Marc Rich: A Life of Fortune and Forgiveness

Marc Rich was a commodities trader and businessman who built a vast fortune through his company Glencore. He was born in 1934 in Antwerp, Belgium.

Rich's business career began in the 1950s, working for his father's company. He eventually started his own trading company, Marc Rich & Co. AG, in 1974.

Rich made his fortune by trading commodities such as oil, metals, and grains, often taking on high-risk trades that paid off.

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Marc Rich was born in 1934 to a Jewish family in Antwerp, Belgium. He had a fascinating early life that would shape his future.

His parents emigrated to the United States in 1941 to escape the Nazis, traveling through Vichy France, Spain, Portugal, and the liner Serpa Pinto. This escape marked a significant turning point in Rich's life.

Rich's father opened a jewelry store in Kansas City, Missouri, before moving the family to Queens, New York City in 1950. He then started a business importing Bengal jute to make burlap bags and later traded agricultural products.

Rich attended high school at the Rhodes Preparatory School in Manhattan, and later attended New York University for one semester. However, he dropped out to work for Philipp Brothers in 1954.

Rich's early life laid the groundwork for his future business ventures, which would eventually make him a billionaire.

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Marc Rich's business career was marked by his ability to navigate complex international markets and relationships. He eventually became a dealer in metals at Philipp Brothers, learning about the international raw materials markets and commercial trading with poor, third world nations.

Rich's work at Philipp Brothers gave him the opportunity to develop relationships with various dictatorial regimes and embargoed nations. He made his "most important and most profitable" business deals by violating international trade embargoes and doing business with the apartheid regime of South Africa.

He also serviced clients such as Fidel Castro's Cuba, Marxist Angola, the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, Muammar Gaddafi's Libya, Nicolae Ceaușescu's Romania, and Augusto Pinochet's Chile. Rich had no regrets about these deals, viewing himself as a businessman, not a politician.

Rich's key insight was that oil – and other raw materials – could be traded with less capital, and fewer assets, than the big oil producers thought, if backed by bank finance. This leveraged business model became the template for modern traders, including Trafigura, Vitol, and Glencore.

Following the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, during the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Rich used his special relationship with Ayatollah Khomeini to buy oil from Iran despite the American embargo.

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In 1983, Marc Rich was indicted on 65 counts of tax evasion and other charges related to his oil trading business.

Marc Rich was accused of evading over $48 million in taxes between 1966 and 1983.

The indictment also alleged that Rich had made secret payments to officials in Iran and other countries to secure business deals.

In 1984, Rich fled to Switzerland to avoid prosecution, where he was granted asylum.

The U.S. government dropped the charges against Rich in 2001, after he had paid a $150 million settlement to the government.

Marc Rich was granted a pardon by President Bill Clinton in 2001, just before Clinton left office.

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Marc Rich was a strong supporter of Israel throughout his life, donating around $150 million to various institutions and causes.

He helped with the compensation to the families of the Israeli victims of the Ras Burqa massacre in the Sinai in 1985.

Rich contributed tens of millions of dollars for the absorption of Jewish immigrants from Ethiopia and Russia.

He also contributed to Project Discovery and founded the museum wing for Israeli and international art in the name of his daughter Gabriela.

The museum wing was established to honor his daughter, who had passed away.

Rich contributed to the establishment of the new building of the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, which was named the "Marc Rich Israeli Cinema Center".

He also established the main library at IDC Herzliya University, which bears his name.

Rich was an advocate for coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians, establishing health and education programs in the West Bank and Gaza.

He made annual contributions to the President's Conference.

The Rich Foundation, one of the largest funds operating in Israel, was established by Avner Azulay with help from Rich's ex-wife Denise and business partners Elka Acle and Pincus Green.

The fund has invested more than $135 million in the last two decades, contributing to various causes such as culture, education, and health programs.

The Rich Foundation has supported institutions like Tel Aviv University, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Cinematheque in Tel Aviv.

It has also contributed to the construction of the Bioengineering building at Bar Ilan University.

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Marc Rich's personal life was marked by significant events. He married Denise Eisenberg in 1966, and they had three children together.

Their daughter Gabrielle died of leukemia at age 27 in 1996. This loss must have been devastating for the family. Rich and Denise divorced the same year.

He then married Gisela Rossi, but that marriage also ended in divorce in 2005. Rich had a strong desire for privacy, which led him to reside in a secluded house called "La villa rose" in Meggen, Switzerland.

He owned properties in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Marbella, Spain, and was an avid art collector. Friends reported that his home was filled with works by Renoirs, Monets, and Picassos.

Rich's life came to an end on June 26, 2013, when he passed away from a stroke at a Lucerne hospital. He was 78 years old at the time of his death.

The reception of Marc Rich's story was quite varied, with some critics praising the book as a "must-read" and a "journalistic coup". Bloomberg named the book one of the best business books of the year.

The book was also called a "thriller" by Le Monde, highlighting its engaging and suspenseful nature. A reviewer from The New York Times praised Mr. Rich for giving an extensive account of his oil trading.

However, not all reviews were positive, with a reviewer from Kirkus Reviews calling the biography "flawed" and revealing more about societal ignorance and ethical dilemmas than the subject himself.

Marc Rich was a shrewd businessman who built a vast fortune in the commodities market.

He started his career at Philipp Brothers, where he learned about international raw materials markets and commercial trading with developing nations. He eventually became a dealer in metals and helped run the company's operations in Cuba, Bolivia, and Spain.

Rich's tutelage under Philipp Brothers allowed him to develop relationships with various dictatorial regimes and embargoed nations. He made his "most important and most profitable" business deals by violating international trade embargoes and doing business with the apartheid regime of South Africa.

He also counted Fidel Castro's Cuba, Marxist Angola, the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, Muammar Gaddafi's Libya, Nicolae Ceaușescu's Romania, and Augusto Pinochet's Chile among his clients. Rich had no regrets about his business dealings, saying "I deliver a service. People want to sell oil to me and other people wanted to buy oil from me. I am a businessman, not a politician."

In 1974, Rich and co-worker Pincus Green set up their own company in Switzerland, Marc Rich + Co. AG, which would later become Glencore Xstrata Plc. Rich's key insight was that oil – and other raw materials – could be traded with less capital, and fewer assets, than the big oil producers thought, if backed by bank finance.

This leveraged business model became the template for modern traders, including Trafigura, Vitol, and Glencore. Rich's company, Marc Rich + Co. AG, actively traded with various countries, including Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini, Cuba, Nigeria under dictator Sani Abacha, China, and the Soviet Union.

Rich's company also traded with Russia, and he used his relationship with Ayatollah Khomeini to buy oil from Iran despite the American embargo. He sold Iranian oil to Israel through a secret pipeline and helped give Mossad's agents contacts in Iran.

In 1981, Rich and Marvin Davis bought 20th Century Fox, but Rich's assets, including his holding in the company, were frozen due to an indictment filed against him for violating U.S. trade sanctions against his deals with Iran.

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