Charles Eugène Bedaux (26 October 1886 – 18 February 1944) was one of the most colorful millionaires of the early twentieth century. Friends with British royalty and Nazis alike, he amassed a fortune expanding on the Taylorism style of scientific management and was a management consultant, big game hunter and explorer.
Bedaux was an efficiency expert and explorer who organized an expedition to cross northeastern British Columbia, Canada, in 1934. He brought along a Hollywood cinematographer, Floyd Crosby, and a large entourage (including his wife and his mistress). Unfortunately, weather, poor planning and financial problems plagued the expedition. Although the planned route was not completed, the group managed to travel through Canada's subarctic bush and wetlands, and over mountain passes, from Edmonton, Alberta to British Columbia. The unexpected amount of rain disabled the Citroen half-track vehicles, and they were abandoned in favor of horses. Bedaux returned to BC again in 1936 to build a road for a new planned expedition to use, but that never happened. Bedaux returned to France, and during World War II he worked with the German occupation forces. His collaborationist activities resulted in his being arrested by American military authorities in North Africa in 1943 and he was sent back to the US. While awaiting trial in a Florida prison in 1944, he committed suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills.
$3 Million