Crocodile

Patient, calculating diamond magnate who waits and strikes perfectly.

Maurice Tempelsman built an extraordinarily powerful business empire in the diamond trade through quiet, long-game strategic maneuvering rather than flashy self-promotion, cultivating political connections across decades with cold precision. He famously became Jackie Kennedy Onassis's companion in her final years, having navigated his way into her inner circle with characteristic patience and discretion. His survival and dominance in the murky world of African diamond concessions — requiring total emotional control, ruthless timing, and no unnecessary exposure — is the hallmark of the crocodile: still, calculating, and devastating when he moves.