Lenore Furgler

Lenore Furgler is the widowed heir who controlled Furgler Gesellschaft and the person whose trust in Jack Harkness helped transform his position from an outsider in the company to its owner. Her decision to sell to him in 1995, while her health was failing, transferred control of the pharmaceutical business that became Harkness Pharmaceuticals.

Position and Family

Lenore inherited control of Furgler Gesellschaft from her father. The company was based in Basel, and she was widowed with three sons. They were waiting to take over the business themselves and expected to send Harkness away; their distrust of him stood in contrast to Lenore’s evident confidence in his abilities.

Trust in Jack Harkness

Harkness first appeared in the company as Lenore’s personal assistant. During the 1980s, he rose to a seat on the board with responsibility for company strategy. The account presents Lenore’s trust as central to that advance: although the rest of her family regarded him as an obstacle to their eventual control, she gave him influence over the company’s direction.

Sale and Consequences

By 1995, with Lenore ailing, she sold Furgler Gesellschaft to Harkness. The sale price was described as neither especially generous nor absurdly low. How Harkness obtained the money remained uncertain; one rumour connected it to Vladimir Drishkov, a Russian oligarch, but the account does not establish that source as fact. What was clear was the result: Harkness took charge, and the company became Harkness Pharmaceuticals. Lenore’s sale therefore brought the anticipated family succession to an end and marked the decisive transfer of the business to the man her sons had expected her to dismiss.