much of Romania's steel industry through his strong presence in Reşiţa, he was chairman of the Ford Motor Company's Romanian section, and arguably the richest man in Romania at the time. Malaxa was close to the authoritarian King Carol II. Together with Aristide Blank and Max Auschnitt, he was one of the major businessmen present in the king's camarilla (see National Renaissance Front); such political connections also implied that his success was partly ensured by preferential deals agreed with the state, and in some cases by the placement of inferior products on a captive market. According to Pandrea, Malaxa had made a habit of manipulating state officials into granting him preferential credits, which explained his interest in supporting Carol's moves. Reportedly, Malaxa and his wife were especially close to the king's mistress, Elena Lupescu, and even became related through marriage (after Lupescu's nephew, an engineer, married the niece of Malaxa's wife). Around 1939, Carol's son Michael was rumored to be in a relationship with Lulu Malaxa (Nicolae's daughter). Petre Pandrea also alleged that, soon after turning 17, the virgin Lulu had been raped by Carol on board his Luceafărul yacht — before her father decided to intervene, remove her from the circle of friends, and send her to study in Paris. Pandrea also claimed that this was the origin of the notorious conflict between the engineer and Auschnitt, alleging that the latter's wife, was Carol's third mistress and resented Lulu's apparent success. He also claimed that Elena Lupescu was cheating on the king with his secretary Ernest Urdăreanu, who was also an important figure of the camarilla and who kept close contacts with the Malaxas. Unlike most other large industries in the country, Malaxa's was not tied to British, French or Czechoslovak interests. Instead, Nicolae Malaxa maintained business links with Nazi Germany as early as 1935. At a time when Nazi Germany was gaining more influence in Romania, Nicolae Malaxa collaborated with Hermann Göring in confiscating the assets of the Jewish Auschnitt (who had been arrested and prosecuted on false charges in September 1939), and subsequently placed his industrial empire in the service of the Reichswerke during World War II. Just after Carol fell from power in 1940, Malaxa was briefly imprisoned on charges that he had resorted to extortion in previous years. He had financed the activities of all political parties, including the Romanian far right Iron Guard organization