Gerald Ronson

Gerald Maurice Ronson (born 27 May 1939) is a Jewish British business tycoon and philanthropist, and became known in the UK as one of the "Guinness Four" for his conviction in the Guinness share-trading fraud of the 1980s.__TOC__

Career

When Ronson was fifteen, he left school and joined his father in the family furniture business, named Heron after his father Henry. The company expanded into other activities; in the mid-1960s Ronson brought the first self-service petrol retail outlets to the United Kingdom. Heron once controlled almost a thousand of them. Heron was also involved in property (American usage real estate) development, at first with small residential projects, later with commercial and office properties too. By 1967 the company was active in seven European countries and fifty-two British municipalities. By the early 1980s Heron was one of the largest private companies in the United Kingdom, with assets of over £1.5 billion, but the company was over-extended and by the 1990s had almost collapsed with debts of £2.4 billion owed to 89 banks and 15,000 bondholders. The company survived with help from Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch, Craig McCaw, Oracle Corporation’s founder, Larry Ellison, and others who gave loans to Heron.

The Guinness Affair

Ronson became known in the UK as one of the "Guinness Four" for his part in the Guinness share-trading fraud of the 1980s, along with Ernest Saunders and occasional business associates Jack Lyons and Anthony Parnes. He was convicted in August 1990 of one charge of conspiracy, two of false accounting, and one of theft, and was fined £5 million and given a one-year jail sentence, of which he served six months. In 2000 The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the 1990 trial had been unfair because there had been a violation of Article 6.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Heron Tower

For the last few years, Ronson has been involved in the development of the Heron Tower. Currently under construction, it will be the tallest skyscraper ever built in the City of London and the United Kingdom, finally taking One Canada Square's title as the tallest building in the UK, a record it has held since 1991. Heron Tower will be overtaken though shortly after by Bishopsgate Tower and London Bridge Tower. As of October 2008, steel work is rising at Heron Tower.

External links

* [http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=696677&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649 1990 Guinness trial ruled unfair by ECHR] European Court of Human Rights decision 19 September 2000
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1723136.stm Guinness Four fail in fight for acquittal] , BBC News, December, 21 2001.
* [http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=80&id=1717882001 "Life and high-flying times of four partners in crime"] , "The Scotsman", 22 December 2001.
* [http://www.ianfreeman.dsl.pipex.com/interviews/gronson.htm Gerald Ronson profiled] -- by Ian Freeman in UK business magazine 'Leisure Management'