Richard Alexander Hambro (1 October 1946 – 25 April 2009) was a British heir, investment banker,

horse breeder Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in ...

and philanthropist.

Early life

Richard Hambro was born on 1 October 1946.Richard Hambro
''The Daily Telegraph'', 7 May 2009 His father,

Jocelyn Hambro Major Jocelyn Olaf Hambro MC (7 March 1919 – 19 June 1994) was a British merchant banker, horsebreeder and philanthropist. He was the chairman of Hambros Bank from 1965 to 1972. Early life Jocelyn Olaf Hambro was born on 7 March 1919 on Uppe ...

, served as the chairman of

Hambros Bank Hambros Bank was a British bank based in London. The Hambros bank was a specialist in Anglo-Scandinavian business with expertise in trade finance and investment banking, and was the sole banker to the Scandinavian kingdoms for many years. The Bank ...

from 1965 to 1972.Emiliya Mychasuk
Richard Hambro
''Financial Times'', 28 April 2009 His mother was Ann Silvia Muir. His paternal great-grandfather, Carl Joachim Hambro, was a Danish emigrant to England who founded the Hambro Bank.Iain Martin
Richard Hambro dies of cancer
''Citywire'', 27 April 2009 He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and later graduated from the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

in Germany.

Career

Hambro started his career in South Africa and later worked in Italy. He then served as the president of Hambro America in the United States from 1976 to 1982. In 1986, Hambro played a significant role in selling the family's stake in Hambro's bank, before the bank was sold to

Société Générale Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English as SocGen (), is a French-based multinational financial services company founded in 1864, registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby in La Défense. Société Générale ...

in 1998 for approximately £300m. He co-founded J.O. Hambro Capital Management, a

mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

financial firm, with his father and two brothers in 1986. He also founded J. O. Hambro Investment Management, which he sold to

Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...

in 2000 for USD$124 million. At the time it had 650 clients and managed £1.5 billion worth of assets. Hambro served as its chairman until his death in 2009, even after it was a subsidiary of Credit Suisse. It is now owned by Somers Limited and called Waverton Investment Management, named after the Hambro family home located in Gloucestershire. Hambro also owned Wiltons, a seafood restaurant on Jermyn Street, which still belongs to the family, as well as Franco's. He was the founder of Money Portal, a financial advisory firm, where he served as chairman from 2003 until 2009. He also served as the chairman of I. Hennig & Co., the diamond broker for

De Beers De Beers Group is an international corporation that specializes in diamond mining, diamond exploitation, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. The company is active in open-pit, large-scale alluvial and c ...

, from 1987 until his death. In 1974, he ran for the parliamentary seat of

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

. He was defeated, losing to Labour

Brian O'Malley Brian Kevin O'Malley (22 January 1930 – 6 April 1976) was a British Labour Party politician. O'Malley was educated at Mexborough Grammar School and Manchester University. He was a teacher and lecturer and a trade union official. From 19 ...

Philanthropy

Hambro served as the treasurer of

Macmillan Cancer Support Macmillan Cancer Support is one of the largest British charities and provides specialist health care, information and financial support to people affected by cancer. It also looks at the social, emotional and practical impact cancer can have, a ...

from 1983 to 1991, and as its chairman of its board of trustees from 1991 to 2001.Macmillan Cancer Support: The Richard Hambro Award
/ref> During his time at the charity, the annual income grew from £3.5 million in 1983 to over £80 million by 2001. The Richard Hambro Award is named in his honour. He also served on the boards of trustees of Colon Cancer Concern and Bowel Cancer UK, the board of governors of the

London Clinic The London Clinic is a private healthcare organisation and registered charity based on the corner of Devonshire Place and Marylebone Road in central London. According to HealthInvestor, it is one of England's largest private hospitals. Histor ...

, and the board of directors of the

Institute of Cancer Research The Institute of Cancer Research (the ICR) is a public research institute and a member institution of the University of London in London, United Kingdom, specialising in oncology. It was founded in 1909 as a research department of the Royal Mar ...

. He served as the chairman of the South African National Business Initiative in 1995, which was renamed the same year to the National Business Initiative. He made charitable contributions to

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

and served as director of the board at the Garden Museum.

Equestrianism

Hambro was a steward at the

Sandown Park Racecourse Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt races and one Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Stakes. It regularly has horse racing ...

and

Ascot Racecourse Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...

. He became a member of the

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, amo ...

in 1997. He served as the chairman of the

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...

from 2004 to 2009. After he inherited his late father's house, Waverton, in

Moreton-in-Marsh Moreton-in-Marsh is a market town in the Evenlode Valley, within the Cotswolds district and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Gloucestershire, England. The town stands at the crossroads of the Fosse Way Roman road (now the A429) and the ...

, Gloucestershire in 1995, he bred racehorses. Some of his best racehorses were

Presenting In medicine, a presentation is the appearance in a patient of illness or disease—or signs or symptoms thereof—before a medical professional. In practice, one usually speaks of a patient as ''presenting'' with this or that. Examples include: ...

and Beechy Bank. At Warwick in 2002 the four-year-old Beechy Bank won with odds of 200-1, becoming one of the longest priced winners in British racing, though Hambro did not receive a payout as he did not bet on the horse at the time.

Personal life

Hambro was married three times. He was first married to Charlotte Soames, the daughter of

Christopher Soames, Baron Soames Arthur Christopher John Soames, Baron Soames, (12 October 1920 – 16 September 1987) was a British Conservative politician who served as a European Commissioner and the last Governor of Southern Rhodesia. He was previously Member of Parliame ...

and

Mary Soames, Baroness Soames Mary Soames, Baroness Soames, (; 15 September 1922 31 May 2014) was an English author. The youngest of the five children of Winston Churchill and his wife, Clementine, she worked for public organisations including the Red Cross and the Women's ...

, from 1973 to 1982. Their daughter, Clementine Hambro, was bridesmaid at the wedding of

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

and

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

, in 1981. She later married Orlando Fraser, the son of

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

MP Hugh Fraser and Lady

Antonia Fraser Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, (' Pakenham; born 27 August 1932) is a British author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction. She is the widow of the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Harold Pinter (1930–2008), and pr ...

, in 2006.Dynasties! The society event of the year
''The Independent'', 4 November 2006 He was married to Juliet Grana (née Harvey) from 1984 to 1992. In 1993, he married his third wife, Mary, who was a horse breeder.

Death

Hambro died on 25 April 2009 at the age of sixty-two.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hambro, Richard 1946 births 2009 deaths Bankers from London People educated at Eton College Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni British investment bankers English racehorse owners and breeders Philanthropists from London British people of Danish descent British people of German-Jewish descent English people of Danish descent Deaths from cancer in England Barons of Denmark

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

People from Moreton-in-Marsh 20th-century British philanthropists 20th-century English businesspeople