The Hon. ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

Robert William Hanson (born 3 October 1960) is a British financier and business man. He is chairman of Hanson Family Holdings, a private company which owns businesses in the fields of

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

investment banking Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated wit ...

news media The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public. These include news agencies, print media (newspapers, news magazines), broadcast news (radio and television), and th ...

, and chemicals.

Early life

Hanson is the elder son of James Hanson, by his marriage in 1959 to Geraldine Kaelin, an American. He had a younger brother, Brook Hanson (1964–2014). Educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and St Peter's College, Oxford, Hanson's first job was as an assistant keeper of reptiles at the

Windsor Safari Park Windsor Safari Park was a popular family attraction built on St Leonard's Hill on the outskirts of the town of Windsor in Berkshire, England; it has since been converted into the site of Legoland Windsor. Billed as "The African Adventure", the ...

.Profile - Robert Hanson: The happy family man steering Hanson empire into new territory
in ''

The Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds in Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

'' dated 29 March 2011, accessed 11 May 2017

Career

In the 1980s, Hanson joined

N M Rothschild & Sons Rothschild & Co is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company, and the flagship of the Rothschild banking group controlled by the French and British branches of the Rothschild family. The banking business o ...

, then went to work for his father, who was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

in 1983. At the end of 1997 Hanson resigned from his father's public company, when it was broken up, to become chairman of Hanson Transport Group. In 1998 he founded Hanson Capital, a group of financial services companies aiming to capitalise on his worldwide network of relationships with major investors. This continues as part of the present group of companies. Hanson is now the chairman of Hanson Family Holdings, a private company which owns a wide range of businesses in logistics, investment banking and chemicals around the world. In 2013, Hanson used Hanson Family Holdings to buy

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

's best-selling newspaper, ''

Últimas Noticias ''Últimas Noticias'' is a daily newspaper in Venezuela, currently British-owned and characterized by ''The Guardian'' as a "pro-Maduro tabloid". ''Últimas Noticias'' was founded in Caracas on 16 September 1941 after the pro-freedom measures i ...

'', for a figure reported as $US98 million. In 2014, he was accused by newspaper staff of turning it into "a Socialist Party mouthpiece", but the editor, Héctor Dávila, replied that his only instructions from Hanson were "to run a balanced and profitable newspaper".

Personal life

Once linked with Sophie Anderton,

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson Tara Claire Palmer-Tomkinson (23 December 1971 – 8 February 2017), also known as T P-T, was an English socialite and television personality. She appeared in several television shows, including the reality programme '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me ...

,Ian Burrell,
Robert Hanson - his dad was Thatcher’s favourite tycoon, but now he’s accused of selling out Venezuelan newspaper to socialists
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 ...

'' online dated 16 November 2014, accessed 11 May 2017 and a string of models, Hanson's name appeared in many gossip columns. He eventually married the Russian model Masha Markova, at the time half his age, and moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The engagement was reported in March 2010 as coming as a shock to London society,Tim Walker
Society shock as Lord Hanson’s eligible son Robert finally settles down
in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' dated 9 March 2010, accessed 12 May 2017 and their son Max was born in October.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanson, Robert William 1960 births Living people People educated at Eton College Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford British investment bankers Sons of life peers