Count Gottfried Alexander Leopold Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen (1962–2007) was a German aristocrat, businessman, and socialite from the princely House of Bismarck, great-great-grandson of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Born the second son of Ferdinand, Prince von Bismarck—a diplomat—and Countess Elisabeth Lippens, he grew up at the family's ancestral estate near Hamburg, Germany. He attended schools in Germany and Switzerland, then studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at Christ Church, University of Oxford, earning a third-class honours degree. During his time at Oxford, he was involved in the exclusive Bullingdon Club and Piers Gaveston Society, known for their extravagant and destructive parties. His lifestyle involved heavy drinking, amphetamines, and later heroin, leading to a 1986 incident where heiress Olivia Channon died of a heroin overdose in his rooms; he was charged with drug possession and fined £80, though not held responsible for her death. His father arranged treatment in a German clinic, after which he left Oxford abruptly. After university, Bismarck interned briefly at the New York Stock Exchange and later worked on a doctoral thesis about the East German telephone system at an unspecified German university. He pursued business ventures in London, serving as an executive at the failed Telemonde (collapsed 2002), promoting holidays in Uzbekistan, and co-founding the investment firm AIM Partners. Primarily residing in upscale London flats in Chelsea and Notting Hill, he maintained a flamboyant, dissolute lifestyle that attracted tabloid scrutiny. In August 2006, Anthony Casey died after falling from Bismarck's Chelsea balcony following a cocaine-fueled party described by the coroner as involving sexual activities; no charges were filed against him. Long treated for epilepsy, he also suffered from HIV, hepatitis B and C, and liver damage. Bismarck died of a cocaine overdose on June 29, 2007, in his Notting Hill flat, aged 44, after injecting the drug hourly.