SUPERFREAK Not even Rick James can hold a candle to Bolkiah's penchant for abducting women

Thank God the Sultan of Brunei's fortunes are based on his state's economy being almost entirely supported by exports of crude oil and natural gas. The mega-wealthy monarch is said to have owned between 1,000 and 5,000 cars—200 of which are Rolls-Royces. Ultimately a family-man style playboy, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah is also fond of buying Ferraris and Bentleys and having them converted into station wagons. In 2003, Forbes estimated the eccentric leader's assets as valuing more than $11 billion (which has dwindled significantly since its initial estimation of $40 billion).

So, apart from contributing to the global depletion of oil, how has he spent his fortune? He rules from the world's largest royal palace—its rooms are purported to number more than 1,700, and he has thrown ostentatious fêtes like the one for his 50th birthday featuring entertainment by Michael Jackson. But the "party" is not always consensual: In 1997, the absolute monarch was sued by former Miss U.S.A. Shannon Marketic. Bolkiah is of course known for his Rick James-like penchant for holding Western ladies against their will—especially those of the beauty-queen variety. Marketic had alleged that he regularly imported American women as high-end prostitutes for six-week bouts of orgiastic partying and then would not allow them to leave the nation. Price of a lawsuit claiming sexual enslavement: $90 million. Being an absolute monarch with immunity against lawsuits: priceless.

< < PREVIOUS DICTATOR | NEXT DICTATOR > >