Blog Biz

On Christmas evening in 2007, in a Bel Air house, three generations of the Hilton family gathered around the tree. The patriarch, 80-year-old Barron Hilton, told them what would become of his money. His personal fortune stood at an estimated $2. 3 billion. Ninety-seven percent of it was going to charity. The remaining 3% would … Read more

Avevo sessantadue anni e stavo in piedi nell’angolo più lontano di un club privato di Manhattan, mentre un uomo che non avevo mai visto mi indicava un tavolo vicino alla porta della cucina, come se fossi un cameriere capitato lì per errore. Era la festa di fidanzamento di mia figlia. I miei soldi avevano pagato … Read more

I miei genitori mi dissero che non c’era abbastanza spazio per me al ritiro annuale di famiglia. Poi invitarono 122 persone: tutti e sei i miei fratelli, le loro famiglie, i cognati, perfino cugini e amici. Non dissi una parola, agii e basta. Nove ore dopo, mia madre urlava al telefono come non l’avevo mai … Read more

In the summer of 1944, a file landed on the desk of a Japanese intelligence officer. Assembled from intercepted communications, translated newspaper clippings, and reports from military attachés, it was a profile of Lieutenant General George S. Patton Jr. , commander of the U. S. Third Army. The officer’s task was straightforward: understand the man, … Read more

Bylo skoro půlnoc, když zdravotní sestra Hanna Brooksová končila dvanáctihodinovou směnu. Od východu z nemocnice ji dělilo jen pár kroků, když za sebou zaslechla tichý povzdech. Otočila se. Na chodbě před pokojem 214 seděl na invalidním vozíku starší pacient. Večeře před ním zůstala nedotčená. Jeho oči se neodpoutávaly od prázdné chodby. Hanna k němu přistoupila … Read more

On the morning of June 25, 1876, Private Thomas F. O’Neal of the Seventh Cavalry Regiment found himself crossing the Little Bighorn River with Major Marcus Reno’s battalion. The water reached the horses’ bellies. As they emerged on the far bank, the troopers formed fours and galloped toward the largest Indian encampment any of them … Read more

Patricia Helen Kennedy was born on May 6, 1924, into a family that had already decided what its daughters would become. Her parents, Joseph and Rose Kennedy, had built a powerful dynasty on a strict division of labor. The sons were trained for public power, drilled at the dinner table in world affairs and election … Read more

Gli occhi del bambino ruotarono all’indietro al semaforo rosso. La catena della bicicletta continuava a ticchettare sotto la ruota del camion. Un clacson suonò. Un telefono scivolò sotto un sedile. Una voce di madre era ancora dall’altra parte della linea, a metà frase, che diceva a suo figlio di mettersi la giacca. Sangue sul mento. … Read more

By the spring of 1945, the U. S. Third Army’s advance across Germany was capturing German soldiers faster than any administrative system could process. Dozens of generals, hundreds of colonels, and thousands of enlisted men fell into the hands of an army that did not slow down to manage its prisoners. The POW experience in … Read more

When Charles Tyson Yerkes died on December 29, 1905, the newspapers announced that he had left a fortune of $22 million. His widow, Mary, who had stood by him since she was sixteen—through a prison sentence, two cities, and decades of public humiliation—had every reason to believe the money was real. When the lawyers opened … Read more