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Prince & Papa. Edgar travels the equivalent of ten times around the world every year, catches up on sleep by snapping on a black eyeshade and stretching out on a bunk in the company plane. A confidant and partygoing pal of several world leaders, he has become the U.S.'s semi-official ambassador to Ghana's Red-leaning dictator, Kwame Nkrumah. He also finds time to serve on three U.S. presidential commissions and to supervise the nonprofit Kaiser Foundation Medical Plan, in which 1,200,000 members pay a monthly fee for the services of 1,000 doctors and 15 hospitals. Edgar used it to treat his ulcers, now cured.
Part of this four-wheeled drive comes from his desire to top Henry J. Says Edgar: "Any time that you follow a great man—and my father was a great man—you're constantly asking yourself, 'Do I measure up?' " Aging Henry J. now lives under the Honolulu sun, devotes much of his energies to the company's 6,000-acre Hawaii Kai real estate development, into which the Kaiser enterprises have sunk more than $25 million with little return. Edgar invariably sounds Henry J. out on all major decisions, and for more than sentimental reasons. After all, Edgar has three sons of his own—age 16 to 22—and he expects to be listened to when they take over.