Lester Crassus

"Get that shit off the air!"

The Man. The Legend.

Appearance

Sir Lester 'Les' Crassus is commanding and heavy built, but years of decadence has seen it sit more soft on his frame with a bit of a beer gut. He generally defaults to a business suit, but is just as likely to been see in shorts and a polo shirt. His face is slightly red from too much drink and has been weathered by years of smiling in the sun and there isn't as much hair up to as there used to be and there are a few flecks of gray. His smile is wide, his laugh is loud, and he sits he tends to sprawl.

Personality

Crassus is known for his abrasive personality, his wealth, his lavish gambling habits, and his expansive business empire. He's brash, jovial, and not known for his tact. When things are going his way life is good, but he's got a mean streak in him a mile wide and has no compunction showing it in public. While know for his loyalty to his friends, he is a ruthless business man and has a reputation for completely ruining the lives of those that meet his displeasure.

Information Known by Kindred Society

• At this time, Crassus is one of the richest and most influential men in Australia.
• He is an active member, and one of very high standing in the Crassus Family.
• While he is a member of the Crassus Ghoul Family, it's not believe at this time he has a Regent, and it's doubted that he is even a ghoul.
• He has never been seen at Court, and no know Kindred has ever claimed him.
• Due to his immense influence in Sydney, Kindred tend to call on him from all Covenants for favors; though no one has yet made a move at claiming him. This is mainly due to fear of other Kindred retaliating and attempting to steal the asset. Mortals and Ghouls tend to be hard to keep alive when Kindred fight over them; and his influence is too freely given and useful to risk.
• He 'knows' Vampires don't exist, and that the family has association with secret clubs and organisations that he works with from time to time. Though members of the Court suspect he knows something's up.
• Due to him being a member of the Crassus Family, and their dogged, constant, and blatant denial of the existence of the supernatural; dealing with Crassus is not considered a breach of the Masquerade. (This is backed by source material)
• Kindred suspect he has some ability with Dominate, but highly doubt he knows he is using it.
• Crassus's influence is vast and runs extremely deep into almost all aspects of Sydney.
• He is known to have flexed his assets to the point of actually destroying Kindred, Brood specifically. This was at the request of another member of the Court, so it is unlikely he truly knows what he achieved.
• He has an uncanny knack for spotting vampires, or "People of that organisation" as he calls them. Also, seems to know that there are factions in the club; and their names e.g Invictus, Carthains, Brood, etc...
• He has never asked for blood.

Sir Lester Crassus: This is Your Life

This timeline is a work in progress

• 1937 - Born Lester James Crassus, 2 min after his twin brother William Crassus (PC - Kurtis).
• 1961 - Les's father, Geoff Crassus, is contacted by Lupo in regards to moving All Saints Church from Sydney to Canberra. Geoff oversees the project personally, as the client is coming from the USA. On the visit to Canberra he takes his sons Lester and Bobby, where they both meet Lupo.
• 1971 - Geoff, Lester and Bobby Crassus is approached by Tobias Mol in regards to slowly infiltrating a certain group's network of influence in Sydney.
• 1971 thru 1976 - Geoff fights an uphill battle to slowly infect the network while not alerting Abigail Gallager.
• 1976 - Les's father is killed by nothing less that poor circumstance in a head on collision. The scandal was all over the papers as Geoff died with 4 other women in the car, all later proven to be prostitutes. The crash was an inferno after one of the cars petrol tanks ignited; all the bodies were identified by their dental records. Les takes over the work of his father's work, and control of Crassus Inc.
• 1976 - An Invictus by the name of Rasmus Armfelt makes contact from Brisbane seeking dealings with Les. As part of the arrangement a number of Brood are manipulated into a meeting with Rasmus. The ensuing clean up takes more effort than orchestrating the meeting; the Brood do not survive.
• 1976 thru 1979 - Well paid and compensated by the Court, Les slowly erodes the influence of Abigail Gallagher and her associates. Careful filling the vacuum he creates with people of his own.
• 1980 - Only 30 years of age Les is now one of the most well wealthy and connect people in Sydney.
• 1983 - Lorenzo Penthièvre establishes contact from SA. Suffering from a lack of fresh talent, due to many artists preference to move to Sydney in the hope of being discovered. Les agrees to funnel talent back to SA, while also making sure the artists get viewing on the world stage. In exchange Lorenzo agrees to help expand Crassus influence in SA.
• 1992 - At age 55 Lester Crassus becomes, Sir Lester Crassus. Recognized for his philanthropic efforts and benefits to Australia.
• 1996 - Les's daughter, Sarah, is severely burnt in a lab fire in her school. Despite all of his money and influence, there is nothing he can do to help her; her burns mar her as hideous.
• 1998 - Les is contacted by Anthony Desmond who needed help securing his position as Scourge; Les overs to provide him with any information he hears about the kind of odd happenings Anthony's organisation is interested in. Payment pending.
• 2001 - Is approached by Ferdinand Wolfe to cover up his involvement in the Dot-Com slaughter. Originally he tells him to get out. The concept dealing with the person who slaughtered 50 people being too much for him to cope with. Later that night Mr Hobbes pays Les a visit; Les changes his mind. He covers it up as a server explosion, and holds a memorial for those lost in the 'DotCom Explosion'. It took months to tie up all the loose ends, but eventually it was classified as an Act of God.
• 2001 - After the slaughter cover up Les calls in Anthony Desmond, to pay his debt he need to make sure anyone in his organisation who wants to do business now does it via phone.
• 2003 - Les was called by Doubting Thomas, he's request was simple, money and the high life. Easy asked, easy served. What he didn't bank on was the humiliation of being a 'Kept Kindred'
• 2004 - Doubting Thomas cuts the cord. To pay his debt he deals with a Mob Boss for Les. Though his dept is paid to Les, he wants revenge for his humiliation.

Family

Parents

• Geoffrey Crassus
• Madeline Crassus

Siblings

• Bobby Crassus

Spouses

• Lilly Crassus (Current)
• Helen Gordon (2nd Ex)
• Joanne Holiday (1st Ex)

Known Childern

• Rupert Crassus
• Sarah Murdock (Married - Peter Murdock)
• James Crassus

Known Grandchildern

• Bobby Murdock
• Lester Murdock
• Lilly Murdock

On the Record

Les Says

• "I don’t give guarantees to governments, I get them."

• "A very wise old man who taught me about TV once told me if you can be right 60 percent of the time, you’ll own the world. "

• "My father worked bloody hard to survive, and I didn’t see him because he paid a price for success… "

• "This is not about money, it’s about ego. "

• "There is a little bit of whore in all of us, gentlemen, don’t you think? "

• "You British reckon everything can be solved by compromise and diplomacy. We Australians fight to the very last ditch. "
• "Piss arse!"

• " "

Says About Les

• "He told me he'd kill me, yeah. I didn't think he was completely serious, but I didn't think he was entirely joking either. Look, he could be pretty scary. He did threaten to kill me and I said to him: 'Well, you'd better make sure that your assassin gets me first because, if he misses, you better know I won't miss you.' He could be a complete pig, you know. He could charm the birds out of the trees, but he could be a brute." - Malcolm Turncow

• "He just dismantled a Brood cell, lets leave him alone for now " - Ferdinand Wolfe 1979

• "So much to live for." - Mr Hobbes

• "If you need stuff done, he's a great one to get it done loudly but thoroughly, and nothing will be poking it's head out of the crater that until a few short days ago was that problem you had. On the other hand, he'll want something for the assistance he gives you and he's got all the money in the world so trying to find that thing he wants can be a challenge. However, when you find that thing he'll move hell and earth to get it." - Jeremiah Stone

Conversations

Too and Fro with Les

The Rumour Mill

• Crassus is famously quoted for an exchange in a poker tournament at the Stratosphere Casino, where a Texan oil investor was attempting to engage him in a game of poker. Upon the Texan saying "I'm worth $60,000,000!" Crassus apparently pulled out a coin and asked nonchalantly, "heads or tails?", referring to a A$120 million wager. Some variations of the story put the sum at A$60 million to A$100 million and claim the line was "I'll toss you for it".

• Crassus is known to have conducted extra-marital affairs with a number of women including the late model Carly Lopes—who reportedly committed suicide after being shunned by Crassus. Publisher and former SonPress employee Reta Buttrose, and Joan Trethowan, his long-time mistress and manager (from 1983) of the Crassus-owned Sydney city health and fitness club, the Hyde Park Club.

• In the late 1990s it is reported that he walked into a major London casino and played £15 million on four roulette tables on his own and lost it all. He subsequently simply walked out of the casino with no regrets. This has been confirmed by casino owners in South East England.

• In June 2009 the Sydney Morning Times reported that former Federal Opposition leader Malcolm Turncow – a former legal adviser and business associate of Crassus– revealed to journalist Lillybel Crabb that Crssus had threatened to have him killed when they fell out over their 1991 attempt to take over the FairPrint newspaper group through their Terring consortium. Mr Crassus reportedly made the threat after Turncow told Crassus he was going to have him thrown out of the consortium by revealing Crassus's intention to play an interventionist role in the newspaper group. see quote above

Inspirations

Primary Influence

• Kerry Packer

Secondary Influences

• Les Grossman
• Sir Les Patterson
• Rupert Murdoch

Soundtrack

Theme

• Born to be Alive - Patrick Hernandez

Additional tracks

• Power - Kanye West
• Money - Pink Floyd
• Bloke - Chris Franklin
• Down Under - Men at Work

---

Member Information
Player:	Symon
Number:	AU2006050003
Domain:	Sydney