What do you think?
Rate this book
The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich
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.
317 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
432 people are currently reading
4145 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 180 reviews
April 19, 2019
A significant update to A. Craig. Copetas' book Metal Men which was written 25 years prior. Daniel Ammann--somehow--not only managed to sit down with the secretive Marc Rich (who, to my knowledge, never granted an on-record interview to anyone) but seemed to actually befriend Marc Rich. They went skiing together in St. Moritz. The result is the biography of Marc Rich that chisels his name into the pillar of eternity. Rich passed away five years after this book was published.
Rich was the founder of Glencore and was, without a doubt, the most successful and controversial commodities trader of all time. There are a lot of angles to a book like this, and my opinion is that Amman put it together pretty well. At no point does it contain the tinges of jealousy or overtones of reproach that accompanied every one of Marc Rich's American obituaries. It's better than the book that came before it but is not excellent.
The only problem here is that there is only so much you can say after you characterize someone as a "quiet Jewish guy." A lot of Rich's personal life, especially pertaining to his daughters and his first wife, is not given the attention it deserves. Everyone doesn't need to be painted as a multi-dimensional superhero, but the first 25 years of his first marriage is summarized as him being a workaholic and his ex-wife Denise eventually becoming an acclaimed songwriter in the mid-eighties. His daughters are introduced at birth then the next time you hear about them they're all in their twenties.
There are many themes explored here that you might think you can find in other finance books, but this one is really unique. Do you know how many books I've read about Finance, Banking, Money, and Markets? A whole hell of a lot. For as many times as these other books explore 'morality', this is one of the few where the rubber really hits the road. The implications are vast; the moral dilemma is never of this magnitude.
When we talk about trading and traders, this was at an entirely different scale. These guys were not traders in the sense that they were sitting in a trading pit with superior mathematical models or guts or grit or Johnnie Walker Red or however people characterize traders from the 80s. This was a different ballgame. And, to an outsider--maybe even to me--it seems like Marc Rich was fixing the World Series on a weekly basis.
Really, this reads like a modern-day epic. I thought to myself "this would make a good movie" right before a Google search revealed that a movie is forthcoming. I'll be among the first to see it.
Rich was the founder of Glencore and was, without a doubt, the most successful and controversial commodities trader of all time. There are a lot of angles to a book like this, and my opinion is that Amman put it together pretty well. At no point does it contain the tinges of jealousy or overtones of reproach that accompanied every one of Marc Rich's American obituaries. It's better than the book that came before it but is not excellent.
The only problem here is that there is only so much you can say after you characterize someone as a "quiet Jewish guy." A lot of Rich's personal life, especially pertaining to his daughters and his first wife, is not given the attention it deserves. Everyone doesn't need to be painted as a multi-dimensional superhero, but the first 25 years of his first marriage is summarized as him being a workaholic and his ex-wife Denise eventually becoming an acclaimed songwriter in the mid-eighties. His daughters are introduced at birth then the next time you hear about them they're all in their twenties.
There are many themes explored here that you might think you can find in other finance books, but this one is really unique. Do you know how many books I've read about Finance, Banking, Money, and Markets? A whole hell of a lot. For as many times as these other books explore 'morality', this is one of the few where the rubber really hits the road. The implications are vast; the moral dilemma is never of this magnitude.
When we talk about trading and traders, this was at an entirely different scale. These guys were not traders in the sense that they were sitting in a trading pit with superior mathematical models or guts or grit or Johnnie Walker Red or however people characterize traders from the 80s. This was a different ballgame. And, to an outsider--maybe even to me--it seems like Marc Rich was fixing the World Series on a weekly basis.
Really, this reads like a modern-day epic. I thought to myself "this would make a good movie" right before a Google search revealed that a movie is forthcoming. I'll be among the first to see it.
March 11, 2018
Marc Rich is a rare specimen: an extreme risk-taker who took too much risk but didn't die broke.
Conventionally, the story of a big company is that the founder made a boatload of money, and even though his successor created more aggregate wealth, the successor was not so well-paid. In stylized terms, the founder makes 20% of the first $1 billion, and a really successor makes 1% of the next $9 billion.
Not so with Glencore, née Marc Rich + Co AG! Glencore's CEO, Ivan Glasenberg, has sported a net worth well ahead of his predecessor's, even though Glasenberg joined the company a decade after Rich founded it.
The best explanation is the Kelly Criterion. The Kelly Criterion is a way to size bets given known odds of winning and a known payoff. In practice, it's what you get when you assume both of those numbers and solve for what betting strategy produces the highest compound annual growth rate. Deviating from Kelly in either direction reduces returns: take any less risk, and you're leaving gains on the table; take any more risk, and your losses set you back by too much.
Since both edge and odds are not known in financial contexts, you can't directly apply Kelly, but you can use it as a sanity check. A widely-read hedge fund manager once pointed out that a peer had put 3% of his portfolio into a particular stock, and that by treating "odds of correctness" as the free variable in the Kelly Criterion, you could solve for X and show that that portfolio manager was about 51% confident that he was right. Barely worth having an opinion. (The manager who made that Kelly calculation wound up putting 80% of his fund into one oil and gas stock, losing 2/3 of his investors' money in a couple months in 2008, and shutting down his fund to open a bar.)
The other application of the Kelly Criterion in finance is to use it based on your best guess of your edge and odds, and then divide the result by two or three because you're almost certainly overconfident.
Since most of us are risk-averse--we feel the losses more than we feel the gains--we tend to underbet in Kelly terms, even adjusted for overconfidence. Most truly rich people are necessarily betting closer to the Kelly optimum: in addition to making the right calls, they bet enough to make them matter.
So let's look at Marc Rich as an example of risk-tolerance:
- He didn't like how the oil business was controlled by the Seven Sisters, so he made his own market. The reason CNBC can say "Oil went up 1% today" is that Marc Rich made "oil" the kind of asset you can trade that way.
- He quit his job because his employer wouldn't let him risk enough of the company's capital, then poached their smartest people and risked several thousand percent of his own capital on similar trades.
- Rich noticed that several enemies of the state either had or wanted oil, so he traded with them. He was perfectly willing to deal with the Shah and the Ayatollah, not to mention South Africa's National Party, Angola's communists, Cuba's other communists, Chile, etc. He even did a deal between Israel and Iran at a time when the two countries ostensibly hated each other.
- He structured these transactions so the most profitable parts happened in foreign jurisdictions, even though Rich himself worked in Midtown Manhattan.
Libertarian lawyers like to use the catchphrase "one crime at a time!" If you must smoke a doobie in your car, drive under the speed limit. Rich did not follow these instructions. As a result, either the tax investigation dug up trading with the enemy, or the trading with the enemy revealed some tax stuff.
Either way, Rich spent the last thirty years of his life in exile.
He was clearly a talented and incredibly hard-working man. If he'd left a little money on the table, he would have died a lot richer, and probably wouldn't have had to miss his daughter's funeral. On the other hand, you get the impression that after a while, being an international fugitive centimillionaire was a little more fun than being a stodgy old law-abiding billionaire. Maybe a Rich who died a little more rich just wouldn't have been Marc Rich.
(One frustration with the book is that it never actually explains what an oil trading business does. It reminds me of Dave Barry's line about how Donald Trump made millions of dollars in the lucrative field of amassing wealth. From what I can tell, it's not a "trading" business in the stock-trading sense, i.e. he didn't just make money betting that oil would go up or down. Instead, it's more like being in the business of assembling a DIY virtual supermajor. You make a promise to deliver some oil to Point A for $x/barrel, and use that promise as collateral to buy the same quantity of oil at point B for $y, and number of barrels * ($x - $y) is your budget for somehow getting the oil from B to A. This is why their financial statements always look so loopy: equity $1m, revenue $100m, profit $500k. It's just because the gross amount of oil that changes hands is all booked on the topline, even though the actual revenue--as in the fee for service the company charges--is really better approximated by their markup. I didn't make the rules. I'm just trying to explain them.)
Conventionally, the story of a big company is that the founder made a boatload of money, and even though his successor created more aggregate wealth, the successor was not so well-paid. In stylized terms, the founder makes 20% of the first $1 billion, and a really successor makes 1% of the next $9 billion.
Not so with Glencore, née Marc Rich + Co AG! Glencore's CEO, Ivan Glasenberg, has sported a net worth well ahead of his predecessor's, even though Glasenberg joined the company a decade after Rich founded it.
The best explanation is the Kelly Criterion. The Kelly Criterion is a way to size bets given known odds of winning and a known payoff. In practice, it's what you get when you assume both of those numbers and solve for what betting strategy produces the highest compound annual growth rate. Deviating from Kelly in either direction reduces returns: take any less risk, and you're leaving gains on the table; take any more risk, and your losses set you back by too much.
Since both edge and odds are not known in financial contexts, you can't directly apply Kelly, but you can use it as a sanity check. A widely-read hedge fund manager once pointed out that a peer had put 3% of his portfolio into a particular stock, and that by treating "odds of correctness" as the free variable in the Kelly Criterion, you could solve for X and show that that portfolio manager was about 51% confident that he was right. Barely worth having an opinion. (The manager who made that Kelly calculation wound up putting 80% of his fund into one oil and gas stock, losing 2/3 of his investors' money in a couple months in 2008, and shutting down his fund to open a bar.)
The other application of the Kelly Criterion in finance is to use it based on your best guess of your edge and odds, and then divide the result by two or three because you're almost certainly overconfident.
Since most of us are risk-averse--we feel the losses more than we feel the gains--we tend to underbet in Kelly terms, even adjusted for overconfidence. Most truly rich people are necessarily betting closer to the Kelly optimum: in addition to making the right calls, they bet enough to make them matter.
So let's look at Marc Rich as an example of risk-tolerance:
- He didn't like how the oil business was controlled by the Seven Sisters, so he made his own market. The reason CNBC can say "Oil went up 1% today" is that Marc Rich made "oil" the kind of asset you can trade that way.
- He quit his job because his employer wouldn't let him risk enough of the company's capital, then poached their smartest people and risked several thousand percent of his own capital on similar trades.
- Rich noticed that several enemies of the state either had or wanted oil, so he traded with them. He was perfectly willing to deal with the Shah and the Ayatollah, not to mention South Africa's National Party, Angola's communists, Cuba's other communists, Chile, etc. He even did a deal between Israel and Iran at a time when the two countries ostensibly hated each other.
- He structured these transactions so the most profitable parts happened in foreign jurisdictions, even though Rich himself worked in Midtown Manhattan.
Libertarian lawyers like to use the catchphrase "one crime at a time!" If you must smoke a doobie in your car, drive under the speed limit. Rich did not follow these instructions. As a result, either the tax investigation dug up trading with the enemy, or the trading with the enemy revealed some tax stuff.
Either way, Rich spent the last thirty years of his life in exile.
He was clearly a talented and incredibly hard-working man. If he'd left a little money on the table, he would have died a lot richer, and probably wouldn't have had to miss his daughter's funeral. On the other hand, you get the impression that after a while, being an international fugitive centimillionaire was a little more fun than being a stodgy old law-abiding billionaire. Maybe a Rich who died a little more rich just wouldn't have been Marc Rich.
(One frustration with the book is that it never actually explains what an oil trading business does. It reminds me of Dave Barry's line about how Donald Trump made millions of dollars in the lucrative field of amassing wealth. From what I can tell, it's not a "trading" business in the stock-trading sense, i.e. he didn't just make money betting that oil would go up or down. Instead, it's more like being in the business of assembling a DIY virtual supermajor. You make a promise to deliver some oil to Point A for $x/barrel, and use that promise as collateral to buy the same quantity of oil at point B for $y, and number of barrels * ($x - $y) is your budget for somehow getting the oil from B to A. This is why their financial statements always look so loopy: equity $1m, revenue $100m, profit $500k. It's just because the gross amount of oil that changes hands is all booked on the topline, even though the actual revenue--as in the fee for service the company charges--is really better approximated by their markup. I didn't make the rules. I'm just trying to explain them.)
January 21, 2018
Немного удовлетворил свое любопытство по истории Марка Рича, его компаний и трейдера Гленкор. Объяснено мало, но хоть что-то.
August 27, 2012
Writing wise, uncompelling. Tediously repetitive and, for my taste, too lacking in ways of concrete examples. None the less, this book gave me food for thought. If anything, it offered me a broader view on comodities trade and how world events affect traders - two topics I'm not intimately familliar with. I'd also not heard of Mark Rich before and, due to my age, completely missed out on the public controversy surrounding him.
I finished the read, left with conflicted emotions. My dislike for Ammann's defense of Rich, which I feel would have been better left to the reader's discression rather than reinforced by personal oppinion, slightly damaged the overall image painted in this biography. When I disregard that however, I get a good image of a person who clearly doesn't want the public to know about him - and I think that alone is what made this deal for me.
Most of all, through Rich's life, I've come to understand that money and the success it brings is indeed a motivator for many people - and not just Rich. Since this has never been one of my own motivations, I'm glad to finally understand it. I think it's a valuable lesson for life.
I finished the read, left with conflicted emotions. My dislike for Ammann's defense of Rich, which I feel would have been better left to the reader's discression rather than reinforced by personal oppinion, slightly damaged the overall image painted in this biography. When I disregard that however, I get a good image of a person who clearly doesn't want the public to know about him - and I think that alone is what made this deal for me.
Most of all, through Rich's life, I've come to understand that money and the success it brings is indeed a motivator for many people - and not just Rich. Since this has never been one of my own motivations, I'm glad to finally understand it. I think it's a valuable lesson for life.
April 1, 2018
An interesting biography of a unique and fascinating man, Marc Rich. He is remembered for controversies around some oil trades that he did with South Africa during the apartheid regime and with Iran after the 1979 revolution while these countries were under international sanctions, and as the man who benefitted from an 11th-hour pardon of President Clinton. At the same time, Mark Rich is a visionary man who saw, before anyone else, the opportunity to trade oil from major oil producing countries by offering these countries better value for their production than the price that until then had been paid by the few major global oil companies (the likes of Exxon, BP or Shell) that had a virtual monopoly on global oil flows at the time. Marc Rich arguably invented the spot market for oil, which made him a billionaire. In that sense, he is the precursor of modern oil trading.
Review by Bruno Gremez
Review by Bruno Gremez
May 12, 2010
I'm still working on what I think about this. Oddly enough, it's become bound up in my head with my thoughts about Facebook. (In short, just because it's legal doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.) I had a instant distrust of Rich, and I think the brief reference to Ayn Rand has something to do with it. Then "realpolitik", and one thinks of Kissinger, and I think there's a connection amongst people who have fled dictatorships, and one reaction being the development of an amoral outlook, at least in some aspects of life, and of individuality above all else. I still can't quite articulate exactly what bothered me, which also bothers me.
It's a well-written book, though, definitely something to make a person think about money and business and politics. A few oddities in turns of phrase that I suspect come from the author not being a native English speaker. A sympathetic portrayal, is my take, in what seems like a very Swiss (neutral turned up to 11) way.
I think I recommend it. (C was definitely into it, and recommended it to me.)
It's a well-written book, though, definitely something to make a person think about money and business and politics. A few oddities in turns of phrase that I suspect come from the author not being a native English speaker. A sympathetic portrayal, is my take, in what seems like a very Swiss (neutral turned up to 11) way.
I think I recommend it. (C was definitely into it, and recommended it to me.)
September 22, 2018
Будучи документальным повествованием, книга произвела очень сильное впечатление. Прежде всего, конечно, личностью своего героя. Но и манера изложения фактов плюс хороший язык (спасибо переводчику) сделали чтение легким и увлекательным!
January 22, 2020
"Ethics". He laughed. Then he pointed at my Diet Coke. "Your Coke can is made of aluminium. The bauxite that is needed to make it probably comes from Guinea-Conakry. A terrible dictatorship, believe me," he said. "The oil that is used to heat this room probably comes from Saudi Arabia. These good friends of the USA hack the hands off thieves just like in the Middle Ages. Your cell phone? Without coltan there wouldn't be any cell phones. Let's not pretend. Coltan was used to finance the civil war in Congo". He paused for his words to take effect. "Now, you tell me," he said and pointed his finger at me. "What's the alternative? No trade? Without raw materials the economy would collapse. The world would stand still. Do the people who criticize our work want to know any of this? Or would they rather just pick on us so that they can feel better about themselves?"
January 24, 2015
Interesting. Pure capitalism. No coincidence that he was influenced by Ayn Rand. The book makes a good case that he was unfairly victimized, but personally I think that ethics are as important as acting within the law. And assisting evil regimes to avoid sanctions is not ethical
April 29, 2020
Fascinating biography. Like we say in Haiti, Marc Rich was an onion: he was in every sauce! Cuba, Middle East, Africa, LATAM, Europe.... Highly recommended, but at times it feel like the author might be leaning too much on Marc Rich’s side. I need to follow up and read more from his detractors to hear their version.
May 6, 2024
This was such an interesting read didn’t except to like it that much - the only criticism I have is the author seems to like Marc rich a bit too much - but again I think he had that effect on people and after spending time in his chalet who wouldn’t like him
July 28, 2024
The beginning is definitely too chaotic, as if the author couldn't decide where to start. Besides, this book is a love letter to Marc Rich, which is very strange considering how the hero made his fortune.
May 1, 2019
Amazing life story of a billionaire and his invention of the spot oil market.
December 13, 2020
Very interesting book about trading, global markets, capitalism, politics. Truely controversial guy with controversial history.
March 15, 2025
What an amazing story! And the book makes it way more interesting and fun. When reality beats fiction
Read
July 22, 2025“The King of Oil” pulls back the curtain on one of the slickest, darkest games in global history—where oil, drugs, and arms deals intertwine with covert intelligence and shadow empires.
This book is a deep dive into the shadowy world of the global oil game, but its juicy underbelly lies in the intersections of geopolitics, covert operations, and dirty money. Ammann zeroes in on the fascinating figure of Marc Rich (highly probable not his real name) a Swiss-born jewish oil trader whose career reads like a blueprint of how intelligence agencies and the Military-Industrial Complex (MIC) manipulate puppets to run their covert agendas.
The Israeli Connection & Iran-Contra
One of the juiciest revelations is the tangled web connecting Israel to the infamous Iran-Contra affair — a dark cocktail of drug trafficking, illegal arms deals, and covert geopolitical chess. Ammann exposes how Israeli intelligence, specifically Mossad, played a critical intermediary role, facilitating the arms-for-hostages deals and drug routes that fueled the covert operations. Mossad’s involvement wasn’t peripheral; they operated as a shadow broker alongside the CIA, using front companies and oil trading networks to funnel weapons and drugs, with profits lining the pockets of various clandestine actors.
Marc Rich himself emerges as a temporary but crucial player—less a mastermind, more a highly skilled asset exploited by intelligence agencies. His oil deals were never just about profit; they were strategic moves crafted under the direction or influence of the CIA and Mossad, turning Rich into a pawn in a larger game of global power. His trading empire helped circumvent sanctions, keep rogue states funded, and maintain the flow of arms and drugs critical to secret US and Israeli operations.
Ammann paints Rich not as a rogue capitalist, but as a well-placed tool—someone who knew enough to get rich but little enough not to become the head of the snake. His pardon by Bill Clinton, at the end of the Clinton administration, hints at the immense political leverage and intelligence backing he carried. The book details how Rich’s network provided plausible deniability for the US and Israeli governments, allowing covert agendas to proceed under the radar.
Why This Matters
This is a prime example of how intelligence agencies co-opt “entrepreneurs” to execute shadow wars—oil as currency, drugs and arms as tools—while keeping their hands clean in public. It’s a world where capitalism and covert ops blur, and “king of oil” is really a title handed out to whoever the MIC wants to push forward.
This book is a deep dive into the shadowy world of the global oil game, but its juicy underbelly lies in the intersections of geopolitics, covert operations, and dirty money. Ammann zeroes in on the fascinating figure of Marc Rich (highly probable not his real name) a Swiss-born jewish oil trader whose career reads like a blueprint of how intelligence agencies and the Military-Industrial Complex (MIC) manipulate puppets to run their covert agendas.
The Israeli Connection & Iran-Contra
One of the juiciest revelations is the tangled web connecting Israel to the infamous Iran-Contra affair — a dark cocktail of drug trafficking, illegal arms deals, and covert geopolitical chess. Ammann exposes how Israeli intelligence, specifically Mossad, played a critical intermediary role, facilitating the arms-for-hostages deals and drug routes that fueled the covert operations. Mossad’s involvement wasn’t peripheral; they operated as a shadow broker alongside the CIA, using front companies and oil trading networks to funnel weapons and drugs, with profits lining the pockets of various clandestine actors.
Marc Rich himself emerges as a temporary but crucial player—less a mastermind, more a highly skilled asset exploited by intelligence agencies. His oil deals were never just about profit; they were strategic moves crafted under the direction or influence of the CIA and Mossad, turning Rich into a pawn in a larger game of global power. His trading empire helped circumvent sanctions, keep rogue states funded, and maintain the flow of arms and drugs critical to secret US and Israeli operations.
Ammann paints Rich not as a rogue capitalist, but as a well-placed tool—someone who knew enough to get rich but little enough not to become the head of the snake. His pardon by Bill Clinton, at the end of the Clinton administration, hints at the immense political leverage and intelligence backing he carried. The book details how Rich’s network provided plausible deniability for the US and Israeli governments, allowing covert agendas to proceed under the radar.
Why This Matters
This is a prime example of how intelligence agencies co-opt “entrepreneurs” to execute shadow wars—oil as currency, drugs and arms as tools—while keeping their hands clean in public. It’s a world where capitalism and covert ops blur, and “king of oil” is really a title handed out to whoever the MIC wants to push forward.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 4, 2020
तेलसम्राट - अनुवाद मोहन गोखले
मूळ पुस्तक - द किंग ऑफ ऑइल, द सिक्रेट लाईव्ज ऑफ मार्क रिच
मूळ लेखक - स्विस शोध पत्रकार डॅनिअल अम्मांन
२००९ साली प्रकाशित आंतरराष्ट्रीय सर्वोत्तम खपाचे व नऊ भाषांत प्रकाशीत
मार्क रिच, १९७०-८० च्या दशकातील एक असामान्य आंतरराष्ट्रीय कमोडिटी ट्रेडर, भांडवलदार, सावकार इत्यादी इत्यादी यांचे जीवनचरित्र. एका ज्यु कुटुंबात जन्मलेले, लहानपणीच दुसऱ्या महायुद्धाच्या काळात ज्यु नरसंहारापासून वाचण्यासाठी आई वडिलांबरोबर अमेरिकेत स्तलांतरीत झालेले व पुढे स्वित्झरलँडमध्ये स्थायीक एक अतिशय हुशार, धोरणी, दूरदर्शी, कामसू , यश व पैसा कमावण्याच्या उद्देशाने झपाटलेले व्यापारी.
अनेक कारणांसाठी असामान्य व्यक्ती पण प्रामुख्याने दोन कारणे - १९७०-८० च्या दशकात सामान्यतः आर्थिक गणना लाखांच्या घरातच सीमित होती त्या काळात हा माणूस प्रत्येक व्यवहारात कैक शे कोटी नफा कमावत होता ( त्या काळात अतिशय अचंबीत करणारे आकडे ). यात त्यांचे व्यापारी कौशल्य, हुशारी, अथक परिश्रम, योग्य सहकाऱ्यांची निवड तसेच व्यापारासाठी लागणारी जोखीम घेण्याची व प्रसंगी तोटा सहन करण्याची तयारी यांची जोड होतीच. त्या काळात जागतिक तेल व्यवहारांवर हाताच्या बोटांवर मोजता येतील एवढ्याच कंपन्यांची मक्तेदारी होती जी मार्क रिच यांनी मोडून काढली; एवढेच नव्हे तर त्या बाजारपेठेत पाय रोवून पुढे त्याचे सम्राट झाले. जोडीला खनीज, धातू इत्यादींचे कमोडिटी ट्रेडिंग केले व त्यासाठी जगभर अनेक कंपन्यांचे जाळे पसरले.
दुसरे कारण, आंतरराष्ट्रीय स्तरावर अनेक देशांच्या सत्ताधारांच्या अतिशय जवळची व्यक्ती आणि म्हणूनच पडद्यामागचे सूत्रधार.
म्हणूनच जेव्हा एवढ्या महत्व्याच्या व्यक्तीच्या जीवनावर लिहिलं जातं तेव्हा आंतरराष्ट्रीय राजकारणाचे काही संदर्भ येणं साहजिकच. आंतराष्ट्रीय राजकारण,सत्तांतर व अर्थकारण यांचे निगडीत संबंध व खायचे दात व दाखवायचे दात यावर प्रकाश हा ओघाने आलाच. त्या दृष्टीनीही हे पुस्तक हा एक मोठा ठेवा आहे म्हणायला हरकत नाही. कारण वर्तमान व भविष्यातील घडामोडींवर भूतकाळातील भुतांची सावट असतेच व पुढे काही गोष्टींची उकल व्हायला हे पुस्तक व त्यातील संदर्भ उपयोगी ठरू शकतील.
मूळ लेखकाने हे पुस्तक लिहायला प्रचंड मेहनत घेतलेली जाणवते. कुठलाही पूर्वग्रह न ठेवता अतिशय तठस्थपणे व रोकठोक प्रश्न विचारून लेखकाने सर्व माहिती गोळा केलेली जाणवते. अनेक उच्चपदस्थांच्या मुलाखती - प्रत्यक्ष भेटून वा फोनवर - ज्या मिळणेही नक्कीच सहज शक्य नसणार व काही अतिशय नाजूक, वैयक्तिक वा संवेदनशील विषयावर त्यांना बोलते करणे हे हि काम कठीणच असणार. शिवाय या किचकट व तितक्याच संवेदनशील व स्फोटक विषयावर जमा केलेल्या माहिती व संदर्भांचा शहानिशा करणे, त्यांची सांगड घालून त्यात सुसूत्रता आणणे हे काम जिकिरिचेच. या हि पलीकडे जाऊन ते सर्व वाचकांचा कुठेही घोळ न होता वाचनीय, उत्कंठावर्धक होईल अशा प्रकारे मांडणे हे हि तितकेच आव्हानात्मक. पण लेखक यात पूर्णतः यशस्वी झाला आहे. वर्णनात्मक शैलीत लिहिल्यामुळे कुठेही रटाळपणा न येता वाचताना उत्कंठावर्धक कादंबरी वाचत असल्याची भावना येते व पुस्तक हातातून खाली ठेववतच नाही.
गोखले यांनीही पुस्तकाचा फार छान अनुवाद केला आहे. कुठेही अनुवादीत वाचत आहोत अशी जाणीव येत नाही.
मूळ पुस्तक - द किंग ऑफ ऑइल, द सिक्रेट लाईव्ज ऑफ मार्क रिच
मूळ लेखक - स्विस शोध पत्रकार डॅनिअल अम्मांन
२००९ साली प्रकाशित आंतरराष्ट्रीय सर्वोत्तम खपाचे व नऊ भाषांत प्रकाशीत
मार्क रिच, १९७०-८० च्या दशकातील एक असामान्य आंतरराष्ट्रीय कमोडिटी ट्रेडर, भांडवलदार, सावकार इत्यादी इत्यादी यांचे जीवनचरित्र. एका ज्यु कुटुंबात जन्मलेले, लहानपणीच दुसऱ्या महायुद्धाच्या काळात ज्यु नरसंहारापासून वाचण्यासाठी आई वडिलांबरोबर अमेरिकेत स्तलांतरीत झालेले व पुढे स्वित्झरलँडमध्ये स्थायीक एक अतिशय हुशार, धोरणी, दूरदर्शी, कामसू , यश व पैसा कमावण्याच्या उद्देशाने झपाटलेले व्यापारी.
अनेक कारणांसाठी असामान्य व्यक्ती पण प्रामुख्याने दोन कारणे - १९७०-८० च्या दशकात सामान्यतः आर्थिक गणना लाखांच्या घरातच सीमित होती त्या काळात हा माणूस प्रत्येक व्यवहारात कैक शे कोटी नफा कमावत होता ( त्या काळात अतिशय अचंबीत करणारे आकडे ). यात त्यांचे व्यापारी कौशल्य, हुशारी, अथक परिश्रम, योग्य सहकाऱ्यांची निवड तसेच व्यापारासाठी लागणारी जोखीम घेण्याची व प्रसंगी तोटा सहन करण्याची तयारी यांची जोड होतीच. त्या काळात जागतिक तेल व्यवहारांवर हाताच्या बोटांवर मोजता येतील एवढ्याच कंपन्यांची मक्तेदारी होती जी मार्क रिच यांनी मोडून काढली; एवढेच नव्हे तर त्या बाजारपेठेत पाय रोवून पुढे त्याचे सम्राट झाले. जोडीला खनीज, धातू इत्यादींचे कमोडिटी ट्रेडिंग केले व त्यासाठी जगभर अनेक कंपन्यांचे जाळे पसरले.
दुसरे कारण, आंतरराष्ट्रीय स्तरावर अनेक देशांच्या सत्ताधारांच्या अतिशय जवळची व्यक्ती आणि म्हणूनच पडद्यामागचे सूत्रधार.
म्हणूनच जेव्हा एवढ्या महत्व्याच्या व्यक्तीच्या जीवनावर लिहिलं जातं तेव्हा आंतरराष्ट्रीय राजकारणाचे काही संदर्भ येणं साहजिकच. आंतराष्ट्रीय राजकारण,सत्तांतर व अर्थकारण यांचे निगडीत संबंध व खायचे दात व दाखवायचे दात यावर प्रकाश हा ओघाने आलाच. त्या दृष्टीनीही हे पुस्तक हा एक मोठा ठेवा आहे म्हणायला हरकत नाही. कारण वर्तमान व भविष्यातील घडामोडींवर भूतकाळातील भुतांची सावट असतेच व पुढे काही गोष्टींची उकल व्हायला हे पुस्तक व त्यातील संदर्भ उपयोगी ठरू शकतील.
मूळ लेखकाने हे पुस्तक लिहायला प्रचंड मेहनत घेतलेली जाणवते. कुठलाही पूर्वग्रह न ठेवता अतिशय तठस्थपणे व रोकठोक प्रश्न विचारून लेखकाने सर्व माहिती गोळा केलेली जाणवते. अनेक उच्चपदस्थांच्या मुलाखती - प्रत्यक्ष भेटून वा फोनवर - ज्या मिळणेही नक्कीच सहज शक्य नसणार व काही अतिशय नाजूक, वैयक्तिक वा संवेदनशील विषयावर त्यांना बोलते करणे हे हि काम कठीणच असणार. शिवाय या किचकट व तितक्याच संवेदनशील व स्फोटक विषयावर जमा केलेल्या माहिती व संदर्भांचा शहानिशा करणे, त्यांची सांगड घालून त्यात सुसूत्रता आणणे हे काम जिकिरिचेच. या हि पलीकडे जाऊन ते सर्व वाचकांचा कुठेही घोळ न होता वाचनीय, उत्कंठावर्धक होईल अशा प्रकारे मांडणे हे हि तितकेच आव्हानात्मक. पण लेखक यात पूर्णतः यशस्वी झाला आहे. वर्णनात्मक शैलीत लिहिल्यामुळे कुठेही रटाळपणा न येता वाचताना उत्कंठावर्धक कादंबरी वाचत असल्याची भावना येते व पुस्तक हातातून खाली ठेववतच नाही.
गोखले यांनीही पुस्तकाचा फार छान अनुवाद केला आहे. कुठेही अनुवादीत वाचत आहोत अशी जाणीव येत नाही.
October 24, 2024
Good book about a figure that is largely unknown today. I didn't know about Marc Rich before, but back in the 80s and the 90s, his name was a big deal. When Bill Clinton gave him a pardon on the last day in Office, it was a huge controversy during the time. People complained that you had enough money or political connection, then you can just buy a Presidential pardon. Even Bill Clinton was surprise people were mad at him about it.
Marc Rich and his firm traded oil with every country that was an enemy of the USA during the 2nd half of the 20th century - Cuba, Fascist Spain, Iran, Marxist Angola, apartheid South America, etc. Even with the Soviets I think. Marc Rich's firm traded more oil than the country of Kuwait. His company bought and sold more oil than most countries or even oil-producing countries. He didn't do the shady deals with shady regimes out of ideological spite of the US government, but only because they was money to be made and he wanted to make money.
During the 1980s, after the Iran Hostage Crisis, the fever hatred of Iran was at a fever pitch. So when it was founded that Marc Rich was trading oil with Ayatollah Iran, he thus became an enemy of the USA. The Southern District of New York (the most aggressive court in the USA, it is where many famous politicians come from, it is basically an arm of the Federal government. A case from SDNY is no join and very serious) made charges against Marc Rich and his co-founders. The person leading the case was Rudy Guiliani! He was an attroney for SDNY. This case was actually how Rudy Guiliani became famous, before he became NY mayor and later Donald Trump #1 fangirl. SDNY charged Marc with tax fraud and also trading with the enemy. Serious charges that come end life in prison. Marc was a USA citizen, but he was living in Switerzland at the time and his firm was in Switerland. And Switerzland has no extradition treaty. So if charged with a crime in USA, Switerland has no obligation to lock up the person and send them to USA. But USA actually does not care about extradition! If the USA wants you bad enough, they are allowed to kidnap you and bring you into a country with extradition, then send you to the USA. I never knew. So you are never safe anywhere. US Marshalls, mutiple times tried to kidnap Marc Rich while he was in Switerzland, but they kept fail. Every time they just missed Marc Rich. It happened one too many times. The US Marshalls and FBI agents realized Marc was getting tipped off about the attempts. FBI realized it was Isarel and US State dept that was protecting Marc Rich, since it was an important asset for Isarel. So Marc Rich evaded capture for his whole life.
Marc Rich was basically an asset to Isarel. During the 60s and 70s I think, Marc provided 1 out 5 barrels of oil to Isarel. So of course he was an important to Isarel. But more importantly, any country that Isarel couldn't trade with officially, they traded thru Marc Rich. First example is Fasciat Spain and Isarel. Spain was one of the few European countries to not recognize the new state of Isarel. Thus no trade or diplomantic relations. But thru Marc Rich, Spain and Isarel were able to trade oil. Also there is Iran. When Iran was under the Shah, Iran wanted to trade with Isarel, but didn't want to upset its Arab neigbors who all hated Isarel and were at war with Isarel. So Marc Rich stepped in and built an secret oil pipeline between Iran and Isarel and it allowed both countries to trade. After the Ayatollah took over Iran, the rest of the world put a embargo on Iran and wouldn't trade with Iran. Iran hated America and Isarel and declared war on both countries. But thru Marc Rich, Iran and Isarel countined to trade oil, just secretly, even tho both countries hated each other. Marc Rich continue to trade oil with Iran and this is what put target on him by the US gov.
Marc did the same thing with South Africa. Lots of countries put a embargo on South Africa because apartheid. Even the oil Arab states. But Marc continued to trade with South Africa. Marc provided 1 out 3 oil barrels to South Africa during this time. Marc became an interdidy between the Arab states and South Africa and they traded oil thru him. So even with all front facing polticial, money still rules the day and countries all want a good deal, no matter the price.
A big criticism of Marc Rich was he an immoral billionaire who expoilted all these countries. This argument comes from leftists. But Marc help fund all the communists regimes in the world with his oil deals, which is ironic.
Marc even worked with Isarel on some peace deals. For example betwen Eypgt and Isarel. When an Eyptian terrioist killed a whole family of Isarel, leaving only the baby alive, Eypgt was unwilling to pay for the viticms. Isarel was pissed at this and tenisons between both countries rose (they had been in mutiple wars before this and the peace was fragile) So Marc stepped in secretly and paid for the Eypt, thus resolving the conflict. Marc also paid to rescue Jews who lived in prosectued Jews in different parts of the world.
Marc's 1st wife was a songwriter who wrote songs for big singers during the 80s and 90s. She made lots of money on her own. After she got a divorce, she funded the democratic party under Clinton and was a big donor. And she asked for Marc's pardon to Clinton. So people at the time thought you could just buy your pardon for a certain price.
Put the biggest thing that got Marc a pardon was a called from Isarel PM Emut Bhart to Bill Clinton. The call was enough to get Marc the pardon. The Isarel PM had seen how much a service Marc did to Isarel and wanted to free him. Marc got the pardon but he never returned to USA.
Marc always focused on long term, even with his relationships with people. He didn't charge the highest amount of money in deals so he could maxime the profits. He made the deals reasonably so the clients could come back consisently. He also invented the spot market for oil, but I didn't understand that part of the book and it explain what the spot market for oil looks like well.
But great book about interesting subject. It would make a good movie.
Marc Rich and his firm traded oil with every country that was an enemy of the USA during the 2nd half of the 20th century - Cuba, Fascist Spain, Iran, Marxist Angola, apartheid South America, etc. Even with the Soviets I think. Marc Rich's firm traded more oil than the country of Kuwait. His company bought and sold more oil than most countries or even oil-producing countries. He didn't do the shady deals with shady regimes out of ideological spite of the US government, but only because they was money to be made and he wanted to make money.
During the 1980s, after the Iran Hostage Crisis, the fever hatred of Iran was at a fever pitch. So when it was founded that Marc Rich was trading oil with Ayatollah Iran, he thus became an enemy of the USA. The Southern District of New York (the most aggressive court in the USA, it is where many famous politicians come from, it is basically an arm of the Federal government. A case from SDNY is no join and very serious) made charges against Marc Rich and his co-founders. The person leading the case was Rudy Guiliani! He was an attroney for SDNY. This case was actually how Rudy Guiliani became famous, before he became NY mayor and later Donald Trump #1 fangirl. SDNY charged Marc with tax fraud and also trading with the enemy. Serious charges that come end life in prison. Marc was a USA citizen, but he was living in Switerzland at the time and his firm was in Switerland. And Switerzland has no extradition treaty. So if charged with a crime in USA, Switerland has no obligation to lock up the person and send them to USA. But USA actually does not care about extradition! If the USA wants you bad enough, they are allowed to kidnap you and bring you into a country with extradition, then send you to the USA. I never knew. So you are never safe anywhere. US Marshalls, mutiple times tried to kidnap Marc Rich while he was in Switerzland, but they kept fail. Every time they just missed Marc Rich. It happened one too many times. The US Marshalls and FBI agents realized Marc was getting tipped off about the attempts. FBI realized it was Isarel and US State dept that was protecting Marc Rich, since it was an important asset for Isarel. So Marc Rich evaded capture for his whole life.
Marc Rich was basically an asset to Isarel. During the 60s and 70s I think, Marc provided 1 out 5 barrels of oil to Isarel. So of course he was an important to Isarel. But more importantly, any country that Isarel couldn't trade with officially, they traded thru Marc Rich. First example is Fasciat Spain and Isarel. Spain was one of the few European countries to not recognize the new state of Isarel. Thus no trade or diplomantic relations. But thru Marc Rich, Spain and Isarel were able to trade oil. Also there is Iran. When Iran was under the Shah, Iran wanted to trade with Isarel, but didn't want to upset its Arab neigbors who all hated Isarel and were at war with Isarel. So Marc Rich stepped in and built an secret oil pipeline between Iran and Isarel and it allowed both countries to trade. After the Ayatollah took over Iran, the rest of the world put a embargo on Iran and wouldn't trade with Iran. Iran hated America and Isarel and declared war on both countries. But thru Marc Rich, Iran and Isarel countined to trade oil, just secretly, even tho both countries hated each other. Marc Rich continue to trade oil with Iran and this is what put target on him by the US gov.
Marc did the same thing with South Africa. Lots of countries put a embargo on South Africa because apartheid. Even the oil Arab states. But Marc continued to trade with South Africa. Marc provided 1 out 3 oil barrels to South Africa during this time. Marc became an interdidy between the Arab states and South Africa and they traded oil thru him. So even with all front facing polticial, money still rules the day and countries all want a good deal, no matter the price.
A big criticism of Marc Rich was he an immoral billionaire who expoilted all these countries. This argument comes from leftists. But Marc help fund all the communists regimes in the world with his oil deals, which is ironic.
Marc even worked with Isarel on some peace deals. For example betwen Eypgt and Isarel. When an Eyptian terrioist killed a whole family of Isarel, leaving only the baby alive, Eypgt was unwilling to pay for the viticms. Isarel was pissed at this and tenisons between both countries rose (they had been in mutiple wars before this and the peace was fragile) So Marc stepped in secretly and paid for the Eypt, thus resolving the conflict. Marc also paid to rescue Jews who lived in prosectued Jews in different parts of the world.
Marc's 1st wife was a songwriter who wrote songs for big singers during the 80s and 90s. She made lots of money on her own. After she got a divorce, she funded the democratic party under Clinton and was a big donor. And she asked for Marc's pardon to Clinton. So people at the time thought you could just buy your pardon for a certain price.
Put the biggest thing that got Marc a pardon was a called from Isarel PM Emut Bhart to Bill Clinton. The call was enough to get Marc the pardon. The Isarel PM had seen how much a service Marc did to Isarel and wanted to free him. Marc got the pardon but he never returned to USA.
Marc always focused on long term, even with his relationships with people. He didn't charge the highest amount of money in deals so he could maxime the profits. He made the deals reasonably so the clients could come back consisently. He also invented the spot market for oil, but I didn't understand that part of the book and it explain what the spot market for oil looks like well.
But great book about interesting subject. It would make a good movie.
December 16, 2011
Let's put it like this.
The story surrounding the "biggest devil of them all" is not at least boring. It can be argued that Mr. Rich (nomen est omen) is, in fact, the most interesting trade figure of the 20th century. Although the claimed start from the bottom (american dream fairy tale) is in fact widely exaggerated, a man can only admit that he was the best in his business. In the right time, on the right place with the right set of mind (somebody would say that you need the wrong set of mind for his job). Bottom line - his life story is worth reading. And here we come to the point of the quality of the narration. The book could have been better written, the story could have been better told. I was not the least surprised to see that Mr. Amman (the storyteller) is in fact a journalist, because the book feels like a giant news article and that is the only minus I place forward.
The story surrounding the "biggest devil of them all" is not at least boring. It can be argued that Mr. Rich (nomen est omen) is, in fact, the most interesting trade figure of the 20th century. Although the claimed start from the bottom (american dream fairy tale) is in fact widely exaggerated, a man can only admit that he was the best in his business. In the right time, on the right place with the right set of mind (somebody would say that you need the wrong set of mind for his job). Bottom line - his life story is worth reading. And here we come to the point of the quality of the narration. The book could have been better written, the story could have been better told. I was not the least surprised to see that Mr. Amman (the storyteller) is in fact a journalist, because the book feels like a giant news article and that is the only minus I place forward.
August 31, 2018
Это, наверное, одна из самых интересных нехудожественных книг, которые я читала. Автор попытался показать другую сторону жизни этого скандального, одиозного бизнесмена, которого десятками лет проклинали в Соединенных Штатах. Кроме подробностей перепетий его жизни, в книге еще и довольно просто раскладываются по полочкам главные вехи развития нефтяного рынка 20-го века. То, как говорится, что всю жизнь хотела узнать, но не знала у кого спросить. Правда, во всей истории немного не хватало конкретики, фактов, четкости причинно-следственных связей. Автор слишком хотел сделать нехудожественную книгу захватывающей, и переборщил с лирическими отступлениями, пошел в ущерб сути. Но все равно книгу очень рекомендую.
June 18, 2023
Seems unfair to review a book that I only read a handful of pages of. The writing was dreadful, repetitive and uninteresting, I thought it wasn't worthwhile to continue. I rarely do that. I'd be shocked to know that this book had an editor. If it did, there is no way that editor is not working in another industry now. Like fast food. If somehow the writing improved significantly, it's my loss. Marc Rich is an interesting character (which the author constantly reminds readers of, as if he's afraid the reader will forget it, if he doesn't repeat it every other page) but this book sure as hell isn't the way to learn more of his story.
July 31, 2020
Как же не хотелось что бы книга заканчивалась....Взахлёб читать темную сторону сырьевой торговли, историю 20-го века глазами реального человека и жизнь личности мирового масштаба. Не обошлось даже без легкого психоанализа и поисков глубинных мотивов Марка и компании (“Marc & co”):)
August 8, 2017
great book on a great subject.
March 1, 2018
The book that traces how oil is priced - not with the old contracts but with the market. Well done.
August 23, 2018
Good story
Great author and interesting take on Rich. Especially like the chapters about his trades but skipped most of the legal nonsense from the US
Great author and interesting take on Rich. Especially like the chapters about his trades but skipped most of the legal nonsense from the US
March 24, 2018
It's incredible the amount of influence Marc Rich has had on the global commodity markets, and yet I had never heard of him (a fact I'm embarrassed to admit). The author Daniel Ammann gives a positive account of Rich's life, and it's clear from the interviews that this book is thoroughly researched. The reader finds it easy to empathize with Rich, from being a poor Jewish boy, to becoming the creator of the global spot oil market, to being prosecuted and ultimately pardoned by the United States government. The story of Rich's life is simply incredible.
Rich was vilified for trading with governments that the US viewed as morally corrupt, so the book does a lot of work to counterbalance the critical narrative. One can see why Rich decided to flee the country and not return even after receiving a full pardon by Bill Clinton. I wish the book focused more on the abilities of Rich as a trader and entrepreneur, but it's hard to focus so much time to explain his talent, especially when the story of his prosecution is so fascinating and engaging. Yet Rich does leave a few pieces of advice which I found helpful:
1) “To see the opportunity is the most important thing as a trader,” Rich told me. We spoke about the importance of contacts in this business—access to the “man with the key,” as the decision makers are so quaintly called in Africa. Rich’s answer surprised me. “The analysis is more important than the relationships,” he said.
2) “It’s only a good deal when the two signatories are laughing together at the table. That’s the only way a partnership can have any future. Otherwise it’s the only deal you’ll make,” he explained to me.
3) Rich was considered a master of maintaining a network of connections. His black address book—in which every name, number, and date is meticulously written in tiny handwriting—is legendary among company employees. He never forgets a birthday, regularly sends flowers on holidays, and keeps in touch with his contacts.
4) “The world market was changing. The world was changing. The prices were going up,” he explains. He was sure that these rising prices would more than compensate for the higher prices he was paying for the oil. “The most important thing as a trader,” Rich says, “is to see the opportunity. The others didn’t see what I saw.”
The influence that Marc Rich had on the global commodities market can't be understated. Glencore is now one of the world's largest commodity traders, and Marc Rich built it from the ground up as Marc Rich AG + Co. Although it is understandable that his notoriety had become an issue for the company, it was sad to see the company attempt to disconnect itself from Rich entirely upon his leaving:
"No competitor, no former employee, no spin-out has managed to become bigger and more powerful than Glencore, formerly known as Marc Rich + Co. Nevertheless, there is not a single mention of Rich’s name on the company’s Web site—not even under the category “history.” He was purged."
Rich was vilified for trading with governments that the US viewed as morally corrupt, so the book does a lot of work to counterbalance the critical narrative. One can see why Rich decided to flee the country and not return even after receiving a full pardon by Bill Clinton. I wish the book focused more on the abilities of Rich as a trader and entrepreneur, but it's hard to focus so much time to explain his talent, especially when the story of his prosecution is so fascinating and engaging. Yet Rich does leave a few pieces of advice which I found helpful:
1) “To see the opportunity is the most important thing as a trader,” Rich told me. We spoke about the importance of contacts in this business—access to the “man with the key,” as the decision makers are so quaintly called in Africa. Rich’s answer surprised me. “The analysis is more important than the relationships,” he said.
2) “It’s only a good deal when the two signatories are laughing together at the table. That’s the only way a partnership can have any future. Otherwise it’s the only deal you’ll make,” he explained to me.
3) Rich was considered a master of maintaining a network of connections. His black address book—in which every name, number, and date is meticulously written in tiny handwriting—is legendary among company employees. He never forgets a birthday, regularly sends flowers on holidays, and keeps in touch with his contacts.
4) “The world market was changing. The world was changing. The prices were going up,” he explains. He was sure that these rising prices would more than compensate for the higher prices he was paying for the oil. “The most important thing as a trader,” Rich says, “is to see the opportunity. The others didn’t see what I saw.”
The influence that Marc Rich had on the global commodities market can't be understated. Glencore is now one of the world's largest commodity traders, and Marc Rich built it from the ground up as Marc Rich AG + Co. Although it is understandable that his notoriety had become an issue for the company, it was sad to see the company attempt to disconnect itself from Rich entirely upon his leaving:
"No competitor, no former employee, no spin-out has managed to become bigger and more powerful than Glencore, formerly known as Marc Rich + Co. Nevertheless, there is not a single mention of Rich’s name on the company’s Web site—not even under the category “history.” He was purged."
August 17, 2017
Overall, the book The King of Oil was a favorable book because of the interesting life of a businessman that trades oil, Marc Rich. The book is written from the information gathered in multiple interviews between Rich and the author. I felt the book could've been more thorough with the author doing research and adding that into the book. The author overall did a successful job on spending the correct amount of time on the different parts of Rich’s life. It’s challenging for an author to cover someone's entire life in less than 300 pages but I felt the author did that effectively. This is also a very complicated subject for someone not in the business world to understand but the author did a great job of explaining and writing in terms easy to understand.
The early life of Marc Rich being Jewish and moving was a bit overstated but, it was a strong factor in Marc Rich’s success so the author made sure to get that point across. The author also used the appropriate amount of time on Marc’s early career with the Philipp brothers. This was an important time to show Marc’s work ethic and how he got started in the trading business. The book also covers Rich when he starts his own trading business which, is arguably the most intriguing and important part in this story. The author did a great job stressing the importances of this part of the story because this is where Rich’s intelligence is shown when he creates a sport market for his product. This is also when we see Rich’s will to become wealthy by trading with countries under trade embargos. He is also accused of tax evasion at this time. At this point the conflict arises of him being accused with charges that could send him to prison for life. It is also very interesting when he is pardoned and that raises some questions. One part that could be improved is that Marc’s wife and children are barely mentioned until after the accusations and into the divorce. The author could've done a better job of foreshadowing the divorce and the reasons for it.
In conclusion, the story of Marc Rich’s life was very interesting and told well. Also considering the fact that Marc Rich had to approve what was written by the author in the book the information is very accurate. The author also clearly states that she would not have published the book if she felt Rich’s full story was not being told. The book definitely felt like it could’ve been more detailed and thorough if it wasn't so purely based on interviews. The book was easy to understand, accurate, and was time well spent.
The early life of Marc Rich being Jewish and moving was a bit overstated but, it was a strong factor in Marc Rich’s success so the author made sure to get that point across. The author also used the appropriate amount of time on Marc’s early career with the Philipp brothers. This was an important time to show Marc’s work ethic and how he got started in the trading business. The book also covers Rich when he starts his own trading business which, is arguably the most intriguing and important part in this story. The author did a great job stressing the importances of this part of the story because this is where Rich’s intelligence is shown when he creates a sport market for his product. This is also when we see Rich’s will to become wealthy by trading with countries under trade embargos. He is also accused of tax evasion at this time. At this point the conflict arises of him being accused with charges that could send him to prison for life. It is also very interesting when he is pardoned and that raises some questions. One part that could be improved is that Marc’s wife and children are barely mentioned until after the accusations and into the divorce. The author could've done a better job of foreshadowing the divorce and the reasons for it.
In conclusion, the story of Marc Rich’s life was very interesting and told well. Also considering the fact that Marc Rich had to approve what was written by the author in the book the information is very accurate. The author also clearly states that she would not have published the book if she felt Rich’s full story was not being told. The book definitely felt like it could’ve been more detailed and thorough if it wasn't so purely based on interviews. The book was easy to understand, accurate, and was time well spent.
October 19, 2025
In „The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich“ zeichnet der Schweizer Journalist Daniel Ammann das Leben von Marc Rich (Gründer von Glencore) nach, einem der umstrittensten und einflussreichsten Rohstoffhändler des 20. Jahrhunderts. Rich revolutionierte den Ölhandel, indem er den Spotmarkt etablierte und etablierte Unternehmen herausforderte. Seine Geschäfte führten ihn u.a. zu Regimen wie dem Iran unter Ayatollah Khomeini, Kuba, Angola und dem apartheidistischen Südafrika, was ihm sowohl Bewunderung als auch heftige Kritik einbrachte.
Ammann stützt sich auf umfangreiche Interviews mit Rich und anderen Quellen und bietet einen detaillierten Einblick in dessen Leben und Karriere. Die New York Times bezeichnete es als "eine der fesselndsten und aufschlussreichsten Biografien, die ich je gelesen habe", während Le Monde bemerkte, dass das Buch "wie ein Thriller" wirke.
Ein zentrales Thema des Buches ist die Rolle des Öls als "schwarzes Gold" – ein strategisch wichtiges Gut, das nicht nur Wohlstand, sondern auch Konflikte und Ungerechtigkeit mit sich bringt. Richs Handel mit autoritären Regimen und seine Umgehung von Sanktionen werfen Fragen zur Moralität und Verantwortung im globalen Rohstoffhandel auf.
Gegenüber dem der globalen Spotmärkte ausgelieferten Schicksal afrikanischer Länder bin ich nicht indifferent: Sie leiden unter unfairen Rohstoffpreisen und Korruption, sowie systematischer wirtschaftlicher Ausbeutung, während Luxus und Spekulation in den oberen Etagen der Finanzwelt ihr Schicksal oft spielerisch bestimmen – nicht zuletzt durch graue Eminenzen wie Marc Rich und viele andere.
Ammann stützt sich auf umfangreiche Interviews mit Rich und anderen Quellen und bietet einen detaillierten Einblick in dessen Leben und Karriere. Die New York Times bezeichnete es als "eine der fesselndsten und aufschlussreichsten Biografien, die ich je gelesen habe", während Le Monde bemerkte, dass das Buch "wie ein Thriller" wirke.
Ein zentrales Thema des Buches ist die Rolle des Öls als "schwarzes Gold" – ein strategisch wichtiges Gut, das nicht nur Wohlstand, sondern auch Konflikte und Ungerechtigkeit mit sich bringt. Richs Handel mit autoritären Regimen und seine Umgehung von Sanktionen werfen Fragen zur Moralität und Verantwortung im globalen Rohstoffhandel auf.
Gegenüber dem der globalen Spotmärkte ausgelieferten Schicksal afrikanischer Länder bin ich nicht indifferent: Sie leiden unter unfairen Rohstoffpreisen und Korruption, sowie systematischer wirtschaftlicher Ausbeutung, während Luxus und Spekulation in den oberen Etagen der Finanzwelt ihr Schicksal oft spielerisch bestimmen – nicht zuletzt durch graue Eminenzen wie Marc Rich und viele andere.
January 18, 2020
The King of Oil - Daniel Ammann
Ever wondered how commodity markets came to exist? Thanks to Marc Rich, the spot market for black gold (oil) was created and became one of the most lucrative ideas of the twentieth century. The story of Marc Rich is that of controversy, success, exile and somewhat motivational. Rich was able to find opportunity when people could only see despair, which some would consider his fatal flaw. He built relationships with Iran, South Africa, Cuba and Angola during periods of immense political and social uncertainty. It was his ability to focus on long term benefits that enabled him to grow his empire that today exists as Glencore. The Marc Rich story will amaze you, question your moral compass (and that of Rich), appreciate the benefits of his work and understand the complex web of relationships that exist globally. The story of Rich portrays both sides of the fence with Ammann’s research spanning far and wide and names such as Clinton, Giuliani and Holder are frequented throughout. It is definitely worth a read to understand the intricacies of global trading and the measures people will go to in order to meet supply and demand.
Ever wondered how commodity markets came to exist? Thanks to Marc Rich, the spot market for black gold (oil) was created and became one of the most lucrative ideas of the twentieth century. The story of Marc Rich is that of controversy, success, exile and somewhat motivational. Rich was able to find opportunity when people could only see despair, which some would consider his fatal flaw. He built relationships with Iran, South Africa, Cuba and Angola during periods of immense political and social uncertainty. It was his ability to focus on long term benefits that enabled him to grow his empire that today exists as Glencore. The Marc Rich story will amaze you, question your moral compass (and that of Rich), appreciate the benefits of his work and understand the complex web of relationships that exist globally. The story of Rich portrays both sides of the fence with Ammann’s research spanning far and wide and names such as Clinton, Giuliani and Holder are frequented throughout. It is definitely worth a read to understand the intricacies of global trading and the measures people will go to in order to meet supply and demand.
July 4, 2022
There seems to be a lot of holding back in the entire book. What seems to be the picture is: you're never going to get the whole picture. Mossad considers him a sayan—the Hebrew word for “helper.” Setting up a medical facility in Eritrea, then part of Ethiopia, in order to get Jews out. Helping Egypt and Israel patch up their differences. For twenty years he was Israel's key oil supplier. Behind the curtain, he was paying for all kinds of things that he didn't want people to know about.
He didn't walk the line, he walked the blade: always careful not to slip. His PR was at times terrible, and he paid hugely for it. He bore it as a business price.
The closest he came to cracking it seems is when his daughter was dying and he desperately wanted to see her, but she begged him not to come, because they both knew he would be arrested. So they constantly cried over the phone until his wife couldn't stand it anymore and cut them off. The man who broke the Big Oil cartel was broken over her death. But his incredible resilience, fierce dedication to work and success, hardened him to be quite a remarkable character.
He didn't walk the line, he walked the blade: always careful not to slip. His PR was at times terrible, and he paid hugely for it. He bore it as a business price.
The closest he came to cracking it seems is when his daughter was dying and he desperately wanted to see her, but she begged him not to come, because they both knew he would be arrested. So they constantly cried over the phone until his wife couldn't stand it anymore and cut them off. The man who broke the Big Oil cartel was broken over her death. But his incredible resilience, fierce dedication to work and success, hardened him to be quite a remarkable character.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 180 reviews