HIS company is called Comfort Revolution and it has made Michael Fux (that’s not a typo) a very wealthy man.
The Cuban-American, who calls himself a mattress mogul, produces a range of gel and memory foam pillows, toppers and mattresses, some of them infused with essential oils or ‘beauty-blends’ that are readily snapped up by people who like to sleep on nice-smelling bed linen that might makes them look like Amber Heard when they awake.
Mr Fux also has a penchant for bold colours — and exotic cars.
He has dozens of the latter, all stored in jumbo-sized garages in New Jersey, with nary a one what you’d call ‘ordinary’ cars.
He’s famous among luxury car makers for frequently adding to his car collection, and ordering so-called bespoke cars.
Those with paint or features crafted especially for his beauty-blend tastes.
The 76-year-old has just commissioned revived Spanish luxury carmaker Hispano-Suiza, to build him a Carmen electric supercar.
The Carmen was unveiled last year and a few months later, spawned a more powerful, track-focused variant called the Carmen Boulogne.
Both feature carbon-fibre construction for the body and central monocoque, as well as an 80 kWh battery that should deliver a range of about 350km.
Hispano-Suiza plans to build a total of 14 Carmens and five Carmen Boulognes, which will make them extremely rare and desirable.
They cost from 1.5 million euros (about $2.5 million Australian) and the first example is to be delivered in 2022.
However, Michael doesn’t want it painted in any old Spanish colour — like black or red.
His will be in Fux Fuchsia, a shade created especially for him by McLaren, when he ordered a 720S from them in 2017.
After the McLaren, he ordered a Rolls-Royce Dawn in the same shade to add sparkle to his fleet of Rollers (one of them is in snot green, inside and out) and when his Carmen arrives, it will be in Fux Fuchsia outside and on several interior elements, including the carpet.
Hispano-Suiza created computer-generated images of Fux’s fuchsia Carmen to highlight the level of customisation available for the car.
The company says no two examples of the 1000-horsepower machine will be the same.
Fux also has a pied-à-terre in Manhattan, where a while ago, he took delivery of the first McLaren Senna anywhere in the world.
Since then he has auctioned off 11 cars in his five-garage collection, among them a trio of Mercedes-Benzs, one Cadillac, one BMW — and two Porsches, McLarens, and Ferraris.
He is said to be worth $400 million in US folding cash, which translates to some $570m Oz, and his Bespokemobiles include a couple of Ferrari 458s and three each of the Aston Martin DBS, Ferrari 599 and a 599 GTO and Phantom Dropheads.
He likes Lambos too and has a Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 and an Lamborghini Aventador.
Then there’s a Spyker C8 Laviolette, Mercedes SLR McLaren, a variety of Porsches in a Carrera GT, 997 GT2 RS a 4.0 RS and a 918.
Plus an Alfa Romeo 8C, a Mercedes SL65 AMG Black Series, a Saleen S7, a Ferrari Enzo, Ferrari F12, McLaren P1, Pagani Huayra, Ferrari FXX, Bugatti Veyron, and, one report says, probably a partridge in a pear tree.
However, more than a crazy car collector, he is also blessed with a good heart — and he was certainly not born with the proverbial silver spoon.
He came from the humblest of beginnings.
He was 15 when his impoverished family migrated to the US in 1958.
They lived in a one-room apartment in Newark, New Jersey — a seven-story walk-up with no air conditioning.
They had furniture from the Salvation Army and Michael only had one pair of shoes.
He was self-employed as a teenager, buying old batteries and restoring them, and later worked in sales for a variety of major stores.
Then he hit on the deferred payment plan, and that was when his moment of magic arrived.
Then came the better things in life, the cars, properties and in 2006, he created The Michael Fux Foundation (MFF).
Its mission is to enrich the lives of children stricken with serious illnesses by creating programs that provide assistance and support to the kids and their families.
“We support families who have a child with a life threatening or terminal illness and are in the greatest need,” he said.
“Our Foundation provides a life line to these families and children.
“We support the whole family including parents, carers, the unwell child, brothers, sisters and grandparents.
“The Foundation brings support and help to families by providing a nurturing supportive environment for them.
“Any family can receive support from the moment their child or young person is diagnosed.”
The Foundation hosts an annual holiday party for seriously ill kids being treated at Miami Children’s Hospital.
The children and their families get to enjoy a fun-filled day where each child is granted their greatest holiday wish.
Maybe in 2022 some kid will wish for a ride in a Fux Fuchsia Carmen?
CHECKOUT: Hispano makes comeback — but who owns the name?
CHECKOUT: Rolls wanted to build planes, not cars