Meshulam Riklis

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Meshulam Riklis (born 1923 in Turkey) is a Jewish businessman. He was married to Pia Zadora in 1977 and helped launch her film career. He and Zadora bought and demolished the Los Angeles landmark home Pickfair to build their own larger home on the site. They divorced in 1993. He once owned the Riviera hotel and casino in Las Vegas and the McCrory Stores, as well as the Fabergé line of cosmetics. Riklis pioneered the idea of corporate mergers in the U.S. He famously sold his stake in the Carnival Cruise Line to Ted Arison for $1.

Forbes magazine reports that while at the helm of a string of his companies, Riklis left his creditors holding the bag on over $2.9 billion in debt. Of that, according to Forbes, less than 10% has been recovered as of 2007.

Riklis is long known for his financial footwork and sleight of hand. His favorite tactics include transferring debt between ailing companies and transferring assets away from doomed companies. In one well known transaction, Riklis transferred ownership of two pricey paintings away from one of his failed companies to another of his companies, crediting only $175,000 for the transaction to the failing company. One of the paintings, a work by Fernand Léger entitled "Contrastes de formes," was later sold for $2.5 million alone.

In 2007, the California Franchise Tax Board, in an effort to collect on over $7 billion in delinquent taxes, posted a list of the top 250 tax delinquents. Rapid-American Corporation, founded by Riklis, tops the list owing over $26.8 million in back taxes.