Oligarch's Daughter Wins Over Paul, and a Windfall in Vanilla Follows
On a drive back from Tatiana’s apartment, Paul finally learned the full truth about her background: her real surname is Galkin, she is the daughter of Russian oligarch Arkady Galkin, and she has been hiding that fact from artists and friends so she can build her own identity as a photographer. She insists she is close to her family, not estranged, but does not want to be known as her father’s daughter. Paul also learns that Arkady had his security chief, Andrei Berzin, investigate him, and that Berzin, a former colonel in Russia’s FSB from the Irkutsk area, is the man who will keep watching him. Tatiana then tells him about an ex-boyfriend, Charles Helmvorth, a clubby but broke socialite who wanted her to support his expensive lifestyle and whom her father caught cheating. The experience left her wary of men using her for money.
That conversation turns into a proposal. Tatiana says Paul is the first man who truly understands and values her work, and after acknowledging that they both love each other, she asks, “Pasha, do you want to marry me?” He says yes. The next day he tells his friend Rick Jacobson in Times Square, who is delighted. Paul also reveals Tatiana’s last name and her father’s identity, and Rick urges caution, warning that Russian oligarchs are not to be trusted. Soon afterward, at a family Maslenitsa dinner in Galkin’s villa, Tatiana and Paul announce their engagement. Arkady warmly welcomes him, while Tatiana’s brother, Nico, is openly hostile and repeatedly hints that Paul is only after the money. Arkady then takes Paul to see a famous Fabergé egg, “Angel with Chariot,” and later tells him he wants to invest $50 million through Paul’s hedge fund. Paul hesitates but agrees, then regrets it once sober and worries about signing a prenup.
Back at work, Paul starts with a hangover, but the $50 million appears in his fund. He looks for a way to invest it and, after hearing a Bloomberg report about a cyclone forming near East Africa, realizes vanilla could be the opportunity. In consultation with colleague Pete Ambrosino and after getting approval from Bernie Kovan, he structures a trade using put options on companies heavily dependent on vanilla, mainly Nestlé, Beatrice Cady Flavors and Extracts, and Nelson-Holcroft. He sends Chris Langley and John Capinos to Madagascar with $5 million in cash and security to buy vanilla directly from middlemen and store it in climate-controlled containers. The cyclone destroys the crop, vanilla prices surge to nearly $700 a kilo, Nestlé’s stock drops from $118 to $95, and Paul eventually turns $100 million into just over $500 million.
After the profit is revealed, Arkady is stunned and offers Paul a job running American stock investments for him. Paul turns it down because he likes working for Bernie. Tatiana is amazed that her father made such an offer, since he normally keeps business separate from feelings. A few months later, in May, Tatiana’s photography exhibition opens at Argold Gallery. The work is a major step up, large color portraits of street people shot in bright midday light, and critics and visitors compare her talent to Diane Arbus. Her stepmother, Alina, arrives in a flashy black dress and remarks on Tatiana’s ring and success, but the family tension remains visible. Arkady again tells Paul he expects to make more money with him on the board, even suggesting he could buy Tatiana a bigger diamond. Paul still has not answered, and the exhibition leaves him painfully aware that Tatiana’s gallery success depends on her father’s money and influence.
