Born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1934 and raised in New York City, Marc Rich was the son of a successful businessman and a mother whose family had fled Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution. After graduating from Williams College in 1957, he moved to New York City to work for his father's commodities firm. In 1970, at the age of 33, Rich started his own commodities firm. Rich made a fortune on his business deals but was forced to flee from Switzerland after facing federal charges of tax evasion and trading with Iran during the 1980s
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He became a fugitive, hiding out in France and Belgium while he was sought by numerous countries. In 1983, a federal judge sentenced him to serve 40 months in prison on charges of tax evasion and trading with Iran. Rich fled to Switzerland while on parole from his federal sentence and lived there until 2003 when he was arrested in France on an Interpol warrant issued by the United States.
He was extradited to the United States where he served 14 years before being released under house arrest in 2010. Rich died April 3, 2013 at age 70 from heart failure.
