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Property tycoons lose £560m as shares nosedive
Valentine Low and Katharine Barney24 Jan 2008
He is one of London's most flamboyant property tycoons, a man once known for his taste in supermodels and whisky whose business dealings have made him among the richest men in the country.
But today Robert Tchenguiz is not quite so rich. According to one estimate, he and his brother Vincent have lost a staggering £560m in the past weeks.
But no one should feel too sorry for Mr Tchenguiz. One report recently put the brothers' wealth at £850m, so a back-ofthe-envelope calculation - and with the brothers as secretive as they are, back of the envelope is as close as anyone gets - would still put their worth at just under £300m.
When asked whether he was going to get rid of his Monaco-moored yacht, Mr Tchenguiz said: "I love my boat. I have
no intention of selling it. I've lost a lot of money but I'm not in trouble. It's just taking the rough with the smooth." The Tchenguiz wipeout has been caused by a fall in the paper value of three of the brothers' investments in 12 weeks, thanks to collapsed corporate deals and the plunge in market confidence. The share prices of Sainsbury's, pub group Mitchells and Butlers and games firm SCi Entertainment have all declined.
Mr Tchenguiz became a Sainsbury's investor last year when the company was anticipating a takeover and shares were 525p. The deal did not come off, a second bidder also walked away, and the shares have lost a third of their value.
The tycoon, who allegedly introduced Princess Diana to Dodi Fayed, also suffered losses from Mitchells and Butlers, the firm behind All Bar One, O'Neill's and Harvester. Since November shares have fallen by 40 per cent.
It is a similar story at SCi, the company behind Lara Croft Tomb Raider games. Shares have lost 83 per cent of their value since November.
The Tchenguiz empire has also been hit by a tough spell at Somerfield.
The Tchenguiz brothers began renting flats to tourists and students. By the late Eighties they were big players in commercial property with projects like the Windsor Plaza in Hammersmith, and in the early Nineties their empire grew.
Although still known for his hospitality, Tchenguiz is keen to put his playboy days behind him. He is in a relationship and has a daughter aged three.
Reader views (1)
He is also a very nice guy, who will be back on top sooner or later.
- Michael Llewellyn, Bridgetown, Barbados, 24/01/2008 17:47
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