Robert Maxwell’s rise and demise carries the same weight as it did 30 years ago

We used to make fun of the media mogul; he kept us entertained for years – but his business success is undeniable. He was a billionaire after all, writes Chris Blackhurst

The father of Ghislaine Maxwell was a British publishing tycoon, MP – and fraudster (Getty)

I once interviewed Robert Maxwell in his underpants.

I had to go and see him about a business deal he was doing, and the only time the late tycoon could see me was while he was getting changed for dinner. I was taken in, past the grand portals of his private quarters at the top of Maxwell House in Holborn, next door to the Mirror headquarters, and ushered into his bedroom. He came out of the bathroom, wearing a white dress shirt and minus his trousers.

While he proceeded to lecture me in that booming, gravelly voice of his, he finished donning his dinner suit. In answer to what you may be thinking, they were white, Y-fronts, and they were vast.