Constant visits the Magnum Opus company’s Los Angeles headquarters and meets the company president, Ransom K. Fern. Constant is surprised to find that his office is filled with floating furniture that is "suspended magnetically at the proper height" (34). The "exceedingly thin" (35) Fern is an avid reader and smarter than both Malachi and Noel Constant, but lacks their extraordinary luck. Yet in recent months, Constant's decisions have been remarkably unlucky—he has now lost the huge fortune that his father built. Magnum Opus is set to close as a company and the entire staff has been let go. The company "is no more" (36).

The narrative then shifts to provide the backstory of the family company. Noel Constant founded Magnum Opus after a lifetime of failure. He was an ugly man, the son of an anarchist, and someone who seemed to possess no redeeming qualities. While on holiday as a travelling salesman at the age of 39, he chanced upon a Bible. He decided to invest a recent inheritance in the stock market, choosing companies based on their initials and how these corresponded to the letters in the opening sentence of the Bible. Much to Noel's surprise, the method worked and he picked "the stock market's most brilliant performers days or hours before their performances began" (37).