Russ DeLeon belongs near the centre of this story, not in a footnote. Contemporary reporting on PartyGaming’s 2005 flotation said Ruth Parasol and her husband, James Russell DeLeon, launched the company in 1997. PartyPoker became its cash engine. Before the float, the couple owned 40% of a business then priced around £4.76 billion (US$8.65 billion at the time).
DeLeon approached former private banker Serge Tiroche after Tiroche had advised his family office for three years. The request was not to buy a Picasso for a dining room. DeLeon wanted an art-investment allocation with enough depth to behave like a collection. They travelled to India in January 2011, set a US$10 million starting budget and spent it within 15 months.
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