When Calouste Gulbenkian died in 1955 at the age of 86, he was the
richest man in the world, known as 'Mr Five Per Cent' for his personal
share of Middle East oil. The son of a wealthy Armenian merchant in
Istanbul, for half a century he brokered top-level oil deals, concealing
his mysterious web of business interests and contacts within a labyrinth
of Asian and European cartels, and convincing governments and oil barons
alike of his impartiality as an 'honest broker'. Today his name is known
principally through the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, to which his
spectacular art collection and most of his vast wealth were bequeathed.
Gulbenkian's private life was as labyrinthine as his business dealings.
He insisted on the highest 'moral values', yet ruthlessly used his
wife's charm as a hostess to further his career, and demanded complete
obedience from his family, whom he monitored obsessively. As a young man
he lived a champagne lifestyle, escorting actresses and showgirls, and
in later life - on doctor's orders - he slept with a succession of
discreetly provided young women. Meanwhile he built up a superb art
collection which included Rembrandts and other treasures sold to him by
Stalin from the Hermitage Museum.
Published to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth, Mr Five Per Cent
reveals Gulbenkian's complex and many-sided existence. Written with full
access to the Gulbenkian Foundation's archives, this is the fascinating
story of the man who more than anyone else helped shape the modern oil
industry.
