Richard Thompson (businessman)

This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (January 2021)

Richard Charles Thompson (born 31 July 1964) is a British entrepreneur. He entered the business world via his father David at 18-years-old.

Early life[]

Thompson was educated at Haileybury until 1982. He thereafter went to work for his father David, who was the majority shareholder of Hillsdown Holdings. In May 1982, David Thompson had acquired businesses from the Imperial Food group, including his old family business, Eastwood Thompson Ltd. David Thompson started Hillsdown Holdings 1975, floated in 1985, stepped down to Non Exec in May 1987 and sold 50% of his shares. He stepped off the board completely in 1989 and sold the balance of his shares. Total realization, £350m. Thompson has a prolific memory and is well known for his encyclopaedic statistical knowledge in tennis, horse racing and football.

Career[]

Richard acquired 51% of Copson plc in Nov 86, aged 22.

Chairman of Windsor Racecourse Aug 87 aged 23.^[1]

Chairman of Queens Park Rangers F.C. Sep 88 aged 24. Richard is still the youngest chairman in Premiership history.

Chairman of Planal/Quinta do Lago Jan 1990 aged 25.

Chairman of Hobson plc and Union Square plc Sep 1990 aged 26.

Engineered reversal of Leeds United into Caspian plc in Aug 1996.

Director of Leeds from 1996-1999

He was the director of Leeds Utd until March 1999.

He bought 90% of Mackintosh Ltd in 2000 and sold to Japanese group Yagi in April 2007.

He bought Chester Barrie from Austin Reed in August 2000.

Acquired from Coats Viyella plc for £1 for 100% of Jaeger and Viyella in January 2003.^[2]

Richard was founding investor and 20% shareholder of Fonix, a mobile payments company and one of the fastest growing tech companies in the UK. Fonix floated in October 2020 at valuation of £90m with forecast profits of the current year of £8.5m ebitda. Richard stepped off of the board and sold 50% of his shares in the float, retaining the other 50%.

Current projects[]

He is currently the Director of the following companies:

Thompson Investments (20% shareholder) net assets approaching £200m.

Cheveley Park Stud (largest privately British owned stud farm in UK)^[3]

Cheveley Park Stud covers 1000 acres in Newmarket, Suffolk and currently owns 400 horses, spread between racehorses, mares, stallions, foals and yearlings. Pivotal (stallion) has been the flagship stallion for 15 years but the Stud has just acquired 75% of Ulysses. By Galileo ex Light Shift, he has just been named Cartier Older Horse of the Year. Cheveley have bred/owned horses such as Russian Rhythm (1000 Guineas), Confidential Lady (Prix de Diane), Medicean (Eclipse Stakes), Persuasive (Queen Elizabeth II Stakes), Pivotal (Nunthorpe Stakes). Richard’s mother Patricia Thompson also owned Party Politics (horse), winner of the 1992 Grand National.

The Thompson Family also control a charity, The (TFCT) which currently has liquid assets of over £100m and has donated £25m in recent years. The Thompson Family Trust are the largest donors to Haileybury UK, Thompson's Alma Mater, donating around £4m in recent years including the swimming pool and building.

The family is reputedly worth £1bn in total assets.

References[]