Word: sirring
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Sir Hugh has a record of flirting with danger, he has admitted he "likes to be frightened" and proves it by driving at 100 m.p.h. from Glasgow to Monte Carlo ("to see how fast I could get there") and racing horses with Liberal M.P. Clement Freud. Whatever the reason, Sir Hugh's recklessness has cost him more than money: the damage to his name could be permanent...
Bloody Fool. "I think I've been a bloody fool," admits Sir Hugh. He described the stock exchange report as fair and vowed to swear off roulette. But he has fought to stay on the company's board by threatening to put his 36% stock ownership up for sale if shareholders move against him. At parties, Fraser appears to be making a joke of the whole affair. He sang and danced two weeks ago at a gathering near his Scotland home in Drymen, Stirlingshire, and led guests in choruses of The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte...
...thriving retailing business after the death of his father, Lord Fraser of Allander, founder of the House of Fraser and a legendary British merchant. In 30 years, Lord Fraser had built his business from a draper's shop to an empire with sales of about $275 million annually. Sir Hugh moved vigorously into his father's shoes, increasing sales to $500 million in six years and ridding Harrods of some of its crustiness. In addition, he built Scottish & Universal Investments, at one time only a holding company for the House of Fraser, into a diverse trading organization with...
...Sir Hugh's first marriage, to a Canadian socialite, ended in 1971 after nine years and three children. Fraser married again, but that union too ended in divorce. He began spending more time at roulette wheels. His endurance, if not his luck, was admirable. He frequently would gamble until 4 a.m., then return exhausted to his suite at Inn on the Park in London...
...believed his skill as a risk-taking businessman would have told him when to quit. Says an old Ladbroke's hand: "We could never understand how a man so clever in business could be so stupid as to sit there all night throwing money away." One friend blamed Sir Hugh's failed marriages for causing a "glandular imbalance" that impaired his gambler's instinct and made him stay far too long at the wheels. He certainly did not learn from his father, who also enjoyed gambling. Says Sir Hugh: "The great difference between my father...