Charles W. Engelhard Jr.

(February 15, 1917 - March 2, 1971) was an American businessman who controlled an international mining and metals conglomerate and who was also a major owner in Thoroughbred horse racing .¹ As a young man, Charles Engelhard worked in a metals processing business dealing in platinum , gold , and silver which had been founded in 1902 by his father, Charles Sr.² During World War II , he served with the United States Army Air Forces and in 1947 married the widow Jane Mannheimer .³ He adopted her daughter Anne France Mannheimer who was unborn at the time of her father's sudden passing. With Charles, Jane Engelhard would have four more daughters. Upon the death of his father in 1950, Charles Engelhard inherited the family business. He substantially expanded operations to South Africa , South America and Europe and built it into one of the world's leading refiners of precious metals. In 1958, he consolidated the various operating companies into Engelhard Corporation and issued a public share offering on the New York Stock Exchange . As a result of his company's need for gold acquisitions from South African suppliers, Charles Engelhard became a major investor in the country, acquiring gold, copper and coal mining ventures as well as investing in industrial concerns. He set up a publicly traded holding company in the U.S. that raised capital for investments in South African business. The company made investments alone and in conjunction with South African business tycoon, Harry Oppenheimer whose Anglo American plc dominated the South African mining industry. Engelhard maintained a residence in South Africa and was elected to Anglo American's Board of Directors . At home, some criticized him for indirectly supporting the country's apartheid regime, however in a retrospect summing up Engelhard's impact on the country, Anglo American stated that: "In difficult times, when South Africa was badly in need of capital, Engelhard played a vital and significant role in helping to bring it from abroad.⁴ He thus not only restored confidence in the country's economy, but actively assisted in boosting it." Shortly before his death in 1971, Charles Engelhard disposed of most of his South African businesses, selling them to Anglo-American plc and other companies.⁵ Engelhard is reported by numerous sources, including Forbes magazine and The New York Times , to have been the inspiration for the fictional character Auric Goldfinger in the Ian Fleming novel Goldfinger and the subsequent motion picture . According to the Times , Engelhard was an acquaintance of Fleming and delighted in the characterization.⁶