Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty

The section introduces the next generation of Sacklers. Richard Sackler, Raymond Sackler’s son, became roommates with Richard Kapit when the two were at Columbia University in 1964. Kapit, from a modest background, only realized how much wealthier his new friend was when their apartment was furnished with leftovers from a “small palace” of a townhouse (143). Richard Sackler had a challenging personality: “while he was tremendously generous, he seemed to lack empathy” particularly that other people lacked his financial resources (145). The two friends eventually fell out, mostly due to Richard Sackler’s struggle to understand their different class backgrounds.

A hedonist interested in wine, cigars, and sex, Richard once spent an entire summer researching the male orgasm, having no qualms about visiting a brain scientist to demand more insights. He also shared his Uncle Arthur’s passion for art.

Purdue Frederick was then in the midst of making a major laxative and the antiseptic butadiene, which was used by NASA during lunar missions. Richard Sackler always knew he would work at the family business, and was ready to attend medical school after graduation from Columbia. Despite the fact that he did not get into a prestigious medical school, his comfortable future was assured.