Lunch with the FT: Ron Perelman

Yet, each time, he married again. In Anna’s case, he says, “she wanted  children and I would not say no to a young woman who wanted children. I think if  you’re going to have children you should be married.” So at 70 and with 10  grandchildren, Perelman now has two young boys under three years old. “The  one-year-old slept with us last night. It’s such a treat. It’s such a miracle,” he beams, sounding more forgiving than I am after my bed is invaded by  infants.

Doing business runs in the Perelman family. Raymond Perelman, the son of a  Lithuanian immigrant who had founded American Paper Products in 1916, sounds  like a prototype of his son, building the Philadelphia business into a paper,  metals and freight group through acquisitions and an exacting approach to  business and family. Perelman says his father, now approaching 96, “works every  day and still has his eye on pretty girls”.

Ron was sweeping floors in his father’s factories, aged 12, and after  university he became a foundry manager. By 34, he was chief operating officer  but wanted the title of president, which his father would not give up. Perelman  split from his father, turning to his first wife and a bank to fund his first  acquisition. That deal gave him 40 per cent of a jewellery group trading far  below book value. By splitting up the company and riding a rise in diamond and  gold prices, he made his first independent fortune.

I finish my pasta and see that Perelman has eaten less than a quarter of his  sole. Even so, when the waiter comes by, he says: “All done, thank you.  Perfect!”

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