Do today’s super wealthy playboys lack the style of their Sixties predecessors? We wonder if 2016’s get-rich-quick lotharios lack the class of their old monied forefathers…
The dictionary defines a playboy as ‘a rich man who spends his time and money on expensive things and a life of pleasure.’ But to many holders of the title in the past, maintaining that reputation – for style, glamour and charm – was a very serious job indeed. Yet today things appear to have changed: the super-rich comprise Russian oligarchs, hedge fund managers and IT billionaires whose fortunes were so quickly amassed that they are still getting used to it – and how to spend it. Gone are the days when money slowly passed through generations, giving them time to learn the manners that go along with the privilege.
So have things really changed?
Some of the ‘new boys on the block’ display enviable charm and natural style, of course, while others rejoice in vulgar and conspicuous displays of their wealth, showing off their new toys to a weary audience who have seen it all before. And while some of the richest men in the world have done wonderful things with their wealth – Bill Gates and Warren Buffett spring to mind – they could hardly be described as stylish.
The heydays of playboy style were undoubtedly the Fifties and Sixties: the yachts were wooden with canvas sails, perched on prime slots of the Mediterranean coast at St Tropez; not bloated beasts rammed into overcrowded marinas, ferrying staff and supplies – not to mention guests – to and from the quayside inside the harbours. Their air travel was by modest light aircraft; not commercial airliner-sized planes designed for just 30 passengers. And their purchases were more likely to be fine art than Premier League football clubs.
So let us take a look at some of the finest examples of the species, its habits and habitats. These are some of the most interesting, influential and important playboys of the past 50 years, most of whom were born with a silver spoon in their mouth – and a fortune in the bank.
Gunter Sachs with Brigitte Bardot
The pied piper of the international jet set, who played all the games and sponsored the St Moritz Tobogganing Club. Born into great wealth courtesy of Adam Opel, the founder of the Opel car company, he famously boasted that he had never worked a day in his life. His inheritance allowed him to fund a glamorous lifestyle and naturally he was romantically linked with several of the world’s most beautiful and desirable women. But in 1966, he married French actress Brigitte Bardot in an eight-minute ceremony in Las Vegas, just weeks after they met. In the winter they held court at The Palace Hotel, and in the summer, it was St Tropez, and Juan Les Pins.
The Italian industrialist who ran Fiat was one of the most stylish men of the 20th century and was impossibly handsome and very athletic. He owned fabulous houses and villas, and a series of stunning yachts, including the state-of-the-Art Stealth.
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The Anglo-French entrepreneur was a financier, politician, thinker and environmentalist. His extraordinary energy, astute mind, and shrewd approach led many to consider him a financial genius. Sir James was famous for having three mistresses on three continents. They all gathered at his bedside when he died, which was ironic since he once observed that when a man married his mistress, he was creating a job vacancy.
The urbane Niven, an English actor and best-selling novelist, was excellent company and, thanks to his great friend, Grace Kelly – aka Princess Grace of Monaco – Niven moved in the smartest social circles, and lived the life of a playboy, spending his time at his villa at Cap Ferrat or at his house in Switzerland. Niven was always immaculately dressed, and was at ease in any company – the perfect combination of qualities for a playboy
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An astute businessman and political activist, Birley founded Annabel’s in 1963 and named it after his wife, Lady Annabel, daughter of the 8th Marquess of Londonderry. At the height of its popularity he played host to the Queen, President Richard Nixon, Lord Lucan and Frank Sinatra, to name but a few. By the late Nineties, however, it was looking distinctly old-fashioned. In the words of one member: ‘It had become the sort of place that the young avoided, in case they caught their father there with his mistress.’
Prince Aly Khan with Rita Hayworth
Aly Khan, as he was most commonly known, developed a profound interest in horses, fast cars and women from an early age. As a socialite par excellence and gentleman of style, he was without peer. Despite marrying Joan Guinness in 1936 (later admitting, ‘I thought if I married her, I would stay out of trouble’), he later became infamous for his relationships with high-profile women from actresses Rita Hayworth, Joan Fontaine and Gene Tierney, to Pamela ‘Winston’s-daughter-in-law’ Churchill. His father disapproved of his lifestyle, meaning the aristocratic title of The Aga Khan was passed on to Aly’s eldest son.
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His success with women enabled this Dominican sportsman and socialite to mix with royalty and film stars and own private jets, racing cars and polo ponies. He was charming, attentive and thoughtful, but prone to violent jealousy, gracelessness and being utterly amoral, too. He bedded thousands of women, including such legendary beauties as Ava Gardner, Jayne Mansfield, Eva Peron and Zsa Zsa Gabor. He also married two of the richest women in the world – first Doris Duke, then Barbara Hutton – and slept with another millionairess, Tina Onassis.
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Starting in 1952, the multi-billionaire Greek shipping tycoon had the world’s biggest supertankers built for his fleet. Propelled by both the Suez Crisis and an increasing demand for oil, he and rival Aristotle Onassis became giants in global shipping. He was also a noted thoroughbred horse breeder and racer. Meanwhile, he was married five times, although he also made time to have an affair with Aly Khan’s old paramour Pamela Churchill.
Aristotle – commonly called Ari or Aristo Onassis – was a Greek shipping magnate and businessman who amassed the Globe’s largest privately owned shipping fleet and was one of the world’s richest and most famous men. He was known for his business success, great wealth and also his personal life, including his marriage to Athina Livanos, daughter of shipping tycoon Stavros G. Livanos, his longstanding affair with the opera singer Maria Callas and his marriage in 1968 to Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of the American president John F. Kennedy.
This article was taken from our July/August issue. Subscribe here.
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