Undue Influence: The Epic Battle for the Johnson & Johnson Fortune

by David Margolick

When 32-year-old Polish servant Basia Johnson married the 76-year-old Seward Johnson, Jr., heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, eyebrows were raised. When he died 12 years later, leaving his estate to Basia, the stage was set for an epic battle between Basia and Johnson's six children. Undue Influence is a dramatic tale of wealth, power, status, and greed. 32-page photo insert.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estate planning porn. Like an extended Vanity Fair article. In a good way. Irresistible for voyeurs of the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Loved it.

[Susan]

An amazing story of a dysfunctional over-the-top rich family and the attorneys who make their living from them. I couldn't put it down even though there wasn't a likable character in it. Seward Johnson's third wife came into his life when his second wife hired her as their cook. She was newly arrived from Poland and spoke little English. Margolick's well researched tome follows the third Mrs. Johnson's saga as eventually she has to spend millions of Mr. Johnson's money defending the will in which he left her hundreds of millions. The greedy children who were all wealthy in their own right due to trust funds Mr. Johnson had set up years earlier wanted more. Was the third Mrs. Johnson a mean, conniving gold digger or a loving wife who gave her husband a new lease on life in his latter years? It depends on who you ask!

[David Simonetti · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has it all - a rich messed up family, a gold digger and a messy will contest, not to mention highly paid lawyers from presitgioous law firms who are either stupid, arrogant or sleazy, particularly the well-known Milbank lawyer (Alex Forger) who is lionized as a saint by the NY elites, but was really a self-righteous dirt bag. It is a sad state of affairs that the most admirable person in the book is the gold digger, Bascha. Even better, this is a true story. You have to read this book.

[James CoeurdeFer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that is of interest for law-students who are considering trust & estates as a career option, but also a highly entertaining, amusing and very insightful book. It provides a rare and very detailed glimpse into an otherwise probably well hidden and discreetly handled realm of legal business. The plot has all the trappings of a juicy, racy and full-blooded Telenovela - a wealthy Playboy heir to a large fortune, a series of ex-wives with assorted children and a smart and ruthless gold digger girl with the iron will to climb the social ladder and escape poverty once and for all, a dose of sex, expensive lawyers from white-shoe law firms and a courtroom drama. No screenwriter could have created better characters for this story and a better storyline. The old adage is true, the best stories are written by real life. As other reviewers have commented, it is in some ways a story out of Vanity Fair, but it is also a very useful case-study for lawyers in that field. As the author has legal training, he is able to convey the legal intricacies without getting boring. Definitely a book that does a better job at telling a story than many Netflix etc. series.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this would've made a better Vanity Fair article than 500 page book.