How do I become Marc Rich

I'm a very overconfident sophomore in a solid U.S. college. I have been grinding for investment banking my entire time at college. I realized I had absolutely no interest in investment banking, nor any of the exit-ops it talked about. I had just picked it because everyone told me to do it. At the same time, I was reading The World for Sale and found every part of it great.

I want to be flying into war zones to broker oil deals with rebel groups. I want to ship Iranian oil through Israel to South Africa. I want to do this while living in my Swiss mansion. Everyone in that book seemed to have truly lived life.

I know the days of Marc Rich are over. But I want to live the life. 

How should I best try to do it? BP TDP? Glencore metals? I know I'm putting the cart before the horse and probably have a horrible dream, but I want to do more than trade paper; I want to own a building block of the world. I want to be a Malaysian shipping magnate. I want to be a Congeles mining magnate. I don't need to be a tycoon, but a magnate would be cool.

9 Comments
 

join the see eye ay or military. for the former, its better to know someone in it as they'd scoop you up early. For a real practical example, see VC Paige Craig and how he started his successful career (with the lincoln group/iraqex). 

If you know anyone worthwhile diplomatically, there are opportunities. I'm close with a now retired founder of a small but successful shipping company. he was the son of an ambassador

 

Maybe, that could be a step in the right direction. FS people i know like it a lot. in that realm, knowing foreign languages helps a lot. in terms of internships, big cities have non profits (ex, search City name + Council for International Visitors) funded by the state dep to organize for international visitors and can be a foot in the door to experience typically duties in the FS. 

 

If you want to do business with sketchy counterparties, don't join any of the major trading firms: too much compliance

 
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Go to school with some Saudi royalty/future russian diplomats/children of African warlords. Befriend them. Suck up to them and do what ever that say. Start business and arrange massive kickbacks to your friends in exchange for gov contracts. Rinse and repeat. Grow into a massive business worth billions. Get indicted for corruption. Do the time or spend the rest of your live hiding.

Got the next 30 years cut out for you.

 

If you had the connections and balls to be like Marc Rich, you wouldn't be posting about it here.

I read that book too and highly recommend it. It's a part of the finance world that gets very little attention, and that is what allows those firms to make so much money. The best opportunities are in places few others are looking at.

 

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