that were grumbling louder than most.'' 
 
 `` You could have been caught and the colonists could have lost the war. Did n't these risks bother you?'' Alex read up her next question with her eyes glowing with fascination. 
 
 `` By then I've been shot, stabbed, cut, hanged, drowned, left on a island no larger than this office and burned alive. You grow numb to these things after a while.'' Mr Shen replied, waving away the consequences of capture with a gesture of his hand. `` Besides change was in the air, massive change. The age old system of Europe would be challenged. I just could n't let it slide.'' 
 
 Once America was considered safe and its independence secured beyond a shadow of a doubt, Wei focused his efforts in contributing to building the new nation and conquering the new land. It was a challenge he welcomed with open arms and did n't really stop until until 1929. When pressed for why he stopped and left, Mr Shen gave no answer, though at this point his position in the world was well known. Mr Shen left America on October 24, 1929 and the effects on the stock market was immediate and devastating. 
 
 Conspiracy theorists say that Mr Shen had a falling out with the US government, or that wanted to make massive profits off the stock market or that he simply did it because he could. The truth will probably never be known, but either way Wei Shen never really sat foot back on US soil. Instead he moved to Hong Kong and settled in with his current identity, making Hong Kong the base and headquarters of all of his operations. 
 
 His fortune grew at an accelerated rate thanks to World War II yet he managed to remain largely neutral during the Cold War that followed. Some say it was simply because Wei Shen demanded to be left out of it and that even the combined financial, economical and military might of the Soviet Union and USA could not best him. Others claimed that President Kennedy pressed Mr Shen a little too hard or managed to get some dirt on him, which resulted in his assassination. 
 
 `` Even as an immortal, I refuse to spend my time running around silencing stupid rumors that have little, if any foothold in reality.'' Mr Shen replied with a shrug, though subtle hints in his body language betrayed his annoyance regarding the topic. 
 
 Other speculations that were also labeled baseless by Mr Shen were his involvement in the Japanese asset price bubble in 1986 and the subsequent the lost decade that started during 1991. 
 
 `` What about your contributions to the digital age, Mr Shen?'' Alex asked, realizing that their time was nearly up and she still have n't gotten to the questions closest related to the present, let alone his future plans. 
 
 `` I taught Bill Gates and Steve Jobs a thing or two about business as well as giving them a running start financially, suspecting that their expertise in this new field would come in handy later down the line.'' Mr Shen said, rocking slowly back and forth in his chair. `` Damn shame those two would n't work together. Oh well, they were both rather successful proteges of mine if I may say so myself.'' 
 
 `` You've pulled back from the public spotlight for the last 8 years, leaving your latest protege, Elon Musk, more or less alone in the international spotlight. Why is that, if I may ask?'' Alex asked, feeling claustrophobic against the disappearing minutes. 
 
 Mr Shen fell silent for a moment, tapping his fingers absentmindedly on his desk. Rising from his chair, Mr Shen walked around the desk before resting on its edge. The childlike enthusiasm Alex had seen in his eyes as he'd talked about raiding Spanish ships in the Caribbean were long gone. It was as if a thick fog of a heavy emotional weight had snuffed it all away. This might be it; the new thing Mr Shen wishes to get off his chest as up until now they'd covered familiar history. 
 
 `` My wife died recently.'' He started. `` She died at the age of 98, high fever and according to the doctors, her body could n't take it.'' 
 
 `` Mr Shen... I-I did n't mean any- I'm so sorry for your loss.'' Alex felt the shifting mood of the room bogging her down. 
 
 `` My wife's family, they'd been in my service all their life.'' He carried on, not really bothered by Alex's clumsy apology. `` I've known her since she was... oh... 8 years old? Her parents died, like all men do. All except me apparently.'' 
 
 `` How was your marriage?'' This was not a question on Alex's list, it was simply her own curiosity that got the better of her. 
 
 `` Good. The sex was fantastic! I have n't been screwed like that since the early 1600's.'' Mr Shen chuckled, though his laugh and smile seemed hollow and empty. `` In the end though, she faded away from me. I decided to leave, take a break if you will. To tend to her myself. You know, until death do us part and all that jazz.'' 
 
 When the alarm on Mr Shen's smartphone rang out loud, saying in its own angry bleeping way that the interview was over, Alex jolted in her seat, almost dropping the laptop out of her lap. Thanking Mr Shen for his time and this once in a life time opportunity, Alex packed up her belongings after triple checking that the interview file was saved properly. 
 
 `` What plans do you have for the future, Mr Shen?'' Alex asked as the two of them rode the elevator down to the ground floor. 
 
 `` Africa I think.'' Mr Shen said. `` It's been a while since I reshaped a continent.''
