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!”