Fortune Favours a Bieler

Adventures in Life, Love, and Business

A successful businessman and entrepreneur looks back on the eventful twentieth century as a time of great opportunity.

By Philippe Bieler
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276 pages, 6.25 x 9.25 inches, 276 illustrations
Hardcover : 9780228018889, October 2023
Ebook (PDF) : 9780228019428, October 2023
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Note from the Author ix
1 History 3
2 The Vallon (1933- 1941) 14
3 Quebec (1941- 1950) 24
4 Education (1950- 1956) 40
5 Alcan (1956- 1959) 57
6 New York (1959- 1961) 69
7 Gregg Hill (1961- 1964) 79
8 Singer (1964- 1969) 94
9 Flint House (1969- 1975) 102
10 Textiles (1975- 1981) 116
11 Banker (1981- 1986) 128
12 London (1986- 1991) 149
13 Routas (1991- 2005) 161
14 A New Beginning (1995- 2005) 186
15 Ebbing Years (2005- Present) 198
Epilogue 225
The Family Tree 235
Acknowledgments 239
Index 241

Fortune Favours a Bieler is the colourful story of Philippe Bieler’s life and his long journey through the eventful twentieth century and beyond. It begins with his escape from war-torn Europe in 1941. Hand in hand with a number of prominent trailblazers, he went on to carve out a career in industry, banking, farming, and even politics. The tale transitions from aluminum in Canada to cranberries in Quebec and vineyards in France. Frequent failures are compensated by good cheer and some impressive successes.
Bieler is a descendant of Swiss woodsmen and the son of a senior civil servant at the League of Nations. Born in 1933, he belongs to the silent generation, the cohort following the greatest generation and preceding the baby boomers, known for their thrift, respectfulness, loyalty, and determination. His outspoken mother and well-connected father raised him to be bold enough to grasp the fate he desired, a challenge he took up with vigour. He studied engineering at McGill University in Montreal and returned to his native Switzerland to pursue an MBA. He served as CEO at a number of industrial corporations, but he preferred his many ventures as an entrepreneur – and now, in his latest act, as an author, writing from his sheep farm in Wales.
Fortune Favours a Bieler looks back on a century of abundant luck and opportunity for those who would seize it, through the life of one of its fortunate and passionate leading lights.