| The Right Honourable The Lord Black of Crossharbour PC OC KCSG |
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|---|---|
Picture of Lord Black in 2005. |
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| Born | August 25, 1944 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Residence | Toronto, Ontario, Canada London, England |
| Nationality | Canadian (1944–2001) British (1999–present) |
| Education | Carleton University, (B.A.) Université Laval (LL.L.) McGill University (M.A.) |
| Occupation | former newspaper publisher, author, columnist, investor |
| Home town | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Net worth | $80 million (2011) [1] |
| Religion | Catholic |
| Spouse | Joanna Hishon (1978–1992) Barbara Amiel, Lady Black (1992–present) |
| Children | 2 sons, 1 daughter |
| Parents | George Montegu Black II, Jean Elizabeth Riley |
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, OC, KCSG, PC (born August 25, 1944) is a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords, and a historian, columnist and publisher, who was for a time the third largest newspaper magnate in the world.[2] Lord Black controlled Hollinger International, Inc. Through affiliates, the company published major newspapers including The Daily Telegraph (UK), Chicago Sun Times (U.S.), Jerusalem Post (Israel), National Post (Canada), and hundreds of community newspapers in North America.
He was convicted of fraud in a US court in 2007 and sentenced to six and a half years' imprisonment. On July 19, 2010 Black was granted bail. The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned two of the three remaining mail fraud counts in October of that year.[3] On June 24, 2011 he was resentenced on one remaining count of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice to a prison term of 42 months and a fine of US$125,000. As the 29 months Black has served is included in this sentence, he returned to prison on September 6, 2011,[4] to serve his remaining term of thirteen months.[5]
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Black was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to a wealthy family originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba. His father, George Montegu Black, Jr., C.A., was the president of Canadian Breweries Limited, an international brewing conglomerate that had earlier absorbed Winnipeg Breweries (founded by George Black Sr.). Conrad Black's mother was the former Jean Elizabeth Riley, a daughter of Conrad Stephenson Riley, whose father founded the Great-West Life Assurance Company, and a great-granddaughter of an early co-owner of the Daily Telegraph.
Biographer George Toombs said of Black's motivations: "he was born into a very large family of athletic, handsome people. He wasn't particularly athletic or handsome like they were, so he developed a different skill – wordplay, which he practised a lot with his father."[6]
Black was first educated at Upper Canada College (UCC), during which time, at age 8, he invested his life savings of $60 in one share of General Motors.[7] Six years later, according to Tom Bower's biography Dancing on the Edge,[8] he was expelled from UCC for selling stolen exam papers. He then attended Trinity College School where he lasted less than a year, being expelled for insubordinate behaviour. Black eventually graduated from a small, now defunct, private school in Toronto called Thornton Hall, continuing on to post-secondary education at Carleton University (History, 1965). For a time, he attended Toronto's Osgoode Hall Law School of York University; however, his studies ended after he failed his first year exams.[8] He completed a law degree at Université Laval (Law, 1970), and in 1973 completed a Master of Arts degree in history at McGill University.[9] Black's thesis, later published as a biography, was on Quebec premier Maurice Duplessis.
Black's first marriage was in 1978 to Joanna Hishon of Montreal, who worked as a secretary in his brother Montegu's brokerage office. The couple had two sons and a daughter.[10] The couple separated in 1991. Their divorce was finalized in 1992; the same year Black married Watford-born journalist Barbara Amiel. Black flattered Amiel, describing her variously as "beautiful, brilliant, ideologically a robust spirit" and "chic, humorous and preternaturally sexy". Courtroom evidence revealed that the couple exchanged over 11,000 emails.[6]
"My family," Black wrote in 2009, "was divided between atheism and agnosticism, and I followed rather unthinkingly and inactively in those paths into my 20s." By his early 30s, however, he "no longer had any confidence in the non-existence of God." Thereafter, he "approached Rome at a snail's pace," and was finally received into the Catholic Church on June 18, 1986.[11]
Black became involved in a number of businesses, mainly publishing newspapers, and briefly in mining. In 1966, Black bought his first newspaper, the Eastern Townships Advertiser in Quebec. Following the foundation, as an investment vehicle, of the Ravelston Corporation by the Black family in 1969, Black, together with friends David Radler and Peter G. White, purchased and operated the Sherbrooke Record, the small English language daily in Sherbrooke, Quebec. In 1971, the three formed Sterling Newspapers Limited, a holding company that would acquire several other small Canadian regional newspapers.
George Black died in June 1976, leaving Conrad Black and his older brother, Montegu, a 22.4% stake in Ravelston Corporation, which by then owned 61% voting control of Argus Corporation, an influential holding company in Canada. Argus controlled large stakes in 7 major Canadian corporations, Labrador Mining, Noranda Mines, Hollinger Mines, Standard Broadcasting, Dominion Stores, Domtar and Massey-Ferguson.[12]
Through his father's holdings in Ravelston, Black gained early association with two of Canada's most prominent businessmen: Bud McDougald and E. P. Taylor, president and founder of Argus, respectively. Following McDougald's death in 1978, Black paid $30-million to take control of Ravelston and thereby, control of Toronto-based Argus. This controversial arrangement resulted in accusations that Black had taken advantage of the aging widows of Ravelston Directors McDougald and Eric Phillips. Other observers admired Black for marshalling enough investor support to win control without committing a large block of personal assets.[12]
Some of the Argus assets were already troubled, others did not fit Black's long term vision. Black resigned as Chairman of Massey Ferguson company in 1979, after which Argus donated its shares to the employee's pension funds (both salaried and union.[13]) Hollinger Mines was then turned into a holding company that initially focused on resource businesses.[12]
In 1981 Norcen Energy, one of his companies, acquired a minority position in Ohio-based Hanna Mining Co. A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission stated that Norcen took "an investment position" in Hanna. However, the filing failed to disclose that Norcen's board planned to seek majority control. Black subsequently was charged by the SEC with filing misleading public statements, charges that were later withdrawn by "consent decree" after Black and Norcen agreed not to break securities laws in the future.
In 1984, Black withdrew over $56 million from the Dominion workers' pension plan surplus without consulting plan members. The firm said it considered the surplus the rightful property of the employer (Dominion Stores Ltd.). The Dominion Union complained, a public outcry ensued, and the case went to court. The Supreme Court of Ontario eventually ruled against the company, and ordered the company to return the money to the pension fund, claiming that though the most recent language in the plan suggested the employer had ownership of the surplus, the original intention was to keep the surplus in the plan to increase members' benefits.[14]
Over time, Black focused formerly diverse activities of his companies on newspaper publishing. Argus Corporation, once Canada's most important conglomerate, divested itself of interests in manufacturing, mining, retailing, banking and broadcasting. Canadian writer John Ralston Saul argued in 2008, "Lord Black was never a real "capitalist" because he never created wealth, only dismantled wealth. His career has been largely about stripping corporations. Destroying them."[15]
In 1985, Andrew Knight, then editor of The Economist, asked Black to invest in the ailing Telegraph Group. By this investment, Black made his first entry into British press ownership. Five years later, he bought the Jerusalem Post, and by 1990, his companies ran over 400 newspaper titles in North America, the majority of them small community papers.
Hollinger bought a minority stake in the Southam newspaper chain in 1993 and acquired the Chicago Sun Times in 1994. Hollinger International shares were listed on New York Stock Exchange in 1996, at which time the company boosted its stake in Southam to a control position. Becoming a public company trading in the U.S. has been called "a fateful move, exposing Black's empire to America's more rigorous regulatory regime and its more aggressive institutional shareholders."[13]
Under Black, Hollinger launched the National Post in Toronto in 1998. From 1999 to 2000 Hollinger International sold several newspapers in five deals worth a total of US$679-million, a total that included millions of dollars in "non-compete agreements" for Hollinger insiders. Later in the year, Hollinger International announced the sale of thirteen major Canadian newspapers, 126 community newspapers, internet properties and half of the National Post to CanWest Global Communications Corp. Hollinger International sold the rest of the National Post to CanWest in the summer of 2001.
Born to a rich family, Black acquired the family home and 7 acres (28,000 m2) of land in Toronto's exclusive Bridle Path neighbourhood after his father's death in 1976. Black and first wife Joanna Hishon maintained homes in Palm Beach, Toronto and London. After he married Barbara Amiel, he acquired a luxury Park Avenue apartment in New York. When sold in 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice seized net proceeds of $8.5 million, pending resolution of court actions.[16] His London townhouse in the Kensington district sold in 2005 for about US$25 million.[17] Black's Palm Beach mansion was listed for sale in 2004 at $36 million. In late April 2011 this Florida property was also sold by Black for approximately $30 million (USD).[18]
According to biographer Tom Bower, "They flaunted their wealth."[8] Black's critics, including former Daily Telegraph editor Charles Moore, suggested it was Black's second wife, Amiel, who pushed him towards a life of opulence, citing extravagant expenditures such as items billed to Hollinger expenses that included $2,463 (£1,272) on handbags, $2,785 in opera tickets, and $140 for Amiel's "jogging attire."[6]
Black was ranked 238th wealthiest in Britain by the Sunday Times Rich List 2003,[19] with an estimated wealth of £136m. He was dropped from the 2004 list.[20]
Black is a former Steering Committee member of the Bilderberg Group.[21]
| Conrad Moffat Black | |
|---|---|
| Charge(s) | mail fraud, obstruction of justice |
| Penalty | Sentenced to 6½ years imprisonment. Reduced to 42 months following appeal and resentencing. |
| Status | Served 29 months before being granted bail pending a Supreme Court ordered review of his case.[22] Reported to the Federal Correctional Institution, Miami on September 6, 2011[4] to serve an additional 13 months as a result of re-sentencing.[5] |
Black was convicted in U.S. District Court in Chicago on July 13, 2007 and sentenced to serve 78 months in federal prison, pay Hollinger $6.1 million, in addition to a fine of $125,000.
Black was found guilty of diverting funds for personal benefit from money due Hollinger International when the company sold certain publishing assets and of other irregularities. For example, in 2000, in an illegal and surreptitious arrangement that came to be known as the "Lerner Exchange," Black acquired Chicago's Lerner Newspapers and sold it to Hollinger.[23] He also was found guilty of obstruction of justice.[24]
The Supreme Court of the United States heard an appeal of his case on December 8, 2009[25] and rendered a decision in June 2010. Black's application for bail was rejected by both the Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court judge who sentenced him.[26]
On June 24, 2010, the US Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that the definition of "honest services" fraud used in the trial judge's charge to the jury in Black's case was too broad and ordered the US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago to review three fraud convictions against Black in light of the Supreme Court's new definition. The appeals court was to review Black's case and determine whether his fraud convictions will stand or if there should be a new trial.[27] The jailed former media baron's obstruction-of-justice conviction, for which he is serving a concurrent 6½-year sentence, remains in place.[28] Black's lawyers filed an application for bail pending the appeals court's review.[27] Prosecutors contested Black's bail request, arguing in court papers that Black's trial jury had proof that Black committed fraud.[29] He was granted bail on July 19, 2010, by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and was released on a $2 million unsecured bond put up by conservative philanthropist Roger Hertog.[30] Black was released from custody and ordered to remain on bail in the continental United States until at least August 16, when his bail hearing was to resume,[3][30][31][32] and the date by which Black and the prosecution were ordered by the Court of Appeals to submit written arguments for that court's review of his case.[33][34]
Until July 21, 2010,[30] Black, Federal Bureau of Prisons #18330-424, was incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution Low, Coleman, FL,[35] a part of the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex[36][37] Prior to being granted bail, his scheduled release date was October 30, 2013.[35]
Following his release, coincidentally on his 18th wedding anniversary, Black wrote a column for Canada's The National Post on his time in prison. Black described America's inmates as an "ostracized, voiceless legion of the walking dead."[38] Black was to appear once again in a Chicago court on August 16 to provide full and detailed financial information to the judge, who would then consider his request to be allowed to return to Canada while on bail.[39] In spite of his professed desire to return to his former home in Canada, Black's legal representatives advised the court that they would not provide the requisite accounting and would thus not be interested in petitioning the court further on the matter. Although many have cited this refusal to disclose as more deception on the part of Black, it is possible that the voluminous amounts of information that would have been required for complete disclosure could not be compiled in time or would have been used to further incriminate Black in later proceedings, a potential violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. He was, however, under no compulsion to make this disclosure, as he had initiated the appeal for a bail variation of his own volition. His next court appearance, where he might reapply for permission to return to Canada, was set for September 20, 2010.[40]
On October 28, 2010, the US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned two of the three remaining mail fraud counts. It left Black convicted of one count of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice. The court also ruled that he must be resentenced.[41] On December 17, 2010, Black lost an appeal of his remaining convictions for fraud and obstruction of justice. The three-person panel did not provide reasons. On May 31, 2011, the Supreme Court of the United States refused to grant Black leave to appeal his two remaining convictions without any comment.[42]
The resentencing on the two remaining counts by the original trial judge occurred on June 24, 2011.[43] Black's lawyers recommended that he be sentenced to the 29 months he had already served while the prosecution argued for Black to complete his original 6½ year sentence. The probation officer's report recommended a sentence of between 33 and 41 months.[44] At the hearing, Judge St. Eve resentenced Black to a reduced term of 42 months and a fine of $125,000, returning him to prison on September 6, 2011[4] to serve the remaining 13 months of his sentence.[5]
On June 30, 2011, Black published an article for the National Review Online that provided his scathing view of the legal case, detailing it as a miscarriage of justice and an "unaccountable and often lawless prosecution."[45]
Seth Lipsky, in an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal that ran on June 28, 2011, called the verdict against Black "head-scratching," noting that Black was found not guilty of the most serious charges brought against him and "the jury convicted him of a count of obstruction, for obeying an eviction notice by Hollinger to remove from his former office in Toronto boxes of papers and personal effects that he hadn't been informed were under seal. Prosecutors claimed that, out of 13 boxes, a single document was relevant to the investigation. It was a copy of a non-compete agreement that Black had previously turned over to the investigators." Lipsky also raised the issue of why Black was denied a retrial by jury as to whether he had committed pecuniary fraud after the Supreme Court unanimously found that Judge St. Eve's instructions to the jury were "incorrect," which led to two of the three fraud counts ultimately being vacated. In the end, the fraud conviction was allowed to stand and the count of obstruction: "The fraud Black stood guilty of involved a gain to him of but $285,000. He has made restitution of $32 million. He has been forced to stand aside while his business empire was reduced to rubble and $250 million or so of his own equity destroyed. And he has incurred tens of millions of dollars in legal fees... even some of his critics are wondering why the prosecutors engaged in the conduct they did."[46]
Black did not return to his former location of Coleman Federal Correctional Facility because two female guards at Coleman reported they feared for their safety if Black returned. Instead, he reported on September 6, 2011 to the Federal Correctional Institution, Miami.[47]
Upon the advice of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Queen Elizabeth II conferred in 2001 the dignity of a life peerage to Black with the name, style and title of Baron Black of Crossharbour, of Crossharbour in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.[48] Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, gave the conflicting advice that a Canadian citizen should not receive a titular honour, citing the 1919 Nickle Resolution. Black at the time held both Canadian and British citizenship. As a result of the dispute, Black renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2001, remaining a citizen of the UK. He has applied to have his Canadian citizenship returned to him, but as of June 2011 this has not been granted. Some argue the motive for this is solely so that he may attempt to serve out a portion of his sentence in Canada rather than the US. Another view is that it would simply allow him to more easily cross the border into Canada, as his conviction in the US is sufficiently serious that he is considered inadmissible.[49]
Black was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC) in 1990. In September 2011, after Black returned to prison due to the failure of his appeal, Rideau Hall confirmed that Black's award was under review by the Advisory Council of the Order of Canada which has the power to recommend “the termination of a person's appointment to the Order of Canada if the person has been convicted of a criminal offence.”[50]
Black has written an autobiography and three substantial biographies of controversial twentieth-century figures.