European oil barons

"Ludwig would never have the bonhomie of Onassis or the polish of Niarchos. He lacked the ability to be witty or make clever small talk. He wasn’t a member of the horsey set, and he had no taste for art. But he was going to have to compete with the Greeks on their turf. He would have to attend white-tie parties, and he would need a yacht as opulent as the Greeks’ on which to entertain Arab sheiks and European oil barons. Maybe he couldn’t make them chuckle the way Onassis and Niarchos could, but at least he wouldn’t look like some hick tankerman from western Michigan. And as long as he got the chance to talk with them face to face, he felt, he could convince them it was worth their while to charter his tankers instead of his rivals’. Over the next decade, D.K. would use the Danginn frequently in this way, cruising the Mediterranean or the Atlantic with a boatload of wealthy guests, usually ones from whom he needed a business favor. For him, the yacht was as much a business craft as any of his tankers, and probably earned him more money than any of them. For example, he hosted Saudi Arabia’s King Ibn Saud in the Persian Gulf as a way of procuring a charter to haul Saudi oil."