A little honesty might help preserve the family fortune.
When Stephen Lovell used to visit his grandparents as a kid, it was like entering the world of Cole Porter or The Great Gatsby. People dressed in tuxedos and sipped cocktails. They owned boats, airplanes, a hobby farm. Not to mention a lavish mansion in Ontario, Canada, and a summer home in Southampton, New York.
He estimates that his grandfather, who founded the John Forsyth Shirt Co, had a fortune of at least $70 million in today’s dollars.
