John Donovan gazed down at his belly: a bullet hole, blood. It was December 16, 2005, and John had a lot on his mind. It seemed that his entire life had been leading up to this moment: a Bay State legacy bolstered by a professorship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a prodigious streak of entrepreneurship, and, more recently, the slow crumbling of his family's dynastic ascent through Yankee upper-crust society.
As he sat in the front seat of his minivan-the vehicle hit by gunfire, blood pouring out of his abdomen-Donovan was in the midst of a vicious legal battle with his five grown children over the family estate, which included tens of millions of dollars' worth of property in Massachusetts, Vermont, and Bermuda; even more millions of dollars in offshore accounts; and the blood-born trust between a father and his children that was supposed to hold the family name together. It was here, on this fateful night, in a dark parking garage outside Donovan's Cambridge office, that the Donovan name would morph from a revered cornerstone of the Massachusetts aristocracy into an infamous badge, a tangle of letters best forgotten.
And yet Donovan, dialing 911 and placing his cellphone to his ear, didn't know the depths to which his family name would sink in the coming years, the heights of bitterness to which the rivalry with his children would rise, or the lengths he would go to wrest control of the money that hung over his family like a cloud. All John Donovan knew at that moment was that he had a story to tell the dispatcher on the other end of the line. He claimed that his eldest son, James, had used his high-profile job at Goldman Sachs to launder $180 million and now had sent two Russian assassins to kill him.
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Denne historien er fra November 2022-utgaven av Town & Country US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Jersey, JE ΤΙΜΕ
Nearly 50 years ago a museum opened in Paris.
THE HUNGER GAMES
Two former bons amis grew up in the same expensive suburb and cut their teeth together in the Paris nightclub scene. Then they launched competing restaurant empires, and the gloves came off. Now one of them is facing a suspended prison sentence and a huge fine. Welcome to the city's most delicious grudge match.
HIDDEN in Plain Sight
T&C was invited into the private archives and secret workshops of Paris, to glimpse the treasures that have made this city famous for its style and craftsmanship. It's a reputation worth fighting for.
GUARDIAN of Objects
Laura Kugel is the go-to art dealer for the world's most discerning clients, but her family's Paris wonderland is open to all. Come inside, won't you?
Ecole! Elysée! SCANDALE!
The path to the French White House requires a political education at one of the country's elite universities. As controversy swirls around Sciences Po-class treason, #MeToo à la française, creeping le wokisme-will its grip on power finally slip?
Are There Still Mysteries in Paris?
Surely not, in the world's most visited city! And yet: Why is the Louvre called the Louvre? Why do the upper stories of its 17th-century buildings tilt in? Why do even familiar streets feel so enticing, unknown? One thing is clear: So many of us return because the City of Light is really one of mesmerizing shadows.
High SEAS
How seductive is a cruise on an ultraluxury ship (yes, that's a category) like the new Regent Seven Seas Grandeur? So much so that a 132-day sailing sold out in three hours. It was time to investigate.
The Cruise Cure
One definition of bliss at sea is padding down a ship's hallway from your suite to the spa in a robe and slippers. Here's what awaits.
Only a Day to Spare?
These hotel spas-mini-me's of destination, health retreats punch way above their weight. So, if you're in the neighborhood...
So, Where Do You Ride in Paris?
A fancy equestrian's guide to the best of Gallic galloping.