- Craig Whyte
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Craig Whyte Born 23 May 1971
Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, UKResidence London, UK Nationality Scottish Occupation Chairman of Wavetower Limited
Chairman of Liberty Capital
Owner of Rangers Football ClubCraig Whyte (born 23 May 1971 in Motherwell) is a Scottish businessman and the owner of Rangers Football Club.[1]
Whyte first entered business in a plant hire company; since then he has branched out into security, manufacturing and property, before becoming a venture capitalist. He bought the controlling interest in Rangers from David Murray in May 2011.
Contents
Early life
Born in Motherwell,[2] Whyte was educated in Glasgow at Kelvinside Academy.[3]
Business career
When he was 15, Whyte took an interest in financial markets, and made more than £20,000 buying and selling shares before he left school.[4] His first job was with his father's plant hire firm, and in 1990 he set-up his own plant hire company. The company, Whyte Hire, was not a success though and went bankrupt in the early nineties with debts of around £300,000.[3] Whyte recovered from this loss and branched out into security, manufacturing and property.[3] In 1997, aged 26, he was Scotland's youngest self-made millionaire.[5] After selling off most of his businesses, he moved to Monaco.[6] When he moved back to the UK (to London), he became a venture capitalist.[5] The London-based group he heads, Liberty Capital, specialises in buying distressed businesses, turning them around, and selling them on.[3] He is chairman of a complex maze of interlinked firms from around the world thought to be worth more than one billion pounds.[3]
A BBC Scotland documentary aired in October 2011 claimed that Whyte had illegally been a de facto director of a company called Re-Tex during a 7 year period when he was banned from doing so - a claim supported by the Head of Investigations at the Insolvency Service. Prior to Re-Tex being wound up in 2003, the company made an offer to sell shares to potential shareholders at a price based on company statements the BBC alleges contained "false and misleading" information, formed from accounts signed off by fake auditors appointed by Whyte. The auditors were allegedly run by a convicted fraudster, and former associate of Whyte's, Kevin Sykes. Whyte's ban from being a director followed the failure of one of his companies - Vital Holdings Ltd - to produce satisfactory accounts.[7] The investigation also alleged participation in an array of other criminal acts, including taking £100,000 from the Re-Tex account, ostensibly to pay a tax bill - a payment which was never received by the Inland Revenue.[7] In response to these claims Craig Whyte denied all allegations of criminality, and stated that he had only ever been a minor shareholder in Re-Tex, and never a de facto director. Following the airing of the programme a spokesman for Whyte stated that Whyte had instructed his lawyers to "commence immediate legal proceedings against the BBC".[8]
Castle Grant
Whyte owns the historic Castle Grant, near Grantown-on-Spey, in the Scottish Highlands.[5] Restorations and renovations to the castle cost £5 million.[5]
Football
Whyte is a lifelong supporter of Rangers Football Club and previously held an executive box at Ibrox Stadium.[9][3] Speculation arose in 2010 that he might launch a bid to buy the in-debt Scottish football club.[1][10] In April 2011, a £28 million deal was thought possible, but depended on agreements on how to service the club's debt (with Lloyds Banking Group), and a potential £58 million tax bill with HM Revenue and Customs.[11] In May 2011 Whyte said he was confident that the club would win the tax tribunal case and there would be no liability for Rangers to pay.[12]
On 6 May 2011 it was confirmed that Sir David Murray had sold his controlling interest in Rangers (85.3 percent) to Wavetower limited for £1. Wavetower Limited is owned by Liberty Capital, which is Whyte's holding company.[9][13] The Rangers manager Walter Smith welcomed the takeover and the stability it would bring to the club.[14] Whyte said he was proud to be the owner of Rangers and pledged to invest £25 million into transfers over five years.[15] Regarding the takeover Whyte said, "Obviously I'm a massive Rangers fan and have been since I was a boy. I'm here first and foremost because I'm a Rangers supporter. I also see a great opportunity and think that Rangers can be a great worldwide brand. I believe there are many commercial activities that can be expanded on."[15]
In October 2011, Rangers withdrew all cooperation with the BBC after what the club called "repeated difficulties", describing a documentary investigating Whyte's business affairs as a "prejudiced muckraking exercise".[16]
References
- ^ a b "Craig Whyte profile: The Scots billionaire on the brink of taking over the club he loves". Daily Record. 18 November 2010. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/rangers/2010/11/18/craig-whyte-profile-the-scots-billionaire-on-the-brink-of-taking-over-the-club-he-loves-86908-22722617/.
- ^ "Craig Whyte confirms Rangers takeover talks". Evening Times. 8 April 2011. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/editor-s-picks/craig-whyte-confirms-rangers-takeover-talks-1.1069303.
- ^ a b c d e f Watt, Chris (19 November 2010). "Rangers bid tycoon had made £20,000 before leaving school". The Herald. http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/rangers-bid-tycoon-had-made-20-000-before-leaving-school-1.1069441. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
- ^ "Rangers sold by Christmas". The Scottish Sun. 18 November 2010. http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3233965/Millionaire-fan-Craig-Whyte-is-set-to-buy-Rangers.html.
- ^ a b c d "Craig Whyte: I'm looking forward to making Rangers a leading force in football". Daily Record. 7 May 2011. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/rangers/2011/05/07/craig-whyte-i-m-looking-forward-to-making-rangers-a-leading-force-in-football-86908-23113156/.
- ^ "Scots billionaire Craig Whyte set to buy Rangers for £30m". Daily Record. 18 November 2010. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/rangers/2010/11/18/scots-billionaire-craig-whyte-set-to-buy-rangers-for-30m-86908-22722584/.
- ^ a b "'Criminality' claims over Rangers owner Craig Whyte". BBC News. 20 October 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-15377454. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ^ "Rangers fan MacMillan says Whyte claims 'disturbing'". BBC News. 21 October 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-15402557. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
- ^ a b "Regulatory Story - Acquisition of controlling interest in The Rangers Football Club P.L.C.". London Stock Exchange. 6 May 2011. http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail.html?announcementId=10859193. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
- ^ "Buy buy Rangers". The Scottish Sun. 31 March 2011. http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3501118/Rangers-set-to-be-sold-to-Craig-Whyte.html.
- ^ "Rangers board admits doubts about Craig Whyte takeover". BBC Sport. 19 April 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13124145.stm.
- ^ "We'll win tax case and avoid huge HMRC bill, insists new Rangers owner Whyte". Mail Online. 9 May 2011. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1385342/Craig-Whyte-Rangers-win-HMRC-tax-case.html.
- ^ "Rangers takeover complete". Sky Sports. 7 May 2011. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_6917157,00.html. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
- ^ "Walter Smith happy at completion of Rangers takeover". BBC Sport. 9 May 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13341573.stm. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ a b "New Rangers owner Craig Whyte wants to keep together as much of current squad as he can". Daily Record. 10 May 2011. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/2011/05/10/new-rangers-owner-craig-whyte-wants-to-keep-together-as-much-of-current-squad-as-he-can-86908-23119918/. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "Rangers FC withdraws all co-operation with BBC". BBC News. 18 October 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-15350160. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
Categories:- 1971 births
- British billionaires
- Scottish businesspeople
- People from Motherwell
- Living people
- Venture capitalists
- Scottish football chairmen and investors
- Rangers F.C. non-playing staff
- Rangers F.C. chairmen
- People educated at Kelvinside Academy
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