The Richest Man in the World

He made more money than anyone in history. And he spent it at a dizzying clip of $330,000 a day, every day of the year. He was Adnan Mohamed Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian middleman who started out with nothing and in twenty-five years parlayed his connections to the Saudi royal family and genius at dealing with people into a fortune of colossal proportions.

Uncle to Dodi Al-Fayed, Princess Diana’s once boyfriend before a fatal car crash and Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist allegedly murdered in Istanbul, Adnan Khashoggi’s American Express bill often exceeded $1 million. When he felt like having spaghetti, he flew to Venice for dinner on one of his three commercial-size airplanes. One of his luxury yachts, the 282-foot Nabila, was considered the most opulent modern yacht afloat and was borrowed for a James Bond movie. He even sold Donald Trump one of his 285-foot luxury super yachts for $200 million, although it is now in the hands of Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal.

This remarkable book is a rare glimpse into a life of opulence beyond most people’s wildest imaginings–a compelling closeup of a complex and driven man who has explored the outer reaches of success, power, and all that money can buy.