David and Simon Reuben
{{Short description|Indian-born British businessmen}}
{{COI|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = {{unbulleted list|David Reuben|Simon Reuben}}
| image =
| alt =
| caption = Simon & David Reuben, pictured in 2009
| birth_name =
| birth_date = Simon{{spaced endash}}{{birth year and age|1941}}
David{{spaced endash}}{{birth year and age|1944}}
| birth_place = Bombay, British India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| citizenship =
| nationality = British
| other_names =
| occupation = Property investors
| years_active =
| known_for = Property holdings
| notable_works =
| boards = Reuben Brothers
| children = {{unbulleted list|Simon{{spaced endash}}Lisa|David{{spaced endash}}David Jnr; Jamie}}
| spouse = {{unbulleted list|Simon{{spaced endash}}Joyce|David{{spaced endash}}Debra}}
| father = David Sassoon Reuben
| mother = Nancy Reuben (née Jiddah)
}}
David Reuben (born 1941) and Simon Reuben (born 1944) are British businessmen. In 2024, they were named the third-richest family in the UK by the Sunday Times Rich List, with a net worth of £24.9 billion.{{Cite news |title=The Sunday Times Rich list 2024 |website=The Sunday Times |url=https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-rich-list |access-date=27 May 2024}}
Early life and background
The brothers were born in Bombay, British India, the sons of David Sassoon Reuben and Nancy Reuben,{{cite web |url=http://www.reubenfoundation.com/nancy-reuben-primary-school/ |title=Nancy Reuben Primary School|publisher=Reuben Foundation |date=2014 |access-date=10 June 2016 }} a Baghdadi Jewish family.{{cite web|url=http://www.reubenbrothers.com/mayfairs-first-family/|title=Mayfair's First Family |work=Tatler |publisher=reproduced in the Reuben Brothers website |date=October 2013 }} Their father went to Bombay from Iraq to secure work in the textile industry.{{Cite web |title=Reuben brothers: The super-rich, Mumbai-born entrepreneurs you probably haven't heard of |url=https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/features/brothers-reuben-the-super-rich-mumbai-born-entrepreneurs-you-probably-havent-heard-of-8045651.html |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=Moneycontrol |date=6 February 2022 |language=en}} Following their parents' separation, the brothers moved to London in the 1950s with their mother, and due to the change in financial circumstances, the brothers attended state schools and lived in Islington, North London,{{Cite web |date=2022-05-21 |title=Inside The Reuben Brothers' Aviation Empire! {{!}} International Aviation HQ |url=https://internationalaviationhq.com/2022/05/21/reuben-brothers-aviation/ |access-date=2023-01-16 |language=en-US}} with Simon never completing his formal education.{{cite news |work=Yahoo! Finance |title=How Britain's richest brothers made billions from nothing |url=https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/how-britain-s-richest-brothers-made-billions-from-nothing-180004118.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315023618/http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/how-britain-s-richest-brothers-made-billions-from-nothing-180004118.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 March 2014 |date=12 March 2014 |access-date=10 June 2016 |author=Lunn, Emma }}
Careers
David joined a scrap metals business while Simon started out in carpets. Simon went on to buy out England's oldest carpet company from the receivers and made enough money from it to start investing in property, with early investments on Walton Street and the King's Road in Chelsea.{{cite news | url=http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/how-britain-s-richest-brothers-made-billions-from-nothing-180004118.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315023618/http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/how-britain-s-richest-brothers-made-billions-from-nothing-180004118.html | archive-date=15 March 2014 | title=How Britain's richest brothers made billions from nothing }} The brothers increased their wealth during the 1970s and 1980s in metals and property trading.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
=Metals business=
In the early 1990s, the brothers invested in the Russian metals market.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2004/jun/27/russia |title=Pack up your roubles ...|work=The Guardian |author=Robinson, James |date=27 June 2004 |access-date=13 November 2021}} When Russian aluminum smelters were incapacitated by debt, Reuben's company Trans-World entered into tolling arrangements with factories in which they paid for and delivered raw materials in return for finished aluminum, which it then sold for profit.{{cite news |last=Behar |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Behar |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2000/06/12/281972/index.htm |title=Capitalism in a cold climate|language=en |work=Fortune |date=12 June 2000 |access-date=13 November 2021 |archive-date=19 October 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019043548/https://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2000/06/12/281972/index.htm |quote=The story of Trans World's aluminum empire is filled with bribes, shell companies, profiteers, and more than a few corpses. Then again, in today's Russia, that's pretty much par for the course.}} The company's investment in Russia was {{USD}}1.5 billion ({{GBP}}870 million), with global sales in 1995 above {{USD}}8 billion. TransWorld was accused of involvement in illegal activities, including several murders.{{cite news |date=12 June 2000 |title=Capitalism In A Cold Climate |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2000/06/12/281972/index.htm#update |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019043548/http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2000/06/12/281972/index.htm#update |archive-date=2014-10-19 |access-date=8 October 2018 |work=Fortune Magazine}}{{cite news |last1=Latynina |first1=Yulia |date=14 November 2001 |title=Parachute Accident Marks End of an Era |url=http://old.themoscowtimes.com/sitemap/free/2001/11/article/parachute-accident-marks-end-of-an-era/250314.html/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202041651/http://old.themoscowtimes.com/sitemap/free/2001/11/article/parachute-accident-marks-end-of-an-era/250314.html/ |archive-date=2 February 2019 |accessdate=8 October 2018 |work=The Moscow Times}}{{cite news |last1=Barker |first1=Alex |date=2008-10-21 |title=Osborne on the Oligarchs |url=https://www.ft.com/content/55fc29ca-1d20-3932-9bb1-ef66b1e1ce97 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824101609/https://www.ft.com/content/55fc29ca-1d20-3932-9bb1-ef66b1e1ce97 |archive-date=2022-08-24 |access-date=24 August 2022 |work=Financial Times}} The brothers were involved with several members of the country's new oligarchy, including Roman Abramovich. They settled a multimillion-pound legal dispute with Oleg Deripaska with a settlement being awarded to Reuben Brothers.
In 1997, Russia's Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov linked both the Cherney brothers and Reuben brothers to the Izmaylovskaya mafia led by Anton Malevsky in Israel. In March 1998, Boris Yeltsin replaced Kulikov as minister.
In 2008, the Reuben brothers returned to the commodity business, expanding their mining interests with a portfolio of mines in Morocco, Indonesia, and South Africa.{{dead link|date=November 2021}}
=Present activities=
By 2000, the brothers sold all their Russian assets as they focused their business activities mainly in the UK property market. They have been involved in financing a number of acquisitions and have investments in technology companies. {{As of|2016}}, their business activities mainly involved real estate, both in the UK and abroad, venture capital, and private equity. Simon Reuben is an investor in OneDome, a fintech business based in the UK.{{cite web|url=https://www.uktechnews.info/2020/09/24/onedome-secures-5-million-series-a-investment/ |title= }}
==Real estate==
UK properties owned by the Reuben Brothers include: Millbank Tower; the John Lewis Partnership headquarters in Victoria; the American Express offices also in Victoria; Carlton House SW1; Academy House on Sackville Street; Connaught House on Berkeley Square; Market Towers; the London Primark store on Oxford Street; Sloane Street shops; and Cambridge House, the former premises of the Naval and Military Club,{{dead link|date=November 2021}} which comprises six freehold buildings which have a planning consent for a six-star hotel and private members' club.
Other investments and developments include Merchant Square, a {{convert|1800000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} development scheme of offices and flats, in the Paddington area of London; Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts, a 50/50 joint venture in a new apart-hotel under the 'art'otel' brand in Hoxton, City of London; Hampton House, demolition and redevelopment of the 1960s office block opposite Tate Britain that was designed by Foster & Partners and features a mix of apartments and an apart-hotel on the River Thames next to the Park Plaza London Riverbank hotel; airports at London Oxford and London Heliport.{{dead link|date=November 2021}} In 2006, the Reuben Brothers formed a partnership that injected private equity into the FTSE-listed McCarthy & Stone, a retirement home construction company, exiting from that investment in 2013.{{cite news|url=http://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/new-mccarthy-and-stone-boss-wields-the-axe|title=New McCarthy & Stone boss wields the axe|work=Construction Index|date= 6 March 2014|access-date=10 February 2016}}{{failed verification|date=November 2021}}{{failed verification|date=November 2021}}
==Aldergate Investments==
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=November 2021}}
The Reuben Brothers invested in luxury leisure group Belmond Ltd in 2007, and sold their share in 2019 for £233 million.{{Cite web |last=Hodgson |first=Joanna |date=2019-01-16 |title=Payday for Reuben brothers after selling out of Belmond |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/business/payday-for-reuben-brothers-after-selling-out-of-belmond-a4040556.html |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}} Other holdings include Travelodge Hotels; D2 Jeans and Blue Inc clothing retailers, with retailer Sir Stuart Rose; Luup and Metro Bank; The Wellington Pub Company, the largest free-of-tie pub estate in the UK with approximately 850 tenanted pubs; Global Switch, the carrier data centre provider in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region; and a joint venture with British Marine, that in 2014 had eight vessels with plans to double the fleet size.{{dead link|date=November 2021}}
==Sport==
===Takeover of Newcastle United===
{{Main|2021 takeover of Newcastle United}}
On 14 April 2020, it emerged that a deal to transfer ownership of Newcastle United Football Club had been agreed between incumbent owner Mike Ashley and a prospective buying consortium consisting of Reuben Brothers, Amanda Staveley's PCP Capital Partners, and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52284645 |title= Newcastle United takeover deal worth £300m close |work= BBC Sport |accessdate=2020-08-14}} The Premier League initially refused to ratify the deal, and Mike Ashley engaged in legal proceedings against the Premier League to complete the takeover.{{cite web|url=https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11678/12071622/newcastle-hire-lawyers-in-dispute-with-premier-league-over-failed-saudi-led-takeover |title= Newcastle hire lawyers in dispute with Premier League over failed Saudi-led takeover|publisher= Sky Sports |accessdate=2020-09-21}}{{cite news|url= https://www.bt.com/sport/news/2021/may/newcastle-take-premier-league-to-competition-tribunal-over-takeover-collapse |title= Newcastle take Premier League to competition tribunal over takeover collapse |newspaper= Bt Group |publisher= BT Sport |accessdate=2021-08-08}} On 7 October 2021, the Premier League approved the buy-out, stating that it has "received legally binding guarantees that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control the Newcastle United club".{{cite news |date=8 October 2021 |title=English Premier League approves Saudi buyout of Newcastle United|url=https://www.euronews.com/2021/10/07/english-premier-league-approves-saudi-buyout-of-newcastle-united |work=Euronews |access-date=2021-10-17}} The buy-out deal involved the Saudi Public Investment Fund taking up 80% of Newcastle United shares, while the Reuben Brothers and PCP Capital Partners each took 10% of the remaining shares.{{cite web|url=https://www.nufc.co.uk/news/latest-news/pif-pcp-capital-partners-and-rb-sports-media-acquire-newcastle-united-football-club/ |title=PIF, PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media acquire Newcastle United Football Club |access-date=7 October 2021 |website=Newcastle United|date=7 October 2021 }}
===Arena Racing Company===
{{Main|Arena Racing Company}}
Arena Racing Company, also called ARC Racing and Leisure Group is a UK private company, created in 2012 by the merger of Arena Leisure and Northern Racing.
{{cite news|url-access=subscription |title=The shadow behind the British Horseracing Authority's good news on prize money |author=Brooks, Charlie |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/horseracing/9701534/The-shadow-behind-the-Britsh-Horseracing-Authoritys-good-news-on-prize-money.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=25 November 2012 |access-date=22 April 2013}} It owns and operates 16 racecourses in Great Britain, accounting for 39% of British racing fixtures. It operates hotels at Doncaster Racecourse, Wolverhampton Racecourse and Lingfield Park Racecourse, and golf courses at Lingfield, Southwell and Newcastle.
{{cite web |url=http://www.arenaracingcompany.co.uk/our-company/ARC |title=Arena Leisure Company |publisher=Arena Leisure Company |access-date=22 April 2013}}
== Entertainment ==
On 19 August 2024, Reuben Brothers acquired a strategic stake in EDGLRD, an entertainment company founded by filmmaker Harmony Korine.{{Cite news |last=Hellier |first=David |date=19 August 2024 |title=Reuben Brothers Agree to Buy Stake in Media Studio EDGLRD |newspaper=Bloomberg |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-19/reuben-brothers-agree-to-buy-stake-in-media-studio-edglrd}}
Controversial statement by London mayor
In 2006 Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London at the time, used a press conference to accuse Simon and David Reuben of jeopardising the £4 billion Olympic City development, in which the Reuben brothers held a 50% stake. Livingstone controversially told the media conference, referring to the Reuben brothers, that "If they're not happy here, they can go back to Iran and try their luck with the ayatollahs, if they don't like the planning regime or my approach." Conservative members of the London Assembly stated the brothers were not Iranian, but had been born in British India of Iraqi-Jewish parents.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4830878.stm |title=Mayor in fresh Jewish controversy |work=BBC News |date=21 March 2006 |access-date=10 June 2016 }} After a public complaint and a subsequent official investigation into Livingstone's comments, the investigating officer dismissed the complaint and concluded that Livingstone had reason to be strongly critical of the Reuben brothers' conduct, and that his criticism, while "robust," was "reasonable" in the circumstances.{{cite news |date=20 June 2006 |title=Livingstone cleared of anti-semitism |work=The Guardian |agency=Press Association |location=United Kingdom |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/jun/19/london.london |access-date=10 June 2016}}
The Reuben Foundation
The family's philanthropic vehicle, the Reuben Foundation, is focused on the advancement of healthcare and education.{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/david-simon-reuben/?list=billionaires|title=#60 David & Simon Reuben|date=October 2010|work=Forbes}}
The family founded the Nancy Reuben Primary School, an independent Jewish day school in Hendon in honour of their mother.{{cite web |title=Who is Nancy Reuben? |url=http://www.nrps.co.uk/about-us/who-is-nancy-reuben |website=Nancy Reuben Primary School |access-date=13 August 2018 |archive-date=13 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813143954/http://www.nrps.co.uk/about-us/who-is-nancy-reuben |url-status=dead }}
The foundation has donated £80{{nbsp}}million to support the creation of Reuben College, Oxford, originally named Parks College. It is a post-graduate college focused on climate change, artificial intelligence and cellular life.{{cite news |author1=Sean Coughlan |title=Don't hide history, says Oxford head in statue row |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-52999319 |access-date=11 June 2020 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=11 June 2020}}
Personal life
According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2023, David and Simon Reuben and their combined family had an estimated net worth of £24.4 billion. This made them Britain's fourth wealthiest family.
The Times has reported that the brothers' businesses make extensive use of offshore tax havens. A spokesperson said that their businesses "fully comply with UK tax laws".{{cite web|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/nris-in-news/india-born-reuben-brothers-in-uks-new-tax-haven-elite-list/articleshow/68304464.cms|title=India-born Reuben brothers in UK's new Tax Haven Elite list|work=Economic Times|date=7 May 2019|access-date=16 June 2020}}
The brothers are donors to the Conservative Party.
= Wealth rankings =
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!colspan="2"|Legend |
| Icon
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| {{steady}}
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References
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
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External links
- [https://sec.report/CIK/0001409389 Reuben Brothers Ltd] filing at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reuben, David And Simon}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:British expatriates in Monaco
Category:British businesspeople in real estate
Category:British people of Iraqi-Jewish descent
Category:Businesspeople from the London Borough of Islington
Category:Businesspeople in metals
Category:Jewish British philanthropists
Category:Businesspeople from Mumbai
Category:Private equity and venture capital investors
Category:Newcastle United F.C. directors and chairmen
Category:Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Category:British people of Indian-Jewish descent