Ritz and Escoffier are responsible for the establishment of modern superior hotels.
Yet they took advatage of their positions at the Savoy Hotel in London. Ritz and Escoffier, as well as Ritz’s deputy, Louis Echenard, collected e.g. 5% of every food purchase, made the food providers give them produce for free, etc. On March 7, 1898, the hotel, where Ritz was the general manager, dismissed them for larceny, embezzlement, and fraud. To avoid a lawsuit, Ritz and Echenard eventually agreed to repay a total of £4,173, and Escoffier £8000, which he did not have. These were enormous amounts of money. By way of comparison, the hotel's total profits that year had been £20,276. Yet they did not think they had done anything wrong, since they had made the Savoy a resounding success. They actually thought they deserved their share of the rewards; it was only fair!