I have a feeling that the jarl would have had him killed sooner or later...
And damn am I tempted to go on a trading spree. All that money...
Hmm... I wonder if you can commit embezzlement on the storm coast trading guild...
Strictly speaking, you
can. They have a treasury to infiltrate, after all. It's just that they have power comparable to the Hansa or the East India Company at their height. Trying to embezzle the Guild is not for the faint hearted.
Plus land can be taken a lot easier from you than businesses, that and you also have to get more land to make a bigger profit, which will get the attention of nations. Not always a good thing...
Technically speaking, businesses can be taken from you by an invading army that captures the town those businesses are located in and
doesn't respect ownership rights. Businesses aren't immune from seizure in war, it's just that most invading armies would rather tax you than try to take it over.
Speaking of which, rule clarification. You can only operate one business. You can operate as many branches of that business as you want, but you're essentially confined to either the Industrial, Commercial or Service sector once you start (short of wiping out your business and changing sector - I'd let new businesses do a sector change for free if they made a mistake, but established ones would have costs associated). This is just to prevent one player owning a megacorporation that can do
everything.
It should take at least three players for that.