COVERSTORY
Descend Into the
Rabbit H le
By Farhan Shah
Michael Ault, the
man credited with
revolutionising the
nightlife industry with
the bottle service
concept, has everything
any male would dream
of – an empire, a
supermodel wife and a
loving child. We descend
into his world of fantasy
and discover surprises
and revelations galore.
Michael Ault is running late. “His son
took longer than usual to finish school,”
his publicist offered by way of apology.
So, we stand in the shade, seeking
refuge from the scorching afternoon
sun, and exchanged stories and
pleasantries along the Singapore River.
Twenty minutes later, a splotch of
colour appears in the distance, too far
away to discern any recognisable facial
features, yet Ault’s publicist perks up.
“That looks like him.”
For decades, Ault’s name has reigned
supreme in the global nightlife scene.
The doyen has designed and built more
than twenty nightclubs the world over,
all of which are not only successful
but have stood the test of time, a rarity
in this fickle industry. His name is
synonymous with decadence; saunter
past the gatekeepers at his ultralounge Pangaea Singapore and you
will discover an intoxicating escape
filled with crocodile-skinned couches,
African tribal masks and sloshed,
moneyed individuals.
Pause.
Phoenix is
captivated by the
way the staff and
guests treat me,
and is very eager
to begin working
and be in charge.
He even flirts
quite openly with
the ladies!
“That is him.”
Ault has a penchant for colourful and
eye-catching – some might even say
garish – shirts, especially for magazine
photo shoots, and today is no different.
His feet, though, are surprisingly shod
in what looks like really comfortable
bedroom slip-ons.
His clothing choices might be a huge
contrast but, then again, the incongruity
is the perfect metaphor for Ault’s life.
It is no wonder that the club is making
money hand over fist, as millionaire
punters return evening after evening
to descend into the rabbit hole where
anything is impossible, if only for a
night. In 2013, Pangaea Singapore
reportedly made more than US$20
million and was the largest grossing
nightclub per square foot in the world.
Pangaea Singapore is the equivalent of
Ault’s colourful shirts.
But when the music has died down and
the lights are switched on, Ault heaves
a quiet sigh of relief. For all the parties
he has thrown and the nightclubs that
he owns, Ault surprisingly considers
himself “somewhat of a recluse and
an academic”.
If he was given a choice between a
crowded night catching a concert and
an evening alone on the couch with a
book about the wars of the world, Ault
would plump for the latter, hands down.
Take a seat Swedish House Mafia;
Ault would rather discover Sumerian
civilisation instead. In fact, he reads so
much that he can easily finish an 800page book every week. His interests?
History, mythology, the history of
art and architecture, and military
conquests, to name a few.
That heaving bookshelf is Ault’s
bedroom slip-ons, his escape, quite an
irony considering his customers view
his establishment as their escape from
the real world.
Ault’s ascent to the red velvet throne
is well-documented. A son of a blueblooded high society couple – his
stepfather is the late Dean Witter while
his mother is Faith van Cleef of the
8
Family & Life • Apr 2014
jewellery behemoth, Van Cleef & Arpels –
Ault turned his back on a promising Wall
Street career and “the best education
money could buy” to throw parties.
Instead of relying on the financial
might of his family, Ault chose to strike
out on his own. “I lived in a studio
apartment and slept on a pull-out bed.
I had virtually no money in the bank,
which made my decision even more of
an inconceivable risk,” says Ault. “Of
course, it was a super way to meet top
models, which at that stage of my life,
was a significant goal!”
One of those models, Sabrina Randall,
believed in his vision and became his
second largest investor in the first
Pangaea in New York. Little did she
know that, at that time, Ault had “an
enormous crush on her” and had
overlooked better locations for Pangaea
in favour of a plot of land that was
adjacent to Sabrina’s apartment.
Sabrina’s association with the nightclub
sent its stock soaring. Within weeks,
the who’s who of the fashion and
modelling world flocked to Pangaea
New York to party the night away.
By the sixth month of the club’s
opening, Ault had quadrupled the
establishment’s revenue.
Ault was unsurprisingly pleased with
the progress of his club. However,
his romantic overtures to Sabrina
was not making as much headway as
he hoped it would and when Sabrina
went to Mykonos and got engaged to
a Greek DJ, Ault knew he had to step
it up a gear.
“When she returned, I moved quickly
and orchestrated the break-up of
their engagement,” says Ault cheekily.
The nightclub mogul then went on
a charm offensive, bringing Sabrina
on a whirlwind trip around the world.
Starting in Paris, the duo travelled to
Cape Town before going on several
unforgettable safaris in Zimbabwe,
Zambia and Botswana. As New Year
approached, Ault craftily sneaked a
six-carat diamond ring into his luggage,
which he whipped out when they were
on the summit of the Andes mountain
range in Peru. It was an unforgettable
moment, made even more memorable
with Machu Picchu in the background.