Letters and photos, diaries and documents stashed in bankers boxes or file cabinets or kitchen drawers turned to ash in the Palisades and Eaton fires.

Frances Dinkenspiel is an author and journalist who has written a lot about California, including the book “Towers of Gold,” about her forebear, the pioneering banker and landowner Isaias Hellman.

Meanwhile, the bankers, the CEOs and the Big Money Boys on Wall Street are also on board.

Robert had initially worked as a banker but, in 1961, found himself drawn into the family business.

He offers no defence for the "land bankers" though: "As a Sydneysider, I think that is abusing the privilege… that is not a fair go."