William Earle (Earth-6531)

"What makes you think you can decide who's running Wayne Enterprises"

- - William Earle

William "Bill" Earle was the CEO of Wayne Enterprises following the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne.

Early Life
Bill Earle served as one of the executives of Wayne Enterprises before the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne at the hands of Joe Chill.

At the couple's funeral in Wayne Manor, Earle approached the young Bruce Wayne, stating his parents' company would be in his hands in the near future. Following Bruce's disappearance, Bill assumed his death, and planned for WENT go public, with only the fact that Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce's foster father and family butler, possessed majority of the company's shareholding.

Bruce's Return
"You're out, didn't you get the memo?"

- - Bill Earle to Lucius Fox

When Bruce was revealed to be alive and returned to Gotham, Bill showed happiness, certain that he would be able to control the young billionaire and convince him that his business plan was effective and better for the Wayne legacy. When Bruce went to the Wayne Tower to talk with Earle, he happily granted Wayne a job at WENT'S Applied Sciences Unit under Lucius Fox.

Termination
However, later on, Bill demoted and fired Lucius from the company after discovering that he was looking through classified WENT technology designed for the United States Army. After succesfully converting WENT to public, he assumed the role of CEO, and made all necessary attempts to focus on selling weapons to the government ever since Stark Industries stopped producing them. However, in the end, Bruce was able to fire Earle after having bought Wayne Enterprises again after buying shares via roundabout means, and put Fox at his place.