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Switzerland-based billionaire financier Jacqui Safra, nephew of Lebanese banker Edmund who died in a mysterious fire in Monaco in 1999, is owner of Chicago-based Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. and Merriam-Webster.
Under the name J.E. Beaucaire, Safra appeared in and put up money for a number of Woody Allen films. Later, he became involved in the suit brought by Allen against Jean Doumanian, Safra's lover, for unpaid salary.
At the same time, under Safra's ownership, Encyclopædia Britannica experienced its own financial woes with creditors demanding payment from the company after going unpaid for months. Britannica's freelance contributors have waited up to six months for checks, with staff going years without raises. Cost-cutting measures have included mandates to use free photos. Britannica told employees it would raise the contribution paid into their 401(k) accounts, then eliminated them entirely. A company spokesperson once said, "We've had some cost reductions and belt-tightening but we're not going into details… We're a privately held company…" which recalls Marshall Brickman's question, "Can any of us really know Jacqui? He's protected by a wall of immense solvency."
Safra also owns vineyards on Spring Mountain, Saint Helena, California.
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