Explore More
Accused Jeffrey Epstein madam Ghislaine Maxwell is far from the only one in her family to have led an eccentric, troubled lifestyle.
Maxwell, the British socialite who was busted Thursday on charges she groomed underage women to have sex with the infamous pedophile, is the youngest daughter of flamboyant, disgraced late media mogul Robert Maxwell.
Robert Maxwell was born into poverty in Czechoslovakia in 1923 and built a publishing empire over decades that included titles such as the New York Daily News and Mirror Group Newspapers.
Before earning his fortune, Robert Maxwell escaped Nazi occupation to join the Czechoslovak army in World War II and became a decorated war hero.
Robert Maxwell also spent six years in the British Parliament, serving as a Labour MP from 1964 to 1970.
The newspaper giant was estimated to be worth $1.9 billion at the height of his career.
But the world learned after his death that he had been in severe financial straits and had been robbing his employees’ pension funds to prop up his crumbling empire.
Robert Maxwell was last seen Nov. 4, 1991, on his yacht, sailing past the Canary Islands off Africa.
He had missed a meeting with the Bank of England that day over his defaulting on a more than $62 million loan.
His naked body was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean one day later. Multiple pathologists disagreed on Maxwell’s cause of death, but the official ruling was listed as a heart attack combined with accidental drowning.
Robert Maxwell’s publishing empire collapsed in the aftermath of his death, when it was discovered that he had completely emptied his employee pension funds to the tune of at least $900 million in the months prior.
Maxwell had illegally taken the funds to prop up an empire that few knew was on the brink of total collapse, according to the Guardian.
Two of Maxwell’s sons, Ian and Kevin Maxwell, tried to save the company but were ultimately unsuccessful. The publishing empire filed for bankruptcy in 1992.
Previous1 of 3
Next
Advertisement
The fallout from Maxwell’s financial dealings and his death left the family’s reputation severely damaged.
In 1996, Ian and Kevin Maxwell were indicted — and later acquitted — on fraud charges related to their roles in their father’s company.
ncG1vNJzZmimqaW8tMCNnKamZ2Jlf3F7j3BmaWtfqMGwvthmpp9loqSvpr7TZqSasKeaua15xqGgrKSRnrumv4ydoKyfopawprCMppydoZFiurCz1KVknZmUZA%3D%3D