Salvor Hardin was the biggest business owner on Terminus and especially the media. He wasn't special by birth but by his mind. He believed "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." and saved the foundation through providing technological knowledge to the outer planets making the foundation invaluable and neutral to them. The outer 3 empires would each die to defend it's neutrality and keep it out of the hands of the other. Nothing is left of the plot at this point... Sun dials? They thrived on atomic energy, on fusion... in an area of the galaxy gone backward