Allen is the ruffian roustabout who left school at age 15 to support his family, moved to Alaska to work on the oil platforms, and eventually built his own business becoming the state's largest private employer and making a fortune.

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"The only reason we sell is to fuel our ability to buy, " says David's son Helly, 29, who runs a gallery in the posh Carlyle Hotel on Madison Avenue. (Helly's cousin, also named Helly Nahmad after their grandfather Hillel in the Sephardic Jewish tradition, runs a gallery in London.) And while there is a cost to holding that inventory, the family's currency business helps support their art strategy.

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Six years ago, Hurricane Katrina blew 24 feet of water into my fishing lodge, the business I'd devoted my career to building, the sole means of support for myself and my family.

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