Jack Lear is a predator driven by unbridled ambition. He makes a great fortune as a pioneering radio and television broadcaster, founds a network, and marries two beautiful socialites, but despite his conquests he continues to hunger for what he cannot have - the social respectability of old money.

The women in his life are legion. His first marriage is to an exquisitely beautiful and shrewd WASP princess who turns him from the wealthy son of a Jewish scrap metal king into an elegant man, surrounded by tasteful trappings of wealth; his second marriage is to a lovely English aristocrat of impeccable lineage and sophisticated style, who introduces him to international high society.

But nothing can ever tame Jack Lear's need to succeed, to overcome his enemies and rivals, to expand his network - until, finally, a threat from where he least expects it promises to tear his beloved empire out of his hands...