Edmond J. Safra, born and raised in Beirut, was the scion of a prominent Syrian Jewish family that had long been a stalwart of the community in Aleppo. At 15, he was sent by his father, Jacob, the owner of a Beirut bank, to Milan to seek out new business opportunities.

In 1947, when his father and brothers realized their future no longer was safe in Lebanon, Safra, now 20, decided the family’s next move should be to Brazil, given the difficulties of obtaining citizenship in Europe and the obstacles to an easy immigration to the United States.

So began a journey that took Safra from Milan to Paris, Sao Paulo, Geneva, London, New York, the French Riviera, and finally Monte Carlo, where, in 1999, he suffered a brutal death at age 67. Over the course of a 52-year career, Safra established and stood at the helm of four huge banks on three continents. Daniel Gross, a renowned finance writer, has crafted in A Banker’s Journey a biography of a most extraordinary man whose business practices and philanthropy ought to make him a role model for future generations of entrepreneurs.

(A note: The book’s copyright is owned by the Edmond J. Safra Foundation, and it was Safra’s widow, the late Lily Safra, who asked Gross to write it. I have no reason to suspect the author sees his subject through rose-colored glasses, but this work may lack the fundamental objectivity an unauthorized biography would afford.)

Safra represented the best of the “old school of bankers” who espoused two fundamental rules: “Do not risk funds that depositors have entrusted to you. And…know your customer.” Unlike in the United States, where there is deposit insurance, in Beirut — where, in 1920, Safra’s father established the Banque de Credit National that Safra ran until his own death — depositors have only a bank’s good name and standing in the community to rely on. It would be a mark of shame (if not an outright kiss of death) for a bank not to honor its obligations to clients.

Safra’s lifelong loyalty to the Sephardic communities of Lebanon and Syria forced him to walk a tightrope; his spiritual allegiance was with Israel, but his professional ties were to the Arab world, notably Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Over time, however, his need to walk on eggshells eased, and Safra’s involvement in Israeli banking and philanthropy eventually became legendary.

Leaving Safra aside, Gross’ look at the history of the Sephardim in the Middle East over millennia makes for fascinating reading. Among other things, he notes the significance of Syria’s Great Aleppo Synagogue, whose cornerstone dating from 300 CE marks it as one of the longest continuous Jewish communities on earth.

Safra was instrumental in starting Republic National Bank of New York (now part of HSBC), which in his lifetime grew to become the 11th-largest bank in the U.S. Yet prior to Gross’ excellent book, there was only one other about the man, Bryan Burrough’s Vendetta: American Express and the Smearing of Edmond Safra. It dealt in detail with how American Express hired spies, double-agents, and journalists specifically tasked with harming Safra’s reputation. It was a shameful episode in American Express’ history and resulted in the company’s then CEO, James D. Robinson, issuing a public apology and paying several million dollars to charities Safra directed.

The stress caused by this cruel and loathsome smear could well have had an adverse effect on Safra’s health. It was not too long after that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Sometime later, Safra was killed in his Monaco penthouse in a fire deliberately set by a male nurse.

Safra sat atop the A-list of the world’s most highly regarded bankers. As a philanthropist, he deserves mention in the same breath as Andrew Carnegie, Bill and Melinda Gates, Michael Bloomberg, and Warren Buffet. His generosity was dispensed without fanfare to institutions and individuals in need around the globe. Yet throughout his life, he maintained his humility and devotion to his Jewish faith, pursuing the almighty dollar without sacrificing his humanity.

“What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose or forfeit his very self?” asks the old Biblical maxim. Evidenced by his life and work, Edmond J. Safra never had to find out.

Stephen Maitland-Lewis is an award-winning author of Botticelli’s Bastard and Mr. Simpson and Other Short Stories, a former international investment banker, and a lawyer who divides his time between Beverly Hills and New Orleans. He never met Edmond Safra but has warm memories of doing business with his flagship bank, Trade Development Bank, in Geneva.

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