It happens that I know an astonishingly wealthy individual. He is extremely publicity shy. However, he is aging, one of his life long friends died recently.
I used his 'spare apartment' on 5th Avenue when I was in NYC recently and the subject of my friends 'life story' came up in discussion with his eldest son. It was more than a discussion, I was sounded out about how I might approach the task.
There is a photograph in his apartment showing my friend with Bill Clinton, Jackie Chan, Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood. His life story, the people he knows, his origins, and his philanthropy would make compelling reading. I received an e-mail from my friend this morning requesting we meet next time I'm in London.
I have no idea where this might lead, he's the kind of guy who trusts family (I'm related) to do things for him rather than appoint outsiders; I'm one of the very few members of the extended family who has never worked with him. We had a problem at the time he was divorcing his first wife, she took up with a young architect I employed, my friend wasn't best pleased since in his culture, divorce doesn't necessarily mean the end of a relationship. I've lost count of the number of times his first wife tried to top herself, it's taken her twenty years to recover a degree of normality.
There is a catch to writing his life story, his personal life borders on the insane. By that I mean this is a guy who took his mistress on his honeymoon, as well as his wife. The two women were on seperate floors. His daughter by his mistress only discovered last year he was her father, despite eventually marrying 'the mistress' four years ago (she is wife number four). He has seven offspring, that I know about, three of whom might be classified as mentally disabled due to the psychological trauma they suffered as children.
He has set up his older offspring to compete with one another - bestowing each with a $50million investment fund - to see which of them should inherit 'his empire'. The younger son from his first marriage came bottom in the first year of this trial, he only made $3million from investing on the stock exchange, a 6% return is way below expectation. His two sons hate him, yet he imprisons them by a life style they grew up with and from which it is very difficult to withdraw. As an outsider you can tell them to walk away; from their position they have nothing to walk away to, they can succeed by using his contacts and influence and feel worthless outside of their fathers sphere.
If you were asked, could you write his story omitting the salacious elements of his life?
I used his 'spare apartment' on 5th Avenue when I was in NYC recently and the subject of my friends 'life story' came up in discussion with his eldest son. It was more than a discussion, I was sounded out about how I might approach the task.
There is a photograph in his apartment showing my friend with Bill Clinton, Jackie Chan, Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood. His life story, the people he knows, his origins, and his philanthropy would make compelling reading. I received an e-mail from my friend this morning requesting we meet next time I'm in London.
I have no idea where this might lead, he's the kind of guy who trusts family (I'm related) to do things for him rather than appoint outsiders; I'm one of the very few members of the extended family who has never worked with him. We had a problem at the time he was divorcing his first wife, she took up with a young architect I employed, my friend wasn't best pleased since in his culture, divorce doesn't necessarily mean the end of a relationship. I've lost count of the number of times his first wife tried to top herself, it's taken her twenty years to recover a degree of normality.
There is a catch to writing his life story, his personal life borders on the insane. By that I mean this is a guy who took his mistress on his honeymoon, as well as his wife. The two women were on seperate floors. His daughter by his mistress only discovered last year he was her father, despite eventually marrying 'the mistress' four years ago (she is wife number four). He has seven offspring, that I know about, three of whom might be classified as mentally disabled due to the psychological trauma they suffered as children.
He has set up his older offspring to compete with one another - bestowing each with a $50million investment fund - to see which of them should inherit 'his empire'. The younger son from his first marriage came bottom in the first year of this trial, he only made $3million from investing on the stock exchange, a 6% return is way below expectation. His two sons hate him, yet he imprisons them by a life style they grew up with and from which it is very difficult to withdraw. As an outsider you can tell them to walk away; from their position they have nothing to walk away to, they can succeed by using his contacts and influence and feel worthless outside of their fathers sphere.
If you were asked, could you write his story omitting the salacious elements of his life?
