He was born in Milwaukee, forty-four years ago. His father owned a small paper-packaging plant. When Dad dropped dead of a heart attack in 1981, Philip was recalled home from NYU film school to take over the family business. Though he was reluctant to shoulder this responsibility – as he was determined to become a movie director – he acceded to his mother’s wishes and became the company boss. Within ten years, he had turned this minor regional company into one of the major retail packaging players in the United States. Then he took the company public and made his first billion. After that, he started to dabble as a venture capitalist, deciding in the early nineties to back an obscure horse called ‘the Internet’. He chose his investments wisely – and by 1999, he was worth over $20 billion. 2000 was the year of his fortieth birthday. And it was also the year that he suddenly decided to vanish from view. He resigned the chairmanship of his family packaging company. He stopped being seen in public.
