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tary, and Xtime CEO Lee, who was introduced as an adviser. As Richardson led the discussion, Ritter explained where things stood with the system. Bales talked about strategy. Shawn seemed happy but didn't act as if he was in charge. At first, Ritter resented the presence of Aydar, who seemed to share Ritter's mission of keeping the system running. But after the meeting, Aydar drove Ritter toward a hotel that Shin had booked him into, and Aydar was remarkably open.

Aydar was excited about Napster, and he told Ritter what he knew about what was happening behind the scenes. Most important, Aydar said that John Fanning was still calling the shots, albeit from thousands of miles away. The two stopped at a Denny's restaurant at 4 A.M. and began a friendship that would endure through everything that was to come. It occurred to Ritter that it didn't really matter who was nominally in charge of the company. He, Aydar, and Shawn were the technical leaders. If they grew unhappy enough to leave, there would be nothing left for the chiefs be in charge of. Ritter spoke to his boss at BindView and told him how torn he was, and his boss told him that if he turned down Napster, there would be other great opportunities ahead. But he added that if Ritter could make the critical difference at Napster, helping to turn it into something huge, he ought to try.

On Sunday, Ritter returned to work out a deal with Richardson. Ritter had one advantage: He had physical control of the server code, and he implied that he might not turn it over if he didn't get a decent amount of stock. Richardson left the room to talk to Amram on the phone and returned with an offer of options and a $97,000 salary, significantly more than Shawn, Parker, or even Richardson, who were each getting $60,000. Ritter accepted, quickly moving into a glamourless Residence Inn near the offices in San Mateo. After three months with grandmaster Dzindzichashvili, Shawn and Parker moved to the hotel as well.

As at most start-ups, stock and stock options were a major draw for many. As the first outsider to invest for equity, Amram had negotiated an especially good deal. He got 100 percent of a new class of Series A Senior Preferred stock, with special rights that would prove important years later. For those, he paid the company 20 cents apiece. Most of the other early employees and investors got Series A Junior Preferred stock. Amram got 1 million of those as well, direct from John Fanning, at the surprisingly