Billionaire

James Goldsmith first made the headlines in 1953 when, just out of Eton, he eloped with the daughter of a Bolivian tin magnate, and has frequently made headlines ever since. He has been a gambler since childhood, and his instincts have twice saved and made his fortune - spectacularly so in 1987, when he sold all his investments only weeks before the stock market collapsed. From Goldsmith's legal battles with "Private Eye" to his more recent role as much-publicized convert to the environmental lobby, this book examines a man whose personal life has been as colourful and unconventional as his business career. Ivan Fallon also wrote "The Brothers", a biography of the Saatchis.