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Product Description
Product 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 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. It sheds stunning new light on one of the most controversial international businessmen of all time.
About the Author
Daniel Ammann is business editor of the highly regarded Swiss weekly “Die Weltwoche”. He was educated at Zurich University, UC Berkeley and Fondation Postuniversitaire Internationale in Paris. In 2007 he won the Georg von Holtzbrinck Prize for Business Journalism.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is excellent. The narrative is clearly structured, relatively balanced in its tone and seems well researched. The book is well organized with chapters corresponding to each significant period or development in Rich's career. The access afforded to the author is clearly extensive; the quality and quantity of original sources, including interviews with Rich himself is impressive.
The central narrative is a classic American immigrant success story. Rich joins Phibro in the mail room, works his way up to run an office, becomes frustrated with the conservatism and short-termism of the firm, then leaves with a few partners to set up the firm (Marc Rich & Co. AG, latterly Glencore International AG) that will come to dominate the industry. The essential story is that of success of enormous proportions created by talent, hard work and a willingness to deal outside the usual channels of trade. Rich's long term perspective, and skill in building and maintaining relationships are identified as key factors in his success.
An under-current of amorality, rather than immorality, is acknowledged throughout the book. In interviews Rich appeals to the neutrality of commerce, leaving political judgments, such as which nation to trade with, outside his domain. Rich's personality never dominates, but comes through consistently. Over the course of the book you get a reasonably complete impression of the outer man. Rich's inner doubts and motivations emerge only fleetingly at key moments in his career; a probable consequence both of his reserved nature, and the time that had passed between the key events of his life and the interviews with him.
The tax evasion case brought by the US authorities occupies a large chunk of the book. The detail is well presented, and the arguments explored in a reasonably balanced way. The author does eventually reach a conclusion: That the prosecution was highly disproportionate, and the offense committed, if any relatively minor. Rich's alleged involvement with Mossad, and the campaign finance allegations raised in relation to his presidential pardon are also addressed in this section. The book concludes with an account of Rich's unfortunate second marriage, the 'coup' that ousted him and created Glencore, and his relatively(!) quiet life since then.
So far, so satisfying. The story is essentially positive, and the major questions over Rich's conduct seem to have been addressed. But... Having finished this book, I met by chance a friend who had dealt with some Rich-controlled companies in the metals business. The picture he painted of the business conduct of Rich's organisation could not be more different from the cute and cuddly, long term value orientated picture painted by this book. Which is the more true I do not know, but that conversation crystalised the doubts I had felt about the author's rosy view, and particularly his very heavy reliance on sources within the Rich / Glencore axis. When one looks at the extremely questionable business practices of some of Rich's disciples at Trafigura, it is hard to believe that his organisation shared none of their vices.
In summary, this is a good book, it is also an interesting story, but I don't think that it is the whole story.
The central narrative is a classic American immigrant success story. Rich joins Phibro in the mail room, works his way up to run an office, becomes frustrated with the conservatism and short-termism of the firm, then leaves with a few partners to set up the firm (Marc Rich & Co. AG, latterly Glencore International AG) that will come to dominate the industry. The essential story is that of success of enormous proportions created by talent, hard work and a willingness to deal outside the usual channels of trade. Rich's long term perspective, and skill in building and maintaining relationships are identified as key factors in his success.
An under-current of amorality, rather than immorality, is acknowledged throughout the book. In interviews Rich appeals to the neutrality of commerce, leaving political judgments, such as which nation to trade with, outside his domain. Rich's personality never dominates, but comes through consistently. Over the course of the book you get a reasonably complete impression of the outer man. Rich's inner doubts and motivations emerge only fleetingly at key moments in his career; a probable consequence both of his reserved nature, and the time that had passed between the key events of his life and the interviews with him.
The tax evasion case brought by the US authorities occupies a large chunk of the book. The detail is well presented, and the arguments explored in a reasonably balanced way. The author does eventually reach a conclusion: That the prosecution was highly disproportionate, and the offense committed, if any relatively minor. Rich's alleged involvement with Mossad, and the campaign finance allegations raised in relation to his presidential pardon are also addressed in this section. The book concludes with an account of Rich's unfortunate second marriage, the 'coup' that ousted him and created Glencore, and his relatively(!) quiet life since then.
So far, so satisfying. The story is essentially positive, and the major questions over Rich's conduct seem to have been addressed. But... Having finished this book, I met by chance a friend who had dealt with some Rich-controlled companies in the metals business. The picture he painted of the business conduct of Rich's organisation could not be more different from the cute and cuddly, long term value orientated picture painted by this book. Which is the more true I do not know, but that conversation crystalised the doubts I had felt about the author's rosy view, and particularly his very heavy reliance on sources within the Rich / Glencore axis. When one looks at the extremely questionable business practices of some of Rich's disciples at Trafigura, it is hard to believe that his organisation shared none of their vices.
In summary, this is a good book, it is also an interesting story, but I don't think that it is the whole story.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
At last we move on from the dated Craig Copetas book written way back in 1985 (Metal Men: Marc Rich and the 10-Billion-Dollar Scam). Copetas's sensationalist work of part-fact/mostly-fiction has framed the discussion on Marc Rich for far too long. Daniel Ammann has done his homework and produced an eminently readible and balanced piece of work which allows Marc Rich to present his own case (through a series of interviews), while at the same time presenting other view points out there on this controversial man. The most interesting parts of this book are the incredible story about how Rich went about accumulating his more than $1USbn fortune (a lasting testament to his single-mined trading brilliance), his views on the morality of dealing with some of the most evil regimes on this planet (the most controversial part of this book is Marc Rich's assertion that business and politics don't mix ("business is neutral") which is debateable to say the least but what is amazing is how Marc Rich was able to do business with regimes of any colour including pre- and post-revolutionary Cuba, the Shah of Iran and Iron after the revolution, apartheid South Africa and the ANC!), and the reasons behind his pardon by former US President Bill Clinton (mainly due to the recognition by Clinton and his team that the original case against Rich was based mainly on politics (the book highlights how bad a US president Rudolph Giuliani would have made!)). A great book to read even for those who know nothing about the commodities business, but a wonderful book for those with some knowledge of the business.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This was one of my favourite books of 2009. At last someone could meet Marc Rich and get more than monosyllables out of him. This book is very well researched and I congratulate the author for his tenacity in explaining to other people what oil trading is all about. Not only that, we learn that Marc Rich's ex-wife was perhaps not, as previously widely reported, the sole individual who helped gain a last-minute pardon from Bill Clinton. Some Israeli friends seemed to have helped a lot too.
I'm still not sure whether Marc Rich is a saint or a sinner. But, after reading this book, you have to admit, he's a very clever man and extremely astute when it comes to business.
As for Bill Clinton, I can imagine that last-minute pardon still seems a mystery to most people.
Marc Rich says he will never return to the United States for a visit, just in case he's arrested, for example, for a minor parking offence. Does that mean he doesn't really believe too much in that presidential pardon?
You have written a very entertaining book, Daniel Ammann.
I'm still not sure whether Marc Rich is a saint or a sinner. But, after reading this book, you have to admit, he's a very clever man and extremely astute when it comes to business.
As for Bill Clinton, I can imagine that last-minute pardon still seems a mystery to most people.
Marc Rich says he will never return to the United States for a visit, just in case he's arrested, for example, for a minor parking offence. Does that mean he doesn't really believe too much in that presidential pardon?
You have written a very entertaining book, Daniel Ammann.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Recommended to international traders
This book is well written and well researched, with 14 pages of notes.
It's focused on two main subjects: how Marc Rich founded the largest commodities trading business in the... Read more
It's focused on two main subjects: how Marc Rich founded the largest commodities trading business in the... Read more
Published 2 months ago by GUY'S BOOKS
Fantastic read
I read this book in a day. Gripping stuff, loved it, if your a trader or ever wanted to be, its a book you won't put down.
Published 3 months ago by Big Jase
Recommended read
This is a very interesting book. It is an easy-to-digest quick read. It clearly documents Rich's early life, business success, and criminal indictments. Read more
Published 7 months ago by P. Wheeler
A great read !
The book lived up to high expectations. A biography combining the life of a character that that changed the nature of oil trading, global upheaval during the 1970's, wealth,... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Livermore
The King's portrait
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, the author has clearly researched Marc Rich's life in depth. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Magic Marc
A Fascinating Story
Simon Ammann has written a gripping and interesting book about Marc Rich`s incredible life. The story is well organised and easy to read. Read more
Published 13 months ago by lagouge
Good Subject , badly writen
A great book ( could have been ). The story is great and interesting, but the author some how decided that in every 5 to 10 pages tell you the out come!!! Read more
Published 15 months ago by Shahrokh Shahmir
Amazing Read !!!
Impartial look @ at a truely great mans life, conspiracy theory readers will love last chapters, every chapter is edge of seat reading covering his life from holocaust escape to... Read more
Published on 21 Dec 2009 by Phillip Wilson Lord
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