The Founder
The Founder is a person on the Irven-Cain Unlimited board of directors at a particular moment of time. However, more generally, it represents an eternal role in the bureaucracy and mythology of Irven-Cain—one that must always be occupied. Those who become the Founder assume the surname "Irven".
In the Irven-Cain bureaucracy, the Founder performs the duties of chief executive officer and spiritual leader of the corporation. They have a wide range of authority over the operations of the company, although their authority is checked by the other 15 members of the board. In practice, due to the size of Irven-Cain and its dominion, the board—and by extension, the Founder's responsabilities tend to focus more on the spiritual (their "fiduciary duty").
In The Way of Everything, the role of the Founder is occupied by Gale Irven following the death of Jerry Irven.