Pierre Lagrange

Pierre Philippe Alexandre Lagrange (born 15 March 1962) is a Belgian economist, hedge fund manager, financier, and a co-founder of GLG Partners. His net worth is estimated at £500 million according to The Sunday Times.

Early life and education

Lagrange was born in March 1962 in Belgium.[1] He received both BS and MS degrees in Economics (Business engineering, Ingénieur de gestion) from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management.[2]

Career

Lagrange worked for JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs before co-founding GLG Partners in 1995 with Noam Gottesman and Jonathan Green as a division of Lehman Brothers. The name of the company is composed of the first initials of each of the founder's last names.[3] GLG became independent in 2000 and went public in 2007 listing on the New York Stock Exchange.[4] In 2010, GLG Partners was purchased by the Man Group for US$1.6 billion.[4] The two remaining GLG founders Noam Gottesman and Pierre Lagrange–Greene had left the company prior to the Man Group purchase–each received a $200 million shareholding in the Man Group in return for a three-year promise to stay.[3]

Personal life

In 2009, the Sunday Times Rich List reported that his wealth declined £265 million to £195 million due to the credit crunch.[5] In September 2011, his wealth had rebounded to £300 million.[6]

In September 2011, he and his wife Catherine Anspach, with whom he has three children, announced their divorce. The divorce settlement was estimated at more than £160 million.[7] Pierre lives with his husband Ebs Burnough between Monaco, London, Hampshire and New York.[8]

In November 2011, Lagrange sued the Knoedler gallery, New York, for selling him a fake Jackson Pollock painting.[9]

He owned the Grade II listed Woodperry House in Oxfordshire, before downsizing in 2006 to a country house in Hampshire.[10] In August 2011 he also reportedly sold a house at 17 Kensington Palace Gardens to the Russian-born billionaire Roman Abramovich, for £90 million.[11]

Lagrange spoke of his opposition to Brexit in a 2019 interview with the Financial Times, characterising the 2016 vote as a "red herring" compared to wider problems facing the UK.[12]

References

  1. ^ "GLG Partners Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  2. ^ Solvay Brussels School website: Pierre Lagrange: 'Star Belge de la City" retrieved September 10, 2012
  3. ^ a b The London Telegraph: "Man Group adds brawn to GLG's brain with $1.6bn takeover" By Helia Ebrahimi May 18, 2010
  4. ^ a b GLG Partners website: Our Approach retrieved September 10, 2012
  5. ^ "The Sunday Times Rich List". The Times. London. 2011. Archived from the original (fee required) on September 5, 2012.
  6. ^ The Independent: "Tycoon Pierre Lagrange comes out – to face UK's most expensive divorce payout" by Rob Hastings September 5, 2011
  7. ^ The London Telegraph: "Hedge fund boss faces £160m divorce settlement after leaving wife for male fashion designer" By Heidi Blake September 5, 2011
  8. ^ "Pierre Lagrange - Talking Game".
  9. ^ Klasfeld, Adam. "Collector Calls $17 Million Pollock a Phony". Courthouse News Service. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  10. ^ Mikhailova, Anna (2009-09-20). "Reversal of fortune". London: Sunday Times. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  11. ^ Lawrence Hall, Abramovich be eyeing a Kensington Palace Gardens home?, Zoopla, 18 August 2011
  12. ^ Russell, Alec (2019-09-13). "Pierre Lagrange: 'What I've done is disruption with respect'". Financial Times. Retrieved 2020-02-29.