Marc Rich
Marc Rich (1934-2013) was a leading global commodities trader.[1]
Contents
Early life
Rich was born Marcell David Reich in Antwerp, Belgium, on December 18 1934. His father, David, was a door-to-door salesman. During Second World War the family fled to America, opening a jewellery shop in Kansas City before moving to New York.[1]
Education
Rich was educated at Rhodes preparatory school in Manhattan and New York University, but dropped out to take a job with Philipp Bros.[1]
Phillip Bros
At the time Rich joined, Philipp Bros was the leading trader of industrial metals. He first came to prominence by buying up mercury to sell to vehicle battery makers supplying the US Army. By the late 1960s he was running Phillip Bros' Madrid office.[1]
In 1966, Rich married shoe-manufacturing heiress Denise Eisenberg.[1]
In the early 1970s, Rich pioneered the 'spot' market for oil. Contacts with the Iranian royal family enabled him to profit from the first oil shock in 1973.[1]
The following year, Rich left Philippe Bros over its conservative approach to trading and refusal to pay him what he thought he was worth.[1]
Independent commodities trader
Rich and two associates set up a commodities trading business based in Zug, Switzerland. They did business with a number of controversial regimes, including Apartheid South Africa, Rumania and Chile. Rich continued to trade with Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.[1]
In 1981, Rich bought a stake in Twentieth Century Fox which he later sold to Rupert Murdoch.[1]
in 1983, Rich was indicted by US Federal Prosecutor Rudy Guiliani, accused of evading taxes worth $48 million and trading illegally. He refused to return to the United States and was placed on the Justice Department's 'most wanted' list.[1]
Rich began a relationship with German-born widow Gisela Rossi in 1989.[1]
Rich reached a reported $200 million divorce settlement with his wife Denise in 1996.[1]
In 2000, Rich hired Washington lawyers to negotiate a settlement with the US Government, and they in turn approached his ex-wife, Denise, a Democratic donor. At a fundraiser in November 2000, she presented President Bill Clinton with a golden saxophone. she reportedly asked for a pardon at the subsequent White House farewell dinner.[1]
Clinton issued a pardon hours before leaving office in January 2001. He later said that the outstanding allegations had been civil rather than criminal matters, and that he had received please in Rich's support from the Israeli Government.[1]
External resources
- NameBase Marc Rich
