It would be sad to leave Basil Zaharoff out of this discussion. Known as a 'merchant of death' he was an arms dealer who sold munitions to all of the great nations pre-WWI. He was accused of fomenting a war between Greece and Turkey in order to sell weapons to both sides. His role in the development of a successful submarine was breath-taking. He retired wealthy and successful, married a wealthy Spanish duchess, and wrote his memoirs, which were promptly stolen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Zaharoff
He appears as a formidable character in the television show Riley, Ace of Spies, but the fiction isn't a patch on the real person.
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