Chapter 5 Summary and Analysis

Jesselson's tenure at Philipp Brothers was during an era when relationships were forged by trust, not by corporate lawyers. There was no need for golden parachutes or buy-outs. "Lehrlings" like Marc Rich were trained in-house and considered the leaders of tomorrow. Being advanced merely required the ability to tame the furies of the dynamic markets. Many of the new recruits worked under the tutelage of Sam Fishman, the master mover of the precious metals. Not only could Fishman distribute Philipp Brothers metals around the world, he was masterful at calming the frayed nerves of his anxious customers.

Marc Rich began his career at Philipp Brothers earning $60 per week, working under Fishman from whom he would learn the secrets of shipping metals worldwide. While Rich's contemporaries found him aloof and sometimes explosive, Jesselson seemed to bond with him. Rich was the company's...