I am a graduate of The School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, and began acquiring restaurants, clubs, and hotels in the "Go-Go" 60's. A failed love affair, problems with the mob, and more adventures led me to reinvent myself by buying the 230-room Virgin Island Hilton in St. Thomas, where I opened a Studio 54 nightclub, licensed from Studio 54 New York.

In 1980, I purchased the original famed Studio 54 in New York on visiting days in prison where I would meet with the former owners, Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager. I was able to catapult the club back to its original glory, but found myself getting deeper into dugs, sexual experimentation, and destructive relationships. After nearly four years, I entered rehab, married, and bought and operated supper clubs in New York and Hollywood, this time sober.