excerpt from Compensations

...he soon ignored Giles along with all the other staff, and got on with the one thing he did particularly well.  
Making money.
Thomas DeRivault had inherited two houses in Britain and a villa in Portugal, a business of twenty-four garages in the east of England, six race horses and a total debt of £9.6 million.  In less than three years he had turned it all round by ruthless endeavour; with all of the debt managed, and the businesses turned into profit or sold. Now, 12 years later, he owned twelve good properties, a whole racecourse in Eire and a total of ninety-three garages in six companies, spread through eleven countries.
Yes, that was one thing Cecilia had no complaints about.  As she cast her eyes around, she could see all the trappings of extreme wealth in this room alone.  The old Sanderson wallpaper had been replaced by a hand blocked print from New England at $125 a roll.  The paintings were all Old Masters, selected from many a top Christies or Mannier-Paris auction by Cecilia herself.  The carpet was a Chinese with the usual carved pile and floral patterns interspersed with pictures of birds, which had cost much more than most family cars.  No expense was ever spared, and no questions were ever asked by her husband.  So long as everything in the house was taken care of and the books were all balanced, then Thomas could storm in and out spouting nonsensical orders - which were often carefully ignored - before rushing off to his next business deal.