Randolph Fields (29 December 1952 in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

– 24 February 1997 in

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

, Channel Islands) was an Anglo-American lawyer who founded British Atlantic Airways, which later became

Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways, and w ...

. After differences with

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...

, Fields sold his share of Virgin Atlantic in 1985, becoming a sterling millionaire. He subsequently invested much of his fortune in the short-lived

Highland Express Airways Highland Express Airways was an airline based in Scotland. Its main base was at Glasgow Prestwick Airport. It ceased operations in 1987. History The airline was formed in 1984 by Randolph Fields and operated a daily transatlantic nonstop se ...

, which flew from New York to

Prestwick Prestwick ( gd, Preastabhaig) is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, an ...

, Scotland. Fields was born in California, and moved to London aged 9. He qualified as a lawyer, and was a member of the

English Bar Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

and

California Bar The State Bar of California is California's official attorney licensing agency. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate disciplin ...

. Renowned in insurance circles as an expert on asbestos and environmental hazards coverage, his work involved weekly trans-Atlantic commuting where he took full advantage of lifetime complimentary first class travel on Virgin Atlantic, long after being bought out. Fields was also a well-known poker player on both sides of the Atlantic. Principally known as a "cash" player, Fields won a European Poker Title and was a fixture at the major poker tournaments in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, including the

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...

. Fields was an early financial backer of

Phil Hellmuth Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr. (born July 16, 1964) is an American professional poker player who has won a record sixteen World Series of Poker bracelets. He is the winner of the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the Main Even ...

. In ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' David Spanier wrote this assessment :

"Randolph Fields lit up any poker game he played in. Some players thought he was good value because he threw his chips into the pot with such abandon. Others recognised that beneath this swashbuckling play, Randolph had a pretty sharp mind for cards. I often saw him demolish the table by his aggressive betting in tournaments. Above all he brought a boyish enthusiasm to the game, a zest for a good gamble, which is quite rare these days."

Randolph Fields had an identical twin brother Robbie Fields, owner of

Posh Boy Records Posh Boy Records is a Hollywood, California-based record label owned by the American-born, British-educated Robbie "Posh Boy" Fields, a sometime high school substitute teacher and former copy boy at the ''Los Angeles Times'' who took an intere ...

. Fields' older brother is well known London-based fashion mogul

Gifi Fields Gordon Ivan "Gifi" Fields (born June 1951) is a British fashion designer and businessman. He is a co-founder of the British Fashion Council and one of the creators of the rah-rah skirt. Biography After leaving school at the age of 16, Gifi Fiel ...

. He married barrister Fiona Harvie-Smith in 1986. Their child Randolph Jnr was born eight weeks before his death. Fields died from cancer in 1997, aged 44.

References

American aviation businesspeople 1997 deaths 1952 births 20th-century American businesspeople Members of the Bar of England and Wales {{aviation-stub