Riley Anthony Winton Rudd (24 April 1924 – 29 May 2017) was an English stockbroker who found success in the world of technology start-ups, but came under censure from the
Department of Trade and Industry for his business practices. Among his children were the politician
Amber Rudd
Amber Augusta Rudd (born 1 August 1963) is a British former politician who served as Home Secretary from 2016 to 2018 and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2018 to 2019. She was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Hastings and Rye, fi ...
and the public relations executive
Roland Rudd
Roland Dacre Rudd (born April 1961) is the founder and chairman of Finsbury (public relations), Finsbury (formerly RLM Finsbury), a public relations firm. Rudd was educated at Oxford University, becoming List of Presidents of the Oxford Union, ...
.
Early life
Tony Rudd was born in
Wandsworth
Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan
The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Gre ...
, London, on 24 April 1924 to the businessman Frederick Rudd
[ and a Miss Maguire, later being brought up by Frederick's ex wife Grace Winton Rudd (née Brown). He was educated at ]Blundell's School
Blundell's School is a co-educational day and boarding independent school in the English public school tradition, located in Tiverton, Devon. It was founded in 1604 under the will of Peter Blundell, one of the richest men in England at the tim ...
before going up to University College, Oxford
University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...
, to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics. His studies were interrupted by the Second World War during which he served as a navigator for a Polish squadron in the Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
. He flew in Mosquitos
Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "litt ...
and had to bail out over Germany with his pilot after their aircraft was hit by fire from a United States aircraft in a friendly fire
In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while eng ...
incident.[Tony Rudd.]
''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', 3 June 2017' retrieved 7 June 2017. His memoirs of his time in the RAF were published in 1990 as ''One Boy's War''. After the war, Rudd returned to Oxford to complete his studies.
Career
In 1949, Rudd joined the Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...
. Three years later he became the bank's representative in Washington. In 1955 he switched to journalism at the ''Manchester Guardian'' where he covered the Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...
from Egypt before joining the paper's city desk.[
In 1967, Rudd opened his own stockbroking firm, Rowe Rudd, in ]London Wall
The London Wall was a defensive wall first built by the Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in AD 200, and is now the name of a modern street in the City of London. It has origins as an initial mound wall and di ...
, which was one of the first to use a large open-plan trading room
A trading room gathers traders operating on financial markets. The trading room is also often called the front office. The terms "dealing room" and "trading floor" are also used, the latter being inspired from that of an open outcry stock ex ...
. Among those who worked for him were Michael Spencer
Michael Alan Spencer, Baron Spencer of Alresford (born 30 May 1955), sometimes known as "Spens", is a British billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of NEX Group, a UK-based business focused on electronic markets and post- ...
, founder of Icap, Brian Griffiths who became head of policy for Margaret Thatcher, and Tony "the animal" Parnes who became embroiled in the Guinness scandal
The Guinness share-trading fraud was a major business scandal of the 1980s. It involved the manipulation of the London stock market to inflate the price of Guinness shares to thereby assist Guinness's £4 billion takeover bid for the Scottish d ...
.
Novelist Jeffrey Archer
Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist, life peer, convicted criminal, and former politician. Before becoming an author, Archer was a Member of Parliament (1969–1974), but did not ...
became a client and was inspired to write ''Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less
''Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less'' was Jeffrey Archer's first novel, first published in 1976. It was said to have been inspired by Archer's real-life experience of near-bankruptcy.
Synopsis
Harvey Metcalfe, a Polish immigrant to the United ...
'' (1976). Rudd enjoyed success as the broker to technology companies including Racal Electronics
Racal Electronics plc was a British electronics company that was founded in 1950.
Listed on the London Stock Exchange and once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, Racal was a diversified company, offering products including voice loggers and ...
, Rotork
Rotork plc is a British-based company manufacturing industrial flow control equipment. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
History
The company was established as a small engineering workshop in ...
and Plessey
The Plessey Company plc was a British electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after World War II by acquisition of companies and formed overseas compani ...
but the onset of blindness forced him to give up stockbroking in 1981.
He turned to venture capitalism
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which hav ...
but came under increasing scrutiny from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and in the satirical current affairs magazine ''Private Eye
''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...
'' over his business practices.[ In 1988, the DTI described him in a report as unfit to be a director of "any company whether private or public".][ The extent to which he continued to be involved in the day-to-day running of the family investment vehicle, despite his daughter Amber's becoming the director at the age of 24, was raised in the press when her political career took off.][
]
Personal life
In 1952, Rudd married Ethne Etain FitzGerald, a history graduate from the University of Oxford.[ She was the daughter of Maurice Pembroke Fitzgerald, QC (grandson of the judge and Liberal politician ]John FitzGerald, Baron FitzGerald
John David FitzGerald, Baron FitzGerald, PC, PC (Ire) (1 May 1816 – 16 October 1889) was an Irish judge and Liberal politician.
Background
Born in Dublin, he was the son of the merchant David FitzGerald and his wife Catherine, eldest daugh ...
of Kilmarnock), and Christine Fitzgerald (née Bradhurst; daughter of Augustus Maunsell Bradhurst).[''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage 2003'', Vol. 3, p. 3044.] Among their children were the British home secretary Amber Rudd[Holly Watt & David Pegg]
"Revealed: Amber Rudd's father was involved in business she ran despite being declared unfit"
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 5 October 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2017. and the public relations executive Roland Rudd
Roland Dacre Rudd (born April 1961) is the founder and chairman of Finsbury (public relations), Finsbury (formerly RLM Finsbury), a public relations firm. Rudd was educated at Oxford University, becoming List of Presidents of the Oxford Union, ...
. Rudd and his wife had two other children, Amanda and Melissa.[
Rudd owned a townhouse in Kensington, and Chalcot House near Bath where in later life he and his wife entertained a circle of political and business friends including Peter Walker, ]Arnold Weinstock
Arnold Weinstock, Baron Weinstock, Kt. OMRI, (29 July 1924 – 23 July 2002) was an English industrialist and businessman known for making General Electric Company one of Britain's most profitable companies. The City criticized Weinstock for ...
and Alan Clark
Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Tra ...
. When their daughter Amber got the job of "aristocracy co-ordinator" for the film ''Four Weddings and a Funeral
''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant, and follows the adventures of Charles (Grant) and his circle ...
'', she hired her parents as extras for £100 per day and Tony Rudd appeared in the wedding scenes; he was required to use his own morning suit
Morning dress, also known as formal day dress, is the Formal attire, formal Western dress code for day attire, consisting chiefly of, for men, a morning coat, waistcoat, and formal trousers, and an appropriate gown for women. Men may also wear ...
to save on production costs.[
]
Death
Rudd died on 29 May 2017. Just days after his death, his daughter Amber appeared on British television to represent the Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
in a debate for the United Kingdom General Election of June 2017. Her brother Roland commented, "My parents had a strong view about carrying on. He would have wanted her to do the debate".[
]
Selected publications
*''One boy's war''. Quartet, London, 1990.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudd, Tony
1924 births
2017 deaths
People educated at Blundell's School
Alumni of University College, Oxford
English stockbrokers
English journalists
Royal Air Force personnel of World War II
British navigators
Tony
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...
People associated with the Bank of England
British venture capitalists
People from Wandsworth
20th-century English businesspeople