John Ritblat
Sir John Ritblat | |
|---|---|
 John Ritblat in 2011 | |
| Born | John Henry Ritblat 3 October 1935 London, England |
| Education | Dulwich College College of Estate Management. |
| Occupation | Property developer, philanthropist |
| Spouse(s) | 2, including Jill Zilkha |
| Children | Jamie Ritblat |
Sir John Henry Ritblat FRICS (born 3 October 1935) is an English property developer. He is honorary president (and formerly chairman and CEO) of The British Land Company PLC, an FTSE100 London-based property company that George Soros's G Soros Realty Investors acquired a stake in during 1993.[1]
Early life[]
Ritblat was born in 1935 in Hampstead, North London, England. He was educated at Dulwich College, The Hall School, Hampstead and the College of Estate Management.
Career[]
He acquired British Land from Jim Slater in 1970 for £1m, and retired as chairman in 2006.[2]
Since June 2001, Ritblat has served as the non-executive chairman of property advisory Colliers CRE. [3] [4] He also serves as the chairman of the advisory board of Delancey, the property and asset-backed investment firm founded in 1995 by his son Jamie Ritblat (born 1967), which owns the Alpha Plus group of schools of which Sir John is the chairman of the board of governors.
Political activity[]
He has donated to the Conservative Party.[5] In August 2018 Jim Fitzpatrick MP forwarded a letter to the Crown Estate that made unsubstantiated allegations about the 2010 off-market sale of the Royal Mint Court freehold to DV4, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delancey based in the British Virgin Islands and questioning the Crown Estate's relationship with the Ritblat family.[6][7]
Philanthropy[]
He is chairman of the board of trustees of the Wallace Collection, chairman of the governing body of The London Business School and Honorary Fellow, a member of the Council of The Royal Institution and honorary president of The British Ski & Snowboard Federation, deputy chairman of The Royal Academy of Music and Honorary Fellow. Hon. Fellow of The Royal Institute of The British Architects. D.Litt. London Metropolitan University. Vice chairman of The International Students House.
The John Ritblat gallery of the British Library houses some of the finest items in the library's collection for public display; it is named after him since he was a major benefactor during the building of the gallery and donated one million pounds towards the gallery's display cases.
He is also vice chair of International Students House, London.
Personal life[]
He has been married twice. His second wife, Jill (Zilkha née Slotover), is a philanthropist.[8] He has two sons, Jamie Ritblat (b 1967) and Nick Ritblat, and a daughter, Suki Ritblat.
References[]
- ^ Cooke, Stephanie (9 April 1994). "Truth behind Soros deal".
- ^ Connon, Heather (16 July 2006). "Charmer who built a property megalith". The Observer. London.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 July 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Charmer who built a property megalith". The Guardian. London.
- ^ "Tory summer party drew super-rich supporters with total wealth of £11bn". the Guardian. 3 July 2014.
- ^ "Letter from Jim Fitzpatrick MP to the Crown Estate dated 31 August 2018" (PDF). What Do They Know. 24 September 2018.
- ^ "Correspondence Between Jim Fitzpatrick MP and the Crown Estate". What Do They Know. 5 November 218.
- ^ "Lady Ritblatt". Debretts People of Today.
External links[]
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- 1935 births
- Living people
- Academics of London Business School
- British businesspeople
- People from Hampstead
- People educated at Dulwich College
- People associated with the Royal Academy of Music
- People associated with the Wallace Collection
- Conservative Party (UK) people
- Knights Bachelor
- British Land people
- Alumni of University College of Estate Management
- British business biography stubs