Alonso Tagan

Alonso Tagan was a Fanaglian industrialist and philanthropist. He was the founder of Fanaglian Central Textiles, which dominated the textiles, aerospace, and firearms industries and was the first great Fanaglian business trust. Tagan revolutionized the airship industry.

Tagan founded FCT as a consolidation of several individual, mutually beneficial companies he had run until his acquisition of Alans Hemp. As lighter-than-air travel increased in popularity and importance, Tagan's wealth soared, and he became one of the world's richest men and the first Fanaglian worth more than a billion krôms. Adjusting for inflation, he is often regarded as one of the richest people in history.

Tagan spent the last 30 years of his life investing to create the modern systematic approach of targeted philanthropy. He was able to do this through the creation of foundations that had a major effect on medicine, education, and scientific research. His foundations pioneered the development of medical research, and were instrumental in the eradication of smallpox. Tagan is also the founder of the Tagan College of Science and Technology.

=Beginnings with Tagan Machine Enterprises=

At the age of eighteen, Tagan began work for his father, Gustav Tagan, who ran Tagan Machine Enterprises, a successful company specializing in sewing machines and cotton gins. His father had wished for him to attend private university to further his studies before entering the workforce, but young Tagan was adamant that he could learn more from working for his father than he ever could from any professor.

Gustav started him as a factory floor supervisor before his talents clearly proved to be in the more business-oriented aspects of the company. He was promoted to deputy chairman in the spring of 1858.

Alonso was regarded and respected just as highly as his father until the latter's death from congestive heart failure just after his son's birthday in January of 1859, upon which time control of TME was granted to the younger man.

Despite his lack of experience, Young Tagan proved to be a natural when it came to his father's business, adopting an aggressive approach to dealings with other companies, such as Alans Hemp, and surrounding himself with the most cutthroat businessmen in the industry.

=Arvirar Aeronautics=

After seeing a demonstration of a prototype hot air balloon at a party hosted by King DiMarco of Fanaglia in 1864, Tagan's imagination was captured. He eagerly proposed to hire the balloon's designer, Monty Anderson, to produce balloons for him. Anderson accepted and began working on new designs straight away.

Arvirar Aeronautics was officially founded on 8 June, 1865, and began commercially producing balloons by the following autumn. The balloons, colloquially dubbed "guttersnipes", were a massive success. The huge profits, augmented by a very favorable deal with Alans Hemp for the canvas and rope needed for the balloons, meant Tagan could devote an entire division of AA to research. By the end of 1867, the first powered dirigibles became available to the public and to King DiMarco's military, later proving indispensable in the latter's quelling of uprisings by the unhappy Fanaglian populace.

Tagan Arms
Tagan Arms was created at the request of King DiMarco in 1868 with a significant investment from the Crown. With the success of Arvirar Aeronautics, Tagan's establishment of the AA Research Division, and the growing importance of Tagan's companies to the Crown, DiMarco saw in Alonso Tagan the perfect candidate to come up with new, innovative weapon designs to give him an even greater edge.

=Acquisition of Alans Hemp=

During the Great Coup in 1872, Alans Hemp was seized by the Crown for its importance and the treason of its chairperson, Lucy Alans, who had pledged allegiance to Princess Autumn's rebellion. Tagan refused to support the rebellion publicly, remaining in the good graces of the king, but began secretly supplying Libre Fanaglia with ships, weapons, and parts soon after all-out war had begun.

Once the war had been won by the rebels and control of Alans Hemp was returned to Miss Alans, she was promoted to Chief of the Fanaglian Department of Agriculture. Wishing to devote her full attention to her new office, she sold Alans Hemp to Alonso Tagan in December of 1874.

=Fanaglian Central Textiles=

(Main Article: Fanaglian Central Textiles)

Following his purchase of Alans Hemp, Tagan began a massive restructuring of his holdings. On Liberty Day, 1875, the parent company Fanaglian Central Texiles was created.

FCT is organized into several divisions, including the Aerospace Division, Fashion Division, Raw Textiles Division, Division of Tobacco and Cannabis Products, Independent Contracting Division, and, lastly, Tagan Arms, the firearms division.