Durch den Kauf des FC Chelsea ist ein bis dahin im Westen völlig Unbekannter schlagartig berühmt geworden: Roman Abramowitsch legte 90 Millionen USDollar für den angeschlagenen Fußballclub hin und kaufte einen Star nach dem anderen. Wer ist der kamerascheue Tycoon, der in nur zehn Jahren zu einem Vermögen von (geschätzten) 8,3 Milliarden US-Dollar gekommen ist? Abramowitsch war stets der rechte Mann am rechten Platz. Als sich die Sowjetunion Anfang der neunziger Jahre öffnete, stieg er in den Ölhandel ein. Als Boris Jelzin die Staatsbetriebe verscherbelte, tat sich Abramowitsch mit den richtigen Partnern zusammen. Als die in Ungnade fielen, übernahm Abramowitsch ihre Anteile. Ganz nebenbei ließ er sich noch zum Gouverneur einer sibirischen Provinz wählen - und sicherte seinen Firmen riesige Steuerersparnisse. Die fesselnde Biografie von Dominic Midgley und Chris Hutchins wartet mit harten Fakten auf und blickt hinter die Kulissen von Geld und Macht. Der Milliardär aus dem Nichts ist die faire Annäherung an eine schillernde Figur, die offensichtlich lieber im Schatten geblieben wäre: Abramowitsch hat bisher die Biografie nicht autorisiert.
Dominic Midgley Book order



- 2005
- 2004
Abramovich. The Billionaire From Nowhere
- 384 pages
- 14 hours of reading
An investigative biography of soccer's richest Russian oil magnate, now the owner of Chelsea FC. Featuring exclusive interviews with some of his closest associates and members of his inner circle, this book will go some way towards unravelling the mystery behind the man with the billions.
- 1998
This biography tells the story of an extraordinary family. Few businessmen in modern times have succeeded in generating such vast riches as Sir James Goldsmith. From winning a huge sum on a bet at Windsor races while still a schoolboy at Eton, he went on to build a personal fortune of more than a billion pounds through a series of audacious takeover deals in both Europe and the United states. That alone would be enough to guarantee his place as a prominent public figure. But the saga of the Goldsmiths does not end there. Goldsmith was a struggling entrepreneur of just 20 when he eloped with the teenage daughter of a Bolivian multimillionaire. Their dash to Scotland made headlines around the world but the marriage born of such heroic rebellion was to be shortlived. Months later, his bride, Isabel Patino, died within hours of their daughter's birth and, within weeks, Goldsmith was plunged into a bitter custody battle with his mother-in-law. To sublimate his grief, Goldsmith threw himself into his business and within years had laid the foundation of his first fortune. In the process he married his secretary, the daughter of a Paris Metro worker, who soon found herself supplanted by one of Britain's foremost noblewomen, the former Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart, a close confidante of Princess Diana. The man whose private life had taken on mythic status did not stop there and his mistress was French aristocrat Laure Boulay de la Meurthe. Of his eight children, his daughter Jemima has already found a place on the international stage following her marriage to the former Pakistani cricket captain, Imran Khan, who hopes one day to lead his country. Sir James had a string of fabulous homes scattered around the world and to shuttle between them he maintained a fleet of three aircraft. Naturally, his entry into politics was conducted on a similarly grand scale. In the run-up to the 1997 general election, he ploughed 20 million into his Eurosceptic Referendum Party in a bid to stamp his will on the government of the day.