The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich

area is capitalism.
    Strolling through the snowy gardens of the Villa Rose, I thought of an intriguing question. The John Templeton Foundation had recently asked leading scientists, economists, scholars, and public figures: Does the free market corrode moral character? “It depends,” John Gray, emeritus professor at the London School of Economics, answered. “The traits of character most rewarded by free markets,” he said as if he had been asked to comment on Marc Rich, “are entrepreneurial boldness, the willingness to speculate and gamble, and the ability to seize or create new opportunities.” Gray added, “It is worth noting that these are not the traits most praised by conservative moralists.” 2
    “Yes,” a senior Marc Rich + Co. director with vast experience all over the world once confessed to me, “sometimes we had to make a Faustian bargain to clinch the deal.” The words resonated in my head for quite some time.
A Faustian bargain.
Nowadays this phrase is usually used to describe self-serving actions and moral sacrifices—a pact with the devil in order to gain power, wealth, or influence—but in
Faust: A Tragedy
, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s greatest work, the scholar Heinrich Faust is not simply a ruthless egoist. He represents men who strive for achievement and who want to test their own limitations. Faust stands for the scientist who breaks conventions in order to discover “what holds the world together in its innermost.” He is also misled—someone who would purchase short-term profit with long-term pain. We may see Marc Rich as a kind of modern Faust of the commodity age. He is, not unlike Faust, a driven individual who strives for success and recognition. He perfected trading methods precisely because he was willing to push the boundaries and break taboos. His power also came from trading with the “devils” of the world.
    The air coming off Lake Lucerne was crisp and clear. I could hearthe ringing of the sheep bells from the neighboring farm. A mist rose from the surface of the lake, where—despite the weather—a solitary fisherman made his way across the lake. The snowy hills along the opposite shoreline looked as if they had been sprinkled with powdered sugar. It was all bewitchingly beautiful. “You must be a lucky man,” I said to the most successful and controversial commodities trader the world has ever seen. Rich looked out over the sparkling surface of the lake and remained silent for some time. Then, almost as if he were speaking to himself, the King of Oil quietly replied, “Sometimes.”