Bill Graham
June, 1968
Emigrating from England to America in 1942, Charles Bluhdorn, then 16, began his business career as a $15-a-week cotton-brokerage clerk. By 1950, having mastered the intricacies of the commodities market (while attending both City College and Columbia University), he struck out on his own and promptly picked up his first million – mostly by importing coffee from Brazil. At 41, he is the kingpin of multitentacled Gulf & Western Industries—whose sales this year will come close to one and a quarter...
