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Lindsey Graham
Want to get more from business movers? Subscribe to Wondery plus for early access to new episodes, ad free listening and exclusive content you can't find anywhere else. Join Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. A Listener Note this episode contains references to suicide. It may not be suitable for all audiences. It's 11am on November 5, 1991. In Los Cristianos harbor on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, Gus Rankin prowls the deck of Robert Maxwell's luxury yacht, the Lady Ghislaine. As the yacht's captain, it's Gus's job to look after Robert while they're at sea. The Lady Ghislaine spent last night sailing the warm waters off Tenerife, and Gus docked her at Los Cristianos just over an hour ago. Now he's wondering what Robert has planned for the day, but Gus can't find him. As Gus descends below deck, he bumps into a member of the crew coming out of the galley. Hey, have you seen Mr. Maxwell? Not today, no. Has he asked for breakfast yet? No, why? No one's seen him this morning. Oh, he's not been feeling well, has he? Probably still asleep. No, he never sleeps this late. Have you tried his stateroom? Gus pauses for a moment. Robert's known for his volcanic temper, and Gus usually doesn't want to wake him if he's still in bed. But Robert is normally an early riser, and Gus has an ominous feeling that something's not right. No, I haven't. Come with me. Let's do it Together, Gus and the crew member walk along the passageway to Robert's stateroom. There's no answer. Mr. Maxwell. He's probably still asleep. Mr. Maxwell, you'll wake him up. What if he's had a heart attack? He might need help. That's locked. Mr. Maxwell. Hey, have you tried his phone? No. There's a telephone down the hallway. You go call him and I'll listen. Gus presses his ear to the door as a crew member dials the number for Robert's stateroom. Gus can hear the phone ringing on the other side of the door. Nah, he's not picking up. I think we gotta go in there. Well, rather you than me. Gus takes the master key out of his pocket, unlocks the door and peers inside. Mr. Maxwell? Robert's bathrobe is crumpled on the floor, but there's no sign of Robert himself. Gus cautiously enters the room. Mr. Maxwell, are you all right? Bob? The bed is empty and the bathroom, too. He's not here. Where can he have gotten to? An appalling thought suddenly strikes Gus. We were at sea last night. Maybe we should search the boat. I've already checked everywhere three times. I mean, if he's not here, then. I mean. No, surely not. Where else could he be? I think we've got to report this to London. Mr. Maxwell seems to be missing. It wasn't long before Spanish Coast Guard helicopters and speedboats were scouring the waters around the Canary Islands. No one had seen Robert Maxwell for hours, and the fear was he'd gone overboard during the night. Robert had come to Tenerife to get away from his troubles at home. But the crisis in his business empire was only deepening. And Robert Maxwell had disappeared. Apple Card is the perfect card for your holiday shopping when you use Apple Card on your iPhone, you'll earn up to 3% daily cash back on every purchase, including products at Apple like a new iPhone 16 or Apple Watch Ultra. Apply now in the Wallet app on your iPhone subject to credit approval. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City branch terms and more at Apple applecard.com Business Movers is sponsored by Grammarly. If you're anything like me, and I bet you are, then you like to find the best option. Could be Italian restaurants, car insurance, vacation spots, a lot of things. But sometimes the best option is not at all obvious. Like, have you used any AI tools for work recently? Well, Grammarly has over 15 years of experience in secure, private, responsible enterprise grade AI and is trusted by teams at one third of the Fortune 500. Their enterprise grade security measures protect your organization's data and keep your private information private. And it's designed to fit your unique professional needs, working seamlessly with the apps you use every day. So for the best AI option, join 70,000 teams and 30 million people who trust Grammarly to work faster and hit their goals while keeping their data Secure. Go to Grammarly.comenterprise to learn more. Grammarly Enterprise Ready AI from Wonder E. I'm Lindsey Graham and this is business members. In April 1990, the Sunday Times published the Rich List, its annual survey of the wealthiest people in the United Kingdom. And for the first time, 66 year old media tycoon Robert Maxwell cracked the top 10. According to the newspaper's estimates, Robert had a combined worth of between 1.2 and 1.5 billion pounds, about 4 billion US dollars today. Over his four decade career, Robert had amassed a wide portfolio of business interests. He'd gotten his first break when he set up the scientific publishing house Pergamon Press. He had then entered the big league when he became the owner of the Daily Mirror newspaper. But the move that had propelled him up the rich list was his high profile acquisition of American publishing house Macmillan. That takeover made Maxwell Communication Corporation one of the biggest firms in the world. But Roberts glittering business empire was all an illusion. He'd borrowed heavily to fund his purchases and by 1990 he was loaded up with so much debt that the value of his liabilities was greater than his assets. With interest payments eating into profits, Robert began taking money from his own employees pension fund. To cover the holes in his balance sheet. And to disguise this, Robert hid the pension fund behind a complex administrative smokescreen of shell companies, umbrella corporations and offshore tax havens. But Robert was no fool. He knew that he couldn't hide his dire finances forever. He needed to find a way to pay off his debts and repay the pension fund. Because if he didn't, his house of cards would soon come crashing down around him. This is the fourth episode in our four part series on media mogul Robert Maxwell Overboard. It's June 1990 at Robert Maxwell's penthouse in London, England. Almost a year and a half before Robert's disappearance. Robert drums his fingers on the table as he reads through the half yearly accounts of Maxwell Communication Corporation. They don't make great reading. The company is heavily in debt. Robert looks up as one of his assistants answers the door and ushers in Basil Brooks, Maxwell Communications Finance Director. He's here to discuss the accounts. Robert puts the papers down and forces a smile. Good morning, Basil. Take a seat. I don't think this will take long. Thank you, Mr. Maxwell. Robert holds up the financial report. And thank you for sending this over. I'm pleased to see that everything looks shipshape. Basil seems confused, but Robert continues. Before Basil can interrupt. I think you'll agree that a significant dividend increases in order. Something that really signals confidence in our ongoing success. Say 10%. Basil looks like a deer in the headlights, but he finally manages to get a word. Mr. Maxwell, I'm not sure we're looking at the same document. Maxwell Communication isn't in a position to increase dividends. And definitely not by 10%. I actually had in mind a decrease. Robert's face clouds over. Out of the question. Drop in dividends would send completely the wrong message. Maxwell Communication is growing. It'll soon be a 5 billion pound business. Lowering the dividend. No, no, no. That'll be seen as a sign of failure. But Mr. Maxwell, the business is growing too quickly. Too quickly? There's no such thing there is if we don't have the cash to pay for our growth. Every acquisition we've made over the last few years has been paid for by debt. Our businesses are really owned by the banks. They're not ours until we pay off that debt. And we can't do that by giving away our money in dividends. Robert feels his hackles rising. He knows that Maxwell Communication is in a tough position, but he sees Basil's attitude as little more than surrender. Tell me, as a director on the board of this company, isn't it your job to serve the interests of the shareholders? Yes. And don't you think our shareholders want dividends to rise? Or do they want them to fall? They would want them to rise, but no, no, no. But they want dividends to rise? Yes. Well, then it's settled. 10%. That should show people just how strong we really are. For years, Robert Maxwell had used generous dividend payments to shareholders to disguise Maxwell Communication Corporation's poor financial outlook. But each time he did, he dug his company into a slightly deeper hole. Dividends took cash out of the business. Cash the firm desperately needed to pay off its debt. Robert couldn't sustain the tactic indefinitely, so sooner or later, something would have to give. In July 1990, Maxwell Communication Corporation published its latest annual report. Before tax profits were lower than expected. But Robert Maxwell still put a positive spin on the results. He repeated his regular claim that Maxwell Communication was on track to achieve a valuation of £5 billion, a modern equivalent of around US$20 billion. And he pointed to the company's rising dividends as proof that the firm was healthy and profitable. But a reporter at the London based Financial Times wasn't convinced that everything was as rosy as the annual report claimed. He could see that Maxwell Communications debts were growing fast. Over the past financial year, interest payments had soared from 17 to 108 million pounds. Robert's accountants had tried to disguise the impact of this exposed exploding debt by selling off real estate. But the reporter realized that once the value of those one time revenues was taken off, Maxwell Communications earnings didn't even cover the dividend payments it was making to shareholders. The company was losing a lot of money. Intrigued, the reporter decided to look up Maxwell Communications past annual reports and dig into the details of the company's balance sheets over the previous few years. What he discovered floored him. The recent loss wasn't a one off event. It was the continuation of a trend. Maxwell Communication was not a profitable business. It only survived by selling off assets. And when those sales were scrubbed from the Books. The company was left deeply in the red and its losses were increasing every year. The reporter wrote up his findings in a short article for Financial Times. He hadn't uncovered any evidence of wrongdoing, but he did identify that Maxwell Communication was built on shaky foundations. And when he read the report, Robert Maxwell was worried. The Financial Times was widely read by bankers, stockbrokers and investors. And if Maxwell Communications shareholders were spooked by the article and decided to sell en masse, then they would send the company's share price into a nosedive. That would be a disaster, signaling that the markets had no confidence in Maxwell Communications long term future and hampering Robert's ability to borrow more money in the future. Robert could not afford to let the share price fall. So he decided to artificially increase demand for Maxwell Communications shares and prop up their price by buying them himself. As soon as the Financial Times article was published, Robert spent 75 million pounds of his personal wealth on Maxwell Communication shares. But it wasn't enough to stop the price from slipping. Within weeks, the share price had dropped over 10%. And thanks to financial regulations, Robert was barred from personally buying any more shares in the company for the next two months. But Robert was never one to let rules stop him. He quickly came up with a scheme to bypass the regulations and buy more shares of his company. Bishopsgate Investment Management was the company that Robert had created to administer his company's pension funds. And under Robert's orders, this firm bought £35 million worth of Maxwell Communication shares. Essentially, Robert was using money reserved for his employees retirements to protect the share price of Maxwell Communication. And though Robert had borrowed money from his pension funds in the past, those transactions were mostly just to cover temporary shortfalls in cash flow. This time he did not have a plan to repay the fund. And it did not go unnoticed. Robert's misuse of the pension funds came to the attention of senior executives at his other major businesses. Mirror Group newspapers. They had noticed that money was being taken out of their pension fund and that the investment capital designed to pay employees in their retirement was going down, not up. Robert reassured his colleagues that the outgoing transactions were routine. He told them that he'd invested the pension funds elsewhere and that the money would be soon returned with interest. Robert deployed his usual confident bluster, but even he wasn't sure they believed him. So he had listening devices installed in his top executives offices. There, every conversation was taped, allowing Robert to keep tabs on the loyalty of his employees. As the walls closed in around him, Robert began trusting no one but despite the extraordinary lengths that Robert went to Maxwell Communications, share price continued to slide. So in August 1990, Robert made a third effort to prop up the value of his company. He approached investment banking giant Goldman Sachs with a proposal. Robert asked the firm to buy 15 million shares in Maxwell Communication on his behalf. He'd then buy the stock back from the bank in three months time, when London financial regulations allowed him to. Maxwell Communications shares were trading at 170pence each. But Robert promised to pay Goldman Sachs 185. So the bank quickly agreed, looking at a guaranteed profit of over £2 million. For Robert, it was a different matter. He was essentially buying the shares on credit. And if Maxwell Communication share price did not rise in the intervening three months, he could stand to lose millions. The share price did not rise. And as doubts about the company's profitability spread throughout the financial world, Maxwell Communications value fell even further. By the time Robert's bill to Goldman Sachs was due, the shares that Robert agreed to pay 185 pence for were now worth just 155. Robert ended up paying almost 28 million pounds for shares that were worth only 23, a 5 million pound loss. But that loss was just a drop compared to Robert's larger debts. In the fall of 1990, a 200 million pound loan came due for repayment. This debt, worth over three quarters of a billion dollars today, had helped fund Robert's corporate acquisitions. Defaulting on it would plunge Maxwell Communication into bankruptcy. Robert tried to negotiate with the lenders and push back the due date. But the banks were reluctant. Thanks to Maxwell Communications falling share price, they were unwilling to extend the terms unless some of the loan was paid off first. But Robert had no cash on hand. So to raise the money he needed, you would have to embark on a fire sale of assets. Maxwell Communications sold off its encyclopedia business and its shares in a banknote printer. Robert then announced that his 1/5 stake in British television channel Central TV, his half share in MTV Europe and his 12.5% stake in French TV channel TF1 were all up for sale too. But it wasn't enough to give the banks what they demanded. Robert would have to sell the company that was closest to his heart. More than 40 years earlier, Pergamon Press had been Robert's launchpad into the business world. He'd pioneered a new model of academic publishing that had made him a fortune and given him the funds to break into the newspaper industry. For years, Pergamon had been Robert's most constant and reliable source of income. But now he needed cash. After weeks of tense negotiations, Dutch scientific publishing house Elsevier agreed to buy Pergamon for £440 million. This deal would give Robert some much needed breathing room. But even £440 million would not be enough to clear all his debts. Maxwell Communications still owed over a billion pounds to other lenders, and Robert was running out of assets he could sell. He was now perilously close to disaster. His reputation as a successful and wealthy tycoon was in danger of falling apart. But even when he stood on the brink of total failure, Robert Maxwell was still Robert Maxwell. He still believed in himself. And when the chance came, he couldn't resist rolling the dice one last time. Business Movers is sponsored by Monarch. How much did you spend on groceries this month? I have to admit, if you ask me, I do not know the answer to that. Certainly not off the top of my head. And a month ago, if I were to try to find out, I'd have to scour statements from like three different credit cards plus my checking account. It's a lot of work, but there is a better way. Monarch is the top rated all in one personal finance app. You get a comprehensive view of all your accounts, investments, transactions and more. Create custom budgets, track progress toward financial goals and collaborate with your partner. Plus, Monarch helps you make smart money moves to get you closer to your goals. And now get an extended 30 day free trial when you go to monarchmoney.commovers. i love the Monarch Dashboard. A quick at a glance financial check in how much did I spend on groceries? Well, well, it's right there. Categorized automatically. After trying out Monarch for myself, I understand why it's the top rated personal finance app. And right now listeners of this show will get an extended 30 day free trial when you go to monarchmoney.commovers. that's M O N A R C H M o n e y.com movers for your extended 30 day free trial. Business Movers is sponsored by the Walker Webcast. If you're looking to learn more about commercial real estate, entrepreneurship, leadership and the economy, where would you turn? Well, a good start might be the CEO of one of the largest commercial real estate finance and advisory services firms in the nation. But how are you ever going to get on their calendar? Ah, you don't have to tune into the Walker Webcast hosted by Willie Walker, CEO of Walker and Dunlap, an unparalleled leader in commercial real estate. Listen in on conversations with guests like a Rod, economist Dr. Peter Linneman and Walker and Dunlap experts. Learn more@walkerdunlup.com podcast and be sure to follow Walker and Dunlap on all your favorite social media channels. That's walkerdunlup.com podcast. The Walker webcast insights for life it's March 1991. In an office in Manhattan, a few days after the sale of Pergamon Press was completed, Robert Maxwell flips through a stack of documents with Jim Hogue, the publisher of the New York Daily News. For the last few years, the Daily News has been in a free fall. The tabloid newspaper once sold 2.4 million copies a day, but recently its circulation has slumped to just 300,000. Advertising revenue has plummeted along with it, and now the paper is losing $2 million every month. It's unsustainable. So a few days ago, Jim announced that the Daily News would cease operations unless a buyer could be found to take the paper off his hands. That caught Robert Maxwell's attention. Robert points at a number on the Daily News latest balance sheet in front of him and looks up at Jim Hogue. This figure for payroll? That can't be right. Jim leans over. Yeah, I'm afraid it is. That's an exorbitant amount. What on earth are you paying your reporters? The writers aren't the problem, it's the printers and distributors. They're both heavily unionized and they can push a hard bargain. Oh, I know all about that. Have you tried non union workers? Yeah, but it got ugly. Picket lines, protest marches, oh, and all the rest. But this is in England, Bob. The unions here are backed by the mafia. When we tried to break a strike, they firebombed our delivery truck. A door opens and two waiters enter, each carrying a silver tray topped with a dome shaped lid. The waiters place the trays in front of Robert and Jim and then lift the lids to reveal their lunch. Robert is about to dig in when he suddenly thinks of a way to send a signal that he's not a man to be messed with. Without warning, Robert swipes his tray off the table. This is cold. Get me something else. One of the waiters hurries over and begins clearing it up. Apologetically, Robert pretends to resume examining the Daily News accounts, but he's actually watching for Jim's reaction out of the corner of his eye. Jim stares at Robert and he lays down his fork at the side of his plate. Yeah, this is no good. Take it away, please. Robert smiles to himself. Jim is a follower, not a leader. Robert's not surprised that the union's got the better of it. Well, you may have failed to get those wages down, Jim, but I won't. I know union thugs and they're all the same, really. They talk big, but they've not come up against Bob Maxwell. Robert Maxwell was supposed to be selling businesses instead of buying them. But he couldn't resist a bargain. The owners of the New York Daily News agreed to pay Robert $60 million just to take the paper off their hands. This influx of cash was welcome. Robert needed as much as he could get his hands on. But there was a reason the owners were so eager to sell. Despite Robert's confidence, this American newspaper would soon become just another weight dragging him down. Several years before he bought the New York Daily News, Robert Maxwell had transformed the fortunes of British tabloid newspaper the Daily Mirror. He hadn't done it by boosting revenues. Instead he'd slashed costs by renegotiating contracts with the paper's heavily unionized printers. Now that he was the owner of the Daily News, he decided to pursue the same tactic. In New York, Robert summoned the leaders of nine influential unions and sat them down in separate offices. Robert wanted them to accept that layoffs were the only way to save the paper. He shuttled back and forth between the different leaders, playing them off against each other. He tried to create a sense of urgency by placing a five day deadline on the talks and told the union leaders that if a deal was not agreed by then, he'd cancel his purchase of the Daily News and the newspaper would close. But the union leaders quickly realized that Robert was not the expert negotiator he thought he was. They couldn't help but notice that Robert enjoyed publicity. Every morning and evening he paraded in front of New York's media to update them on the progress of negotiations. But the more Robert talked up his chances of success in public, the weaker his hand became in private. Robert was making such a big deal of his triumphant entry into the American newspaper industry that union leaders figured he wouldn't be prepared to walk away, no matter what his threats were. To the contrary, that gave the union leaders an advantage. They drew out the talks until the very last minute. And sure enough, the nearer the deadline got, the more concessions they extracted. Then, only hours before Robert's self imposed deadline expired, the deal was done in public. Robert bullishly claimed that he had secured the Daily News future. The unions had agreed that the newspaper could make some layoffs. And according to Robert, the deal would save the Daily News $72 million a year. In reality, though, the savings were nowhere near that, the Daily News would continue losing money under Robert's ownership. And it was a loss that Robert could no longer afford. By the end of March 1991, Robert had sold Pergamon Press and had been paid a lump sum to take over the New York Daily News. Even so, Maxwell Communication Corporation was still in the red. With the company's share price weakening further, bankers were increasingly reluctant to lend Robert money to reset his financial position. Robert needed to pay off yet another chunk of his debt. And there was only one thing left to sell. Robert had to take Mirror Group Newspapers public. Maxwell Communication had been listed on the London Stock Exchange for several years. But until now the Mirror Group had been owned privately by Robert alone. He had no intention of selling the entire business. The newspaper gave him influence and status in Britain. He didn't want to surrender, so instead Robert decided to sell 49%. That way he'd retain majority control of the business while raising the cash he needed to pay off his many debts, including replenishing his employees pension fund. Robert approached his favored merchant bank and told him he wanted to make 500 million pounds from the initial public offering, the equivalent of one and a half billion dollars today. But the bankers considered that an unrealistic target and rejected the offer. So did the next bank. Only on the third attempt did Robert find a bank prepared to take on the offer offering at his desired valuation. Then in April 1991, Robert called a press conference to announce that the Mirror Group was going public. With his usual bravado, Robert claimed that the listing would represent the start of a new era of growth at the newspaper and that the Daily Mirror would soon become the best selling daily newspaper in Britain. But if Robert expected the reporters in attendance to be impressed, he was disappointed. Instead, they were openly skeptical about the Mirror's prospects and they asked embarrassing questions about Robert's past and the rumors swirling around the health of his companies. Robert was irritated but not deterred. He was intent on making the stock offer a success. And in the weeks leading up to the listing, Robert ensured that it received huge publicity in his newspapers with almost daily articles encouraging readers to make the most of the opportunity and buy a stake in the company. Finally, on May 17th, 1991, the Mirror Group was publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange. Shares were initially sold at 125 pence. But for Robert to achieve his target of 500 million pounds, that price needed to rise substantially. Robert kept a close eye on the figures as they came in. And when the bell rang to end the first day of trading, he was staggered. The share price had gone up, but only by half a penny. The bigger investment groups had shown little interest in Mirror Group shares. Traders didn't see how the company's value would rise in the years ahead. Robert had already cut costs considerably and the broader newspaper market was in steady decline. Robert had hoped to use the issue of shares to pay off his debts. But in the end, he made less than half of the £500 million he hoped for, and the listing was widely described as a flop. Just one year after being named on the Sunday Times Rich list, Robert's finances were in freefall. And so was his reputation. By October 1991, Robert was waging a secret battle to keep his businesses afloat. Six months had passed since the Mirror Group newspapers went public, but Robert's financial situation had not improved. And now his standing as a successful businessman was about to take another hit. Robert received word that a book was about to be published that contained explosive allegations about him. According to author Seymour Hershey, Robert was involved in illegal arms trading on behalf of Mossad, the Israeli secret service. Robert angrily rejected these allegations and the book provided no persuasive evidence of wrongdoing. Even so, Robert was well aware that rival newspapers would relish the opportunity to spread rumors about him. So he immediately tried to limit the damage. He sued Hersh and his publishers for libel and threatened to add anyone who repeated the allegations to the suit. But there was one group of people who could discuss the contents of the book without the fear of legal blowback. According to British law, members of Parliament could not be sued for anything they said in the House of Commons. Protected by this parliamentary privilege, two MPs brought up the matter in the House and suggested that the British intelligence services should investigate Hersh's claims. This political intervention changed everything, because parliamentary privilege did not just mean that MPs could discuss anything they wanted to. It also meant that the press was free to report on what they had said. So now that the MPs had mentioned the allegations about Robert in Parliament, British newspapers could repeat them without exposing themselves to threats of libel. Robert's rivals were quick to take advantage, with right wing tabloid the Daily Mail, even serializing excerpts from the controversial book. So, not for the first time, Robert felt betrayed by the British establishment. His old colleagues in the House of Commons and his peers in the newspaper industry had hindered his attempts to shut down the story about him. But the gossip did not just harm Robert's reputation. It sent the Maxwell Communications share price tumbling yet again. It dropped 6 pence on a single day before closing at 80 pence a share in total, the value of the company had fallen 30% in four months and only seemed to be going one way. At this point, several merchant banks, including Goldman Sachs, Citibank and Lehman Brothers, decided that they could not wait any longer. They demanded immediate repayment of Robert's overdue loans, but the money simply wasn't there. As panicking company directors tried to contact Robert and reporters demanded statements from him on his collapsing business empire, Robert decided there was only one thing to do. He would go on vacation. On the November 1, 1991, Robert left his office in London. He claimed that he had a cold, needed a few days in the sun to shake it off, and if anyone needed him, he'd be on his private yacht. Klaviyo powers smarter digital relationships for more than 151,000 successful brands, including Headley and Bennett, Fishwife and Dagny Dover. Klaviyo's unified data and marketing automation platform turns your customer data into personalized connections to make every moment count across AI powered email, SMS analytics and more. Build smarter digital relationships with your customers. Visit K L A v I y o.com to make every moment count. It's 11am on November 5, 1991, at the offices of Maxwell Communication Corporation in London, a few days after Robert Maxwell went on vacation. Robert's 31 year old son, Kevin Maxwell is pale as he hangs up the phone. He was recently made CEO of the family company and expected to be confronted by tough situations. But he's just received an alarming phone call about his father he did not expect. He slumps back in his seat and stares at the ceiling. For a few moments, Kevin wants to be alone and is about to bark at whoever's at his office door. But then he sees it's his older brother Ian, another director at Maxwell Communication Corporation. Kevin weighs him in. Shut the door. What is it? I just had Gus Rankin on the phone from Tenerife. He says he's missing. What do you mean? Who's missing? Dad's missing. I don't understand. Gus says no one's seen him this morning, but apparently he was walking on the deck last night. They think he must have fallen in the water. Oh. Oh God. Are they looking for him? Of course. I mean, is there a search? What about the Coast Guard? Yeah, they're holding off on the Coast Guard. Why? I need a moment to think. What's there to think about? The yacht was at sea last night. If he went into the water, there's no way he's still alive. But as soon as they make the call to the Coast Guard, the news will leak. We have to think this through. Does mom know? Kevin shakes his head. She'll want to go out there. I can go with her. No, no. Ghislaine can. If the two of us go, then there's no one left in charge here. Kevin. What's more important, dad or the business? How do you think he would answer that question? Ian nods. Their father would always have chosen business. You don't. You don't think he. I mean. I mean, with everything that's going on. Dad did not commit suicide, Ian. He wouldn't. But that doesn't matter right now. If news gets out that he's missing, it'll send investors into a panic. We need to step up. That's what dad would want, for sure. I'm going to ask the Stock Exchange to suspend trading and Maxwell Communication and the Mirror Group. You think they'll agree to that? Suspending trading is supposed to be an emergency measure. This is an emergency. And I need you to tell mom and ring Ghislaine. Arraign for the jet to fly them to Tenerife. But don't tell anyone about what's going on unless they absolutely need to know. If the press gets hold of this before we suspend trading, then there'll be nothing left. Ian nods and then looks down at the floor. They've searched the boat properly, though, right? I mean, there's no way he could still be. No. No. He's gone, Ian. It's up to us now. Eight hours after Kevin and Ian Maxwell found out that their father was missing, a Spanish fisherman spotted a body floating in the Atlantic Ocean off Tenor Reef. It was Robert Maxwell, and one of the biggest names in British business was dead. And now everything he fought so hard to hide during his lifetime was about to be revealed. Just as Kevin and Ian Maxwell had feared. It did not take long for the news to spread. Robert Maxwell's sudden demise was soon the lead story in every paper and news bulletin in Britain. Robert's own newspaper, the Daily Mirror, splashed his smiling photo on the front page under the headline, the man who Saved the Mirror. Inside, the coverage stretched to 14 pages of fawning tribute. Robert was buried five days after his death. He'd spent his entire adult life striving to be accepted as a British gentleman. But in his 60s, Robert had come to realize that whatever he did, he would not be truly accepted in the country he'd made his home. So he amended his will and declared a wish to be buried in Israel instead. But even as his funeral got underway in Jerusalem, exactly how Robert had died remained a mystery. Three Spanish pathologists had been unable to agree on the cause of death. One said he had drowned. One said he had a heart attack. And one said he'd had a heart attack and drowned. Conspiracy theories thrived in this uncertainty. Many people assumed that Robert had simply slipped on the deck of his yacht and fallen over the side. But others insisted that he'd been murdered by the Israeli secret service to conceal his illegal arms trading on their behalf. Or they suggested that Robert had been so ashamed of the allegations against him that he'd thrown himself into the sea. No one saw what happened, so the truth would never be known. But even if Robert took some mysteries with him to the grave, his death led other secrets to come to the surface. Robert's businesses were left under the leadership of his sons. Ian was named chairman of the Mirror Group while Kevin took charge at Maxwell Communication Corporation. But it was only after Robert's death that Kevin and Ian discovered how bad things really were. With each passing day, the full extent of Robert's financial problems became clearer, as did the methods he'd used to disguise them. On November 17, 1991, a week after Robert's funeral, the Independent on Sunday newspaper reported that the Sirius fraud squad had opened an investigation into Maxwell Communication Corporation. Then a month later, the Guardian newspaper revealed that the Mirror Group's employee pension fund was missing £350 million. Ian and Kevin Maxwell both resigned from their positions and concentrated on protecting themselves from suspicions that they were also party to their father's crimes. And as the scandal grew, people who paid emotional tributes to Robert just weeks earlier now scrambled to condemn him as a fraud. Even the once loyal Daily Mirror got in on the act. Its previous mournful coverage of Robert's death was replaced with a blunt headline that read Millions missing from Mirror. Including the pension fund shortfall. Robert died with debts of 763 million pounds, the equivalent of over 2 billion US dollars today. The British government would step in to partly replenish the pension fund. But the people who ended up paying the most for Robert's fraud were his employees. While he died on a 15 million pound private yacht. They faced a future of increased financial insecurity as a result of his actions. And within six weeks of Robert's death, the empire he'd built over a lifetime was no more. Maxwell Communication Corporation went bankrupt as the banks called in their loans, and the businesses under its umbrella were either closed or sold to new owners. The New York Daily News also filed for bankruptcy, and the British Daily Mirror would barely survive. And gleefully reporting on it all was the Daily Mirror's main tabloid competitor, the sun, owned by Robert's old rival, Rupert Murdoch. On December 12, 1991, just as Robert's business empire was in its death rows, the sun published an expose on his his fraud under the headline Mirror, Mirror on the wall. Who's the Biggest Crook of All? Robert's reputation was in ruins. He'd arrived in Britain as a penniless refugee before reaching the heights of business, sports, politics and media. But that is not the story people would remember. Instead, the name Robert Maxwell would become synonymous with deceit, corporate malpractice, and a ruthless determination to get his own way, no matter the cost. Robert's business had been built on lies and bravado. He cheated his partners and deceived his investors and used accounting trickery to disguise the truth. Robert Maxwell, the brilliant billionaire businessman disappeared from a yacht in the Atlantic Ocean. But the truth was, he'd never really been there at all. From Wondering this is episode four of the Missing Mogul for Business Mountain. On the next episode from Oxford University, business historian professor Christopher McKenna discusses how Robert Maxwell got away with his crimes and the scandals that have continued to plague the corporate world in the years since his death. If you like business movers, you can unlock exclusive episodes found nowhere else on Wondery plus and access new episodes early and ad free. Join Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out survey@wondery.com survey if you'd like to learn more about Robert Maxwell, we recommend the Mystery of Robert Maxwell by John Preston, the Outsider by Tom Bauer, and Maxwell's Fall by Roy Greenslade. This episode contains reenactments and dramatized details. And while in most cases we can't know exactly what was said, all our dramatizations are based on historical research. Business Movers is hosted, edited and executive produced by me, Lindsey Graham for Airship Audio editing by Mohammad Shazib Sound design by Gabriel Guel Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written and researched by Scott Reeves. Executive producers are William Simpson for airship and Aaron O'Flaherty, Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marsha Louie for Wondering Now. Streaming on Prime Video. You can call me Detective Alex Cross. Based on characters created by James Patterson. Detective Cross, you've been doing this a long time and you're the best. And created by Ben Watkins. Multiple victims I connected to this comes a thrilling new series. He's a serial killer. I don't kill for fun. This thinks he's the smartest guy in the room. There's a lot of sickos out there. He actually believes he's an artist. You're going to be part of a masterpiece. This is the product of an unbelievable obsession. Aldous Hodge is DC's finest. Alex Cross. If we don't find him soon, we may never have another chance again. 30 years knowing Cross, I learn to trust his gut. I get inside his head. The clock's ticking. He was hitting my house. He messed with my kids. He's got to be getting close. You think you can stop him? I know I can. Cuz I know him better than he knows himself. Cross. A new original series only on Prime Video. Watch now.