About Greg
There must be even more facets to this man’s anomalousness. “So, how you did you go from oil baron to art entrepreneur?” I say helping myself to a second slice of the simply divine cheesecake.
“Vitruvius was different.” Greg suddenly becomes very animated. “I put the hours into Ignis. I started it in 1976 and it didn’t really get going until 1992. By 1995, when I launched Vitruvius I’d made enough money to comfortably live on for the rest of my life. So I started Vitruvius because I really believe in culture.”
“Oil, fuel, power, it’s important, we all need it – for our bodies. But culture is about our minds.” Greg becomes very earnest as he says this. He leans forward in his seat and begins gastrulating excitedly with his hands. “Art, literature, music can change people’s lives!”
“But where did you get the inspiration from? You were a man of 42, who’d never been part of the art world before.”
“I’ve always been inspired by art. I was bowled over when I first saw Pazzemetro’s ‘Across The Rubicon’ at the Musée d’Orsay in 1971. I suppose Pazzemetro - and Vitruvius himself - have been inspiration for everything I’ve done.”
“Our second son, Tom’s very artistic” adds Victoria “he’s managing director of the company and has driven it creatively.”
“Our children are fundamental to the business.” Says Greg “our oldest son, Greg Junior lives here in New York and we run Ignis together.”
“What’s next?” I ask.
“We’re looking to buy a place in France.” Replies Victoria. “Our daughter Gislaine has just started drama school in Paris and we’ve enrolled our youngest daughter Gwendolyn, at a school in Ile de France. She’ll be starting there next September.”
As they usher me to the door. I ponder what a surprising afternoon I’ve had. One thing’s for sure, I would never have expected this Mississippi billionaire to be so knowledgeable about cheesecake!
