Benji Barnes

Benji Barnes is a self-made tech billionaire who earned the nickname Data Center King by building a vast network of data centers and cloud infrastructure that powers much of digital commerce and media. His companies became indispensable to e-commerce, social media, and digital advertising, giving him immense leverage over industries like fashion publishing. He enters the story already at the peak of his success, with his wealth and influence making him a quiet but powerful force behind media consolidation. [edit]

Benji is charismatic, confident, and status-conscious, comfortable in boardrooms and private jets. However, he is also condescending and transactional, viewing creative work as content to be optimized rather than art. He treats decisions as numbers in a spreadsheet, showing emotional detachment and a blasé attitude toward mass layoffs. His tech-bro arrogance leads him to dismiss legacy industries and believe he can fix them with data-driven logic. [edit]