Profile of Conrad Black: was his downfall inevitable?

Conrad Black bought his first newspaper at 22 – now he faces 35 years in jail for fraud. Was his downfall inevitable?

Conrad Black kept a picture of Al Capone on the silk-lined wall of Hollinger International's New York boardroom and would jokingly refer to him as "our chief shareholder". Unlike Capone, Black escaped being nailed for tax evasion last week, says The Independent on Sunday; eight other charges were also thrown out. But his conviction on three counts of fraud, and one of obstructing justice, could condemn him to a notional 35 years in jail.

It wasn't an outcome he had foreseen. "Stage one were the ululations of joy at the so-called downfall. Stage two is the big battle. Stage three is where I win," he remarked mid-trial. Yet his disgrace was hardly due to "a momentary aberration", says his biographer Tom Bower in The Sunday Times. A lengthy and profitable career as a fraud, liar and cheat dated back to his school days, when he stole and sold exam papers. "To understand Conrad Black", wrote Nicholas Coleridge in his 1993 book, Paper Tigers, "you must examine his relationship with his father; the talents and disappointments of George Black have more to do with Conrad's motivation than any single other factor".

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