Longreads

Last month, Nigerian leader Goodluck Jonathan joined former U.S. president Bill Clinton and local dignitaries for the official groundbreaking of a property development so ambitious he calls it…

When you arrive at night in Fort McMurray, the little Canadian town that might just destroy the world, the tiny airport looks smaller because of the snow and all the Explorers and Rangers and…

Red wine in hand, Rupert Murdoch chatted with guests at his London townhouse on what would be one of the most important nights to the future of his company. Gathered for cocktails were…

Originally published in the December 1985 issue (Click…

Like everyone with a nodding acquaintance of the history of that time, Sanjiv Mehta assumed that The East India Company had ceased to exist until he was contacted by the group of English businessmen who had quietly resurrected its name. With appropriate approvals from the British Treasury and the Royal School of Arms, they secured the rights to assets like the coat of arms that Queen Elizabeth I issued the Company in 1600, and the Merchant’s Mark—probably the world’s first trademark. They recruited historians, built relationships with museums and started with distributing tea and coffee and publishing books. And as they looked to streamline their distribution network, they got in touch with Mehta.