Marc Rich

Marc Rich was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1934 to parents of humble means. His father, David Reich, was a low-level Jewish merchant who would trade anything that would make him a profit. Fearing the Nazis, David Reich moved his family to the United States just prior to the beginning of World War II. Marc was remembered by his classmates and teachers as a quiet, unsociable young boy who did not do well in his high school class in Kansas City, Missouri. The family moved to New York City where David developed a thriving business and Marc began to show flashes of brilliance in his studies.

Marc's father paid his son's freshman tuition to the prestigious New York University but Marc found college boring and a waste of time. When an executive of Philipp Brothers, the most successful metals trading organization in the world, offered him a job...