9. One of Fortune’s Favorites, With an Ear for Languages
Dusko Popov was one of fortune’s favorites, and such favor began with his birth in 1912 into a wealthy Serbian family that had been affluent for centuries. His grandfather had been a rich banker and businessman who owned factories, mines, and retail establishments, and his father made the family richer still when he added real estate to its investment portfolio. Popov, an avid outdoorsman and athlete since childhood, thus grew up in the lap of luxury, attended by servants in the family’s numerous villas or while he sailed the seas in one of the family’s numerous yachts.
The future spy was set on the playboy path from an early age by an indulgent father, who built his kids a huge seaside villa and gave them generous allowances that allowed them to host lavish parties there. Although indulgent, Popov’s father did not simply spoil his kids rotten. He made sure that they got as great a top-notch education as his considerable wealth could afford. Thus, by the time Popov was a teenager he was fluent in French, German, and Italian, in addition to his native Serbian. Such linguistic skills came in handy down the road.