The King of Oil
The Secret Lives of Marc Rich
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4.4 • 97 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Billionaire oil trader Marc Rich for the first time talks at length about his private life (including his expensive divorce from wife Denise); his invention of the spot oil market, which made his fortune and changed the world economy; his lucrative and unpublicized dealings with Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran, Fidel Castro's Cuba, war-ravaged Angola, and apartheid South Africa; his quiet cooperation with the Israeli and U.S. governments (even after he was indicted for tax fraud by Rudy Guiliani) and near-comical attempts by U.S. officials to kidnap him illegally.
This sure-to-make-headlines book from Daniel Ammann is the first no-holds-barred biography of Rich, who was famously pardoned by Bill Clinton, and resurfaced in the news during the confirmation hearings of Attorney General Eric Holder. The King of Oil sheds stunning new light on one of the most controversial international businessmen of all time, charting Rich's rise from the Holocaust, which he fled as a young boy, to become the wealthiest and most powerful oil and commodities trader of the century. From his earliest trading days to the present, Marc Rich's story is astonishing and compelling.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An empathetic look at the notorious Marc Rich, one of the most successful and controversial commodities traders in recent history and a key figure in the invention of the spot market. With unparalleled access to Rich, his family and associates, business journalist Ammann paints a nuanced portrait of the man vilified for trading with Iran and apartheid-era South Africa, accused of being the biggest tax fraudster in U.S. history and recipient of an infamous presidential pardon. At the pinnacle of his power, Rich presided over a multinational empire, and his opinion on "key people in power" in various "rogue" nations was routinely, if clandestinely, sought by the State Department despite his criminal status. Rich has scrupulously guarded his personal history, but Ammann reveals the struggle it was from his family's escape from the Holocaust through their internment in a North African refugee camp to their bitter years as immigrants in the U.S. in the aftermath of WWII. This meticulous account sets the record straight on a reluctant public figure who lost in the court of public opinion, but escaped being tried in a court of law. Photos.
Customer Reviews
👌😃
Very good and people can learn a lot from this book 👍😄
Great Book, But iBook Version Misses Pictures
This book is great for anyone interested in the world of commodities trading, or someone who just wants to find out more about the man, Marc Rich. I've purchased the hardcover version for my business partner and gave my hardcover to an associate at Morgan S. I bought the iBook version for myself, but as I read noticed the picture pages in the middle of the hardcover were missing. In any other case this would be trivial, but considering Marc Rich was very elusive with regards to photos, aside from the book pictures you'd be pressed to find anything significant on the man.
Interesting enough
This was a good book but it seems that the author took it pretty easy on Marc Rich. Also it has a very partisan overtone.
It is hypocritical that Marc Rich prides himself in staying out of politics to justify the shady business relationships he has been involved in but then makes several political charged statements at toarwards the end of the book.
That said I would still recommend the book to anyone interested in trade or oil and gas. Interesting enough...