As a result of his company's need for gold acquisitions from South African suppliers, Charles Engelhard became a major investor in the country, acquiring gold, copper and coal mining ventures as well as investing in industrial concerns. He set up a publicly traded holding company in the U.S. that raised capital for investments in South African business. The company made investments alone and in conjunction with South African business tycoon, Harry Oppenheimer whose Anglo American plc dominated the South African mining industry. Engelhard maintained a residence in South Africa and was elected to Anglo American's Board of Directors. At home, some criticized him for indirectly supporting the country's apartheid regime, however in a retrospect summing up Engelhard's impact on the country, Anglo American stated that: "In difficult times, when South Africa was badly in need of capital, Engelhard played a vital and significant role in helping to bring it from abroad. He thus not only restored confidence in the country's economy, but actively assisted in boosting it."
Shortly before his death in 1971, Charles Engelhard disposed of most of his South African businesses, selling them to Anglo-American plc and other companies.
Engelhard is reported by numerous sources, including Forbes magazine and The New York Times, to have been the inspiration for the fictional character Auric Goldfinger in the Ian Fleming novel Goldfinger and the subsequent motion picture. According to the Times, Engelhard was an acquaintance of Fleming and delighted in the characterization.
Charles Engelhard was a major contributor to the United States Democratic Party and in the 1960 presidential election organized the National Committee of Business and Professional Men and Women for Kennedy and Johnson. In 1955, he ran for New Jersey State Senate against Malcolm Forbes in the "Battle of the Billionaires"[1]. In 1967, he and his wife donated an elaborate 18th-century Neapolitan crêche to the White House.
Charles Engelhard supported numerous humanitarian and benevolent causes in South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Engelhard Dam on the Letaba River in Kruger National Park is named in his honor in gratitude for donations to the South African National Parks Board.
The Charles Engelhard Foundation, headed by his wife after his death and by their children following her passing in 2004, provides funding to a wide range of causes including education, medical research, cultural institutions, and wildlife and conservation organizations. It has made major donations to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where the Charles Engelhard Court can be found in its American Wing, built the library at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and has been a generous supporter of a number of University of Montana academic programs.
That still doesn’t make me like the display any less.