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Published on August 8, 2007

Having spent 10 years as an unsuccessful rhythm-and-blues drummer, the hippie-pauper then co-launched the UK edition of Oz magazine in the late 1960s.

In its short life, the magazine garnered Felix much notoriety, not least on charges of publishing articles that contained homosexual and sadistic content for children.

It was Judge Michael Argyle's comment that Dennis was "very much less intelligent than his fellow defendants" that spared Dennis a tough sentence and nudged him on the path towards riches.

In his memoirs, dressed up as a how-to book entitled "How to Get Rich", Dennis boasts that his net worth is about £200 million (Bt13.73 billion) - not too bad for a late bloomer.

Dennis' first step on the path towards real riches - he calls those with £1 million or £2 million the "comfortable poor" - started with the publication of Kung Fu magazine.

According to his book, Dennis and co-writer Don Atyeo - penniless, totally inexperienced and with only a typewriter each - were commissioned by Wildwood House to write a book on Bruce Lee.

But Bruce Lee's untimely death proved to be a boon to both of them.

The martial artist and actor became an overnight icon. Fans lined up to watch Lee's movies. And Dennis profited from it.

Having exhausted all possibilities with his Kung Fu poster-magazine, netting about £60,000, Dennis hit upon another pot of gold in the 1980s.

Computers back then were these grey, cumbersome and impersonal machines. Nobody thought they would become the quotidian phenomenon they are today.

The launches of personal-computer titles like Computer Buyer, Computer Shopper and MacUser made Dennis a multimillionaire by the time he was 35.

A fond collector of quotations, Felix cited master of Oxford's Balliol College Benjamin Jowett: "Never complain. Never explain. Just do it and let them howl."

Dennis' resolute rule characterises his business conduct. The hobby and specialist magazine magnate, whose titles includes Maxim, Men's Fitness and The Week, is known for not yielding even a tiny slice of Dennis Publishing -which is still privately owned - to anyone.

This is what sets him apart from his competitors, such as those who run British media giant Emap. He brags that his counterpart chairman and CEO earns £1 million or £2 million a year max.

But caveat emptor: Dennis, who now devotes much of his time to serious poetry, says he has never met a single happy rich person.

kinan@nationgroup.com