The King of Oil

August 10, 2009
An empathetic look at the notorious Marc Rich, one of the most successful and controversial commodities traders in recent history and a key figure in the invention of the spot market. With unparalleled access to Rich, his family and associates, business journalist Ammann paints a nuanced portrait of the man vilified for trading with Iran and apartheid-era South Africa, accused of being the biggest tax fraudster in U.S. history and recipient of an infamous presidential pardon. At the pinnacle of his power, Rich presided over a multinational empire, and his opinion on “key people in power” in various “rogue” nations was routinely, if clandestinely, sought by the State Department despite his criminal status. Rich has scrupulously guarded his personal history, but Ammann reveals the struggle it was—from his family's escape from the Holocaust through their internment in a North African refugee camp to their bitter years as immigrants in the U.S. in the aftermath of WWII. This meticulous account sets the record straight on a reluctant public figure who lost in the court of public opinion, but escaped being tried in a court of law. Photos.

October 1, 2009
A walking-on-eggshells attempt to shed light on arguably the most influential oil trader of our time.

Marc Rich rose to prominence, and billionaire status, in the 1970s by inventing the spot market for oil and by working harder and more aggressively than other commodities traders. His corporation famously traded with apartheid South Africa, Iran under the Ayatollah Khomeini, Cuba, Nigeria under the dictator Sani Abacha, China and Russia. In 1983, then–New York attorney Rudy Giuliani brought more than 50 charges against Rich in a highly publicized indictment that ended with Rich in self-exile, the ruination (or exposure, depending on your perspective) of Rich's name, his tenure on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, his eventual pardon by President Clinton and Rich's near-complete retreat from the public eye. Rich is a polarizing figure, and while Die Weltwoche business editor Ammann admirably attempts to capture his nuances, the author's analyses and observations are conducted with undue caution. Circumspect reportage—the author frequently writes of Rich responding"uneasily" or"warily"—gives the impression that Ammann doesn't wish to jeopardize his position by asking tough questions. This restraint brings unnecessary diffidence to the book, with one surprising exception: a brief, frank interview with one of Rich's commodities traders. Questioned by Ammann about the ethics of trading with oppressive regimes, the anonymous subject points out that the bauxite used to produce the aluminum in Ammann's soda can probably came from an oppressive dictatorship, and the oil heating the interview room probably came from Saudi Arabia."Do the people who criticize our work want to know any of this?" the trader asks. The author assumes that the answer, for most American consumers, is no. To him, Rich and his fellow commodities traders operated, and still operate,"between a sense of reality and self-deception…the name for this gray area is capitalism."

A flawed biography that reveals more about capitalist societies' willful ignorance and ethical conundrums than the secret lives of its inscrutable subject.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

August 15, 2009
Swiss journalist Ammann surely got the scoop of his career when notorious commodities trader Marc Rich agreed to meet with him, which resulted in this remarkable book. Rich fled to Switzerland in 1983 to avoid prosecution for tax fraud; President Clinton's last-day pardon of Rich ignited a firestorm of controversy. As Ammann rightly claims, very little was known about this "most successful and controversial commodities trader the world has ever seen." He offers rare insight into Rich's youth in a Belgian Jewish family who narrowly escaped the Nazis, shows how Rich became involved in the earliest stages of commodities trading, and credits him with inventing the "spot oil market," which ultimately ended control by the "seven sisters" cartel companies (hence the book's title). But it's in regard to Rich's involvement with foreign countries, especially Israel, that Ammann provides the most significant new disclosures. Is Rich a rogue or a philanthropic businessman? Ammann lets readers draw their own conclusion. VERDICT This book reads like a cross between a rags-to-riches saga and a cloak-and-dagger thriller, but it's also an excellent and timely primer on the world of commodities trading within a global economy and will greatly appeal to readers interested in current events.Richard Drezen, Brooklyn, NY

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2009
Marc Rich came to the U.S. as a poor Jewish Holocaust refugee and became one of the worlds richest and most powerful commodities traders, single-handedly breaking the lock on the oil market held by the cartel of Big Oil by inventing the first fully functioning spot oil market. Yet he is not known the world over for his vast entrepreneurial achievements, but rather for fleeing the country in 1983 to avoid charges of tax evasion, and for the controversial last-minute pardon by President Clinton in 2001. For the first time, Rich speaks out about his career, his private life, and the case that cost him his reputation, his wife, and his company. Ammann gives a fair and balanced portrait of this shrewd businessman, who was attacked for political gain by zealous prosecutors, vilified in the media, and dogged by U.S. Marshals, who attempted for 17 years to kidnap him illegally. While the moral debate about Richs activities will surely continue, Ammann presents a compelling story of a life of intrigue, espionage, and brazen chutzpah.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)