The Eccentric Billionaire: John D. MacArthur — Empire Builder, Reluctant Philanthropist, Relentless Adversary
He was a mass of contradictions-a billionaire who wore cheap suits and drove a beat-up car; a brusque and emotionally-distant father who delighted in the company of other people’s children; the high-school drop out who made a fortune in insurance and real estate; the ladies’ man who built a long-lasting partnership- part romantic and part business with his second wife Catherine. The wealthy tycoon who called himself “a simple country boy, ” John D. MacArthur remains one of the most enigmatic and fascinating philanthropists in American history. Stingier than J. Paul Getty, as money-obsessed as Howard Hughes, and as ruthless as Cornelius Vanderbilt, MacArthur was one of the most controversial billionaires this country has ever seen. He rubbed elbows with such luminaries as Bob Hope, President Gerald Ford and Jackie Gleason, yet lived modestly at down-at-the-heels Florida hotel (which he owned), conducting business at a table in its noisy smoke-filled coffee shop. When MacArthur died in 1978 at the age of 80, he was the second wealthiest man in the United States. For nearly thirty years, his name has filtered into the American consciousness through the generous donations of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the bestower of the annual “genius awards” to brilliant individuals in the arts and sciences, but very few of us know the man behind the money. In Nancy Kriplen’s sweeping biography, the man we previously knew so little about comes alive. As an accomplished journalist and author, she reveals the good, bad, and ugly about this brash and colorful American who never wanted to be called a philanthropist. From his arduous childhood as the son of a bullying but gifted traveling evangelist to his rise as the owner of Banker’s Life and Casualty Insurance Company and his eventual role as a real estate magnate, we see how MacArthur built his fortune. Through interviews with MacArthur’s family and friends as well as previously
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