David and Simon Reuben

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David and Simon Reuben are well known British businessmen and philanthropists of Baghdadi Jewish ethnicity. Born in Mumbai, India, the brothers moved to London as teenagers. Despite coming from an impoverished background, in the Sunday Times Rich List 2008 ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK the brothers were placed in the top ten with an estimated fortune of £4.3 billion. ($8.5 Billion)[1]

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[edit] Sources of wealth

The brothers are among the ten richest families in Britain. The Reuben brothers built up their fortune during the 1970s and 1980s in both metals trading and property. Nearly half their fortune is in liquid assets such as cash and bonds. They are not keen on publicity, but provide some details about their many interests on their personal website. Reubenbrothers.com

[edit] Trans World Group

In the early 1990s they saw the opportunities in Russia and entered the metals market there, investing significantly in the production and distribution of metals. The Reubens exploited the wild selling taking place in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet system to buy up half of Russia's aluminium industry and become the world's third-biggest producer of the metal — and this at a time when Russia represented frontier capitalism at its craziest.

At its peak, their company, Trans-World Metals, and its associates controlled five percent of the world's aluminium output. Russian aluminium smelters were incapacitated by debt. Trans-World entered into tolling arrangements with factories in which they paid for and delivered raw materials in return for finished aluminium, which it then sold for profit. The company's investment in Russia was $1.5 billion (£870 million), with global sales in 1995 topping $7 billion. Fortune magazine estimated that the Reuben's made £ 1.5 billion from their time in Russia. Their former status as Russia's biggest foreign investors means they are forced to endure more press scrutiny than they would like to. During their 10 years in the country, the Reubens did business with some unconventional characters. They also came across several members of the country's new oligarchy, including Roman Abramovich, now owner of Chelsea F.C.. In 2005 they settled a multi-million pound legal dispute with Oleg Deripaska which resulted in a substantial settlement being awared to the Reubens.

[edit] Other Business and Activities

By 2000, The Russian business environment was turning sour for them and they sold all their Russian assets and focused their business activities mainly in the UK property market, where they have a substantial portfolio of assets. With others, they have been involved in financing a number of major acquisitions and also have investments in technology companies. They are always looking out for new investments, increasingly across Europe. In 2006 David and Simon Reuben together with partners HBOS and Tom Hunter took over McCarthy and Stone, a retirement home builder for £1.1 billion. Today their business activities revolve around real estate both in the UK and abroad, Venture Capital and private equity. They have one of the largest pub portfolios(Wellington Pub Company) in the UK and fully control the world's largest data centre business Global Switch, which according to the Sunday Times they plan to IPO for £1.5 Billion in 2008

Amongst others the Reuben Brothers own or have a controlling stake in Northern Racing, Oxford Airport, Luup, Premium Bars & Restaurants, Ikyp and Silverjet.

[edit] London Developments and Property

The regeneration of the Paddington area of London is starting with a 1.8 m sq ft development scheme of offices and flats which is set to seal the area's transformation into the Canary Wharf of west London. 'A consortium backed by the Reuben brothers, two London-based billionaires, is beginning work shortly on six buildings around Paddington Basin, the end of the Grand Union Canal which winds its way down from Birmingham.' They will include a 43-storey residential tower - the tallest in the West End, where traditionally it has been hard to obtain planning permission for skyscrapers. Called Merchant Square it will have 559 flats and more than 600,000 sq ft (56,000 m²) of office space. The project is part of an estimated 8 m sq ft of development round the railway station, much of which has already been built. An estimated 30,000 people will eventually work there.

The Reuben brothers have been given the go-ahead to build three towers opposite Tate Britain. The development features a mix of apartments and an apart-hotel on the River Thames next to the trendy Riverbank Park Plaza hotel. The development, designed by Foster & Partners, will see 1960s office building Hampton House demolished and replaced with the three towers, the highest of which stands at 27 storeys.

Some of the Reubens more significant UK Property's include: the Millbank Centre, the John Lewis headquarters in Victoria, the American Express offices in Victoria, Carlton House on St James’s Square, Academy House on Sackville Street, Connaught House on Berkeley Square, Market Towers and prime Sloane Street shops.

[edit] Reuben Brothers Foundation

The brothers also have a charitable wing, The Reuben Foundation, which donates mainly in the healthcare and education sectors through a lump sum of $100 million. The Reuben Brothers Foundation in 2006 recently helped Great Ormond Street Hospital open what is to become one of the largest cancer clinics for children in the world. In 2004 they completed a multi-million pound project to build a school in North London, the school is called the Nancy Reuben primary school named after their mother. The foundation also sponsored the Daily Telegraph spirit of the community awards. In 2005 The Reuben foundation opened the largest breast cancer unit in the Meir hospital in Israel servicing both the Jewish and Arab community. The Reuben foundation also contributes to the Royal Marsden hospital campaign and the Princesse's trust for carer's.

[edit] Personal

The Reuben brothers cling tightly to their privacy. Simon Reuben, who, at 61, is three years younger than his brother David, has given only one interview to a British publication in his entire career, and that was more a case of finding himself in a room with a journalist and having to make polite conversation. Before that, in 2000, the brothers did agree to speak to Fortune but this ended in a long and expensive legal battle after the U.S.-based magazine made allegations of links with the Russian mafia.

The Reubens began libel proceedings against the publication's parent company, Time Inc., and the case was due to be heard in a London court in 2004. The case was settled. One friend, who spends time with Simon at the Isle de France Hotel in St Barts, said they are "trustworthy and really rather shy." And an executive who works closely with them said: "People often say that they are secretive but it's more a case of being very private. They are just not ostentatious people. David is the trader, and Simon is the investor. They work brilliantly together. They are quite different. For example, David is a technophile and loves gadgets, while Simon is completely the opposite. But I have been with them when they finish sentences for each other. In a business sense, they are incredibly smart and have a reputation for never having overpaid for anything." In 2005 they won the Variety club entrepeneur's of the year award.

Both Reuben brothers are married with children; David is a UK national who spends his time between London and his villa in Cannes, Simon is also a UK citizen but resides in Monaco and also has a house in St Tropez.

[edit] Dispute with Ken Livingstone

The Reuben brothers received press attention following a dispute over a property development project with the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. On 21 March 2006, during a press conference about redevelopment in London in preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics, Livingstone told them "they could always go back to Iran and see if they do better under the Ayatollahs".[2]

Brian Coleman and other Conservative members of the GLA accused Livingstone of anti-Semitism, while The Guardian and The Times ran leaders accusing Livingstone of anti-immigrant remarks. The Guardian wrote that Livingstone's remarks would "shame a loudmouth pub buffoon", and that "The Reuben brothers have as much right to be in Britain as Livingstone himself", while the Times leader said simply "Ken Livingstone is a fool".[3]

Livingstone refused calls for him to apologize for his remarks, stating "I would offer a complete apology to the people of Iran to the suggestion that they may be linked in any way to the Reuben brothers. I wasn't meaning to be offensive to the people of Iran."[4] He also accused Coleman of behaving like the Nazi Propaganda Minister, Josef Goebbels.[5] The Reuben brothers were born in Mumbai, India and are of Iraqi ancestry, rather than Iranian, but have carried out work in Iran. The Standards Board referred the comments to the GLA's monitoring officer, whose investigation exonerated the mayor.[6]

The Reuben Brothers posted a statement on their website[7][not in citation given] responding to Mr Livingstone:

"Regretfully, the Mayor appears to be deliberately misinformed about the role of the Reuben brothers in the consortium. They have worked ceaselessly to try to move the project forward for the benefit of London and the Olympic project. If the Mayor cares to have discussions with either David or Simon Reuben then we are confident that he would arrive at a more balanced view. Furthermore, at the suggestion of Westfield, NM Rothschild were appointed as mediators in the partners' discussions and should anyone wish to talk to them or to London & Continental Railways - both of whom have been independent parties to the talks - then we are sure that they will form a more accurate understanding of the consortium and the roles played by each of its members. The Mayor would also gain a more accurate account of the developments at Paddington and White City."

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Sunday Times Rich List 2007 online edition
  2. ^ "Mayor in fresh Jewish controversy.", BBC News, 21 March 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-21. 
  3. ^ The loutish Mayor - Comment - Times Online
  4. ^ "Mayor in fresh Jewish controversy" - BBC News 21 March 2006
  5. ^ http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASInt_13/4893_13.htm
  6. ^ Document One
  7. ^ Reuben Brothers website

[edit] External links