In “The Very Rich: A History of Wealth” Joseph Thorndike wrote: “In his [Calouste Gulbenkian] private life Gulbenkian, though he had long since become a British citizen, did not desert the traditions of his Middle Eastern homeland [Ottoman Turkey]. Since it was not legal to keep a harem in Paris or Lisbon, where he lived most of the time, he kept company with a string of beautiful young women. Seventeen was about the right age he counseled his son Nubar—and change them every year.”

In “The Very Rich: A History of Wealth” Joseph Thorndike wrote: “In his [Calouste Gulbenkian] private life Gulbenkian, though he had long since become a British citizen, did not desert the traditions of his Middle Eastern homeland [Ottoman Turkey]. Since it was not legal to keep a harem in Paris or Lisbon, where he lived most of the time, he kept company with a string of beautiful young women. Seventeen was about the right age he counseled his son Nubar—and change them every year.”