Cardinal-Level Access as Deal Currency

“When businessman François Pinault bought Palazzo Grassi in 2005, he approached Antoine Bernheim to ask him to intercede with Cardinal Angelo Scola, patriarch of Venice, because he had set his sights on the tip of the Customs House. Two years after taking over the Grassi Palace from the Agnelli family, the Breton industrialist obtained this legendary place in Venice, also coveted by the Guggenheim Foundation.”

“"The only Catholic dignitary that I truly admired in France was Cardinal Lustiger. He had an extraordinary faith and never denied his Jewish heritage.”