John Caudwell

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John Caudwell (born 1953) is an English billionaire who has made most of his money in the mobile phone business.

The Caudwell Group is a mobile communications company, founded by John and his brother Brian Caudwell in 1987 as Midland Mobile Phones, a small local business which took 8 months to sell its first order of 26 phones. The group now sells 26 phones every minute. ^[1]

Developing from a small dealership to a wholesale distributor, turnover expanded to £13 million in 1991, making it the UK's largest independent distributor of cellular phones.

Turnover increased from £13 million in 1991 to over £1 billion in 2000. In 1996 and 1997, The Caudwell Group was named the UK's fastest growing company for 2 years in succession. The Caudwell Group employs over 8,000 worldwide.

The Caudwell Group owns mobile phone retailer Phones 4U, handset sourcing firm 20:20 Logistics and Dextra Solutions. In 2003 Caudwell sold the mobile phone services operation Singlepoint to Vodafone, for £405m (then $648m).

In 2005 the Sunday Times estimated John Caudwell's wealth at £1,280 million (then around $2.4 billion).^[2]

On 26 September 2006, it was announced that the Caudwell Group had been sold for a sum of £1.46 billion to private equity firms Providence Equity Partners and Doughty Hanson. ^[3]

It is rumored that Caudwell is leading a consortium to purchase Manchester City Football Club. Caudwell has himself dismissed this according to local newspaper The Sentinel^[4].

[edit] Personal life

Caudwell was happily married to his wife of 34 years, Kate, they have since separated but remain great friends and dedicated parents to their three children. John now lives with partner Claire Johnson and the have a 4 year old son, to whom Kate Caudwell is Godmother http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23382483-details/So+John,+why+DID+you+hire+playboy+model+as+the+new+au+pair/article.do]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]