This image was lost some time after publication.

Who

Bill Fischer is the travel agent and concierge to some of the city's most rich and powerful figures.

Backstory

The Brooklyn native has come a long way since he started off in the travel business selling $199 packages to Aruba. The founder of Fisher Travel Enterprises, he doesn't have a website or a listed phone number but if you know how to get to him—and you're willing to part with a $50,000 initiation fee plus an annual fee of $10,000—Fisher and his staff of 18 will see to it that you travel like a king (or queen). Famous for regularly achieving the impossible, Fischer can arrange for Jean-Georges Vongerichten cook dinner for you anywhere in the world, or for Tiger Woods to meet you on the links to help you with your swing.

Of note

So who pays for this sort of thing? Diane Sawyer, Martin Scorsese, Calvin Klein, Jonathan Tisch, Steve Schwarzman, Mary Boone, Michael Lynne, Sandy Weill, and Steve Brill are all current or former clients. And to join his roster, Fischer says you have to be vouched for by someone who's already a client. ("It's like joining a country club," he once explained to a reporter. "We have to accept you.") As for how he manages to snag last-minute reservations at the choicest restaurants and reserve poolside cabanas at a moment's notice, Fischer claims that hotels grant his requests because they know he'll be sending more high-powered clients their way. Critics say Fischer regularly "tips" hotels to insure his clients are treated better than other guests.

Personal

Fischer and his wife Barbara live on East 79th Street. They have a daughter, Stacy, who works at the company.

No joke

For an extravagant party in Marrakech which featured live camels, Fischer insured the odor of the animals wouldn't offend the assembled moguls by having the camels washed down with Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo and their teeth brushed with Crest toothpaste.