![Michael Thomas, Writer and B'te Noire of the Moneyed Class, Dies at 85](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/08/12/obituaries/12Thomas/12Thomas-facebookJumbo.jpg)
Michael M. Thomas, a columnist and novelist, died in Brooklyn on August 7. He was 85.
Tamara Glenny, Tamara Glenny's wife, stated that he was in hospital being treated for complications of arthritis. He died from a bacterial infection.
Thomas was the son of an old-line family. He occupied the top echelons of Manhattan society and served as assistant curator of European paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He also worked at Lehman Brothers as an investment banker and finally as a writer. He loved art history, and he spent a lot of time immersed in high-finance worlds. But it was with his pen, some say, in an inkwell full of acid that he discovered his groove.
He published nine novels, many of which were financial thrillers, and hundreds of articles and columns in newspapers and magazines over the course of nearly forty years. His main theme was wealth and his subplots dealt with the ongoing struggle between old and new money.