Michael Hintze
Encyclopedia
Michael Hintze is an Australia
n/British
businessman, philanthropist and political patron, based in the United Kingdom
. According to the latest Forbes
Rich List, he is the world’s 880th richest person, worth $1.2 billion.
n nobility related grandparents fled Russia
post the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, he was born in the Chinese
city of Harbin
. After Mao Tse-tung and the Chinese Communist Party took over power, his refugee parents fled to Australia.
Raised by his secretary mother in Sydney
, he was educated at the local Christian Brothers
school. He then graduated from the University of Sydney
having studied physics and engineering, residing at St John's College
, and then took an MBA at Harvard University
.
for three years, raising to the rank of Captain.
Moving to New York
to train in financial services, he worked for Salomon Brothers
and Credit Swiss First Boston. Relocating to London
with them, he then became Head of Equity Trading at Goldman Sachs
.
In 1999 he launched his own hedge fund
company, CQS
, and has been cited in the press as one of the highest paid people in the City of London
.
Among major donations, he has established the chair of International Security at the University of Sydney
, enabled the restoration of Michelangelo
’s frescoes in the Pauline Chapel
at the Vatican
and sponsored two major galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum
. He also came to the aid of Wandsworth Museum
, which was facing imminent closure by offering a £2,000,000 rescue package while co-chairing Clapham's Trinity Hospice campaign for a new in-patient centre which has now been completed. Through CQS and the Hintze Family Charitable Foundation he provided funding to create a 'theatre in the round' at the Old Vic
in London
. Most recent projects have included sponsorship of an iconic exhibition of Raphael
's Tapestries for the Sistine Chapel
at the V&A and a £2,000,000 donation to the National Gallery
.
Hintze currently serves as chairman of the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment, a trustee of the National Gallery
, the Institute of Economic Affairs
, the University of Sydney Trust and Wandsworth Museum
. He also serves on the International Council of the V&A and is Chairman of the UK Patrons of the Arts of the Vatican Museums
. In 2009 he was appointed vice-president of the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association
.
allegations concerning the Labour Party
, Hintze voluntarily revealed he was one of the previously anonymous patrons who had made loans to the Conservative Party
. To date his known loans and donations to the party total around £4million. In the five months to September 2011 he donated £31,000, enough to grant him membership to the Conservative Treasurers’ Group, the second highest rung on the party's donor’s ladder, which allows its members access to senior Conservative figures through a series of lunches, receptions and campaign launches.
When the Conservative Party were in opposition, Hintze provided the following personal cash donations: £37,500 to George Osborne
; £25,000 to David Willetts
; £10,000 to the private office of Dr Liam Fox MP
; £1,200 to Theresa May
; £7,000 to David Davis
; £1,500 to Adam Holloway
; £5,000 Boris Johnson
. In addition, CQS made non-cash donations of: £25,763 to William Hague
; £10,439 to Dr Liam Fox; £1,254 to George Osborne. In May 2008, David Cameron
declared a donation from Hintze to the Conservative Party that was used to pay for drinks receptions for Tory MPs and their partners. In March 2008, Hintze paid for a private jet to ferry Cameron and George Osborne from Newcastle to Biggin Hill
after the Conservative Party conference.
In October 2011, it was revealed that Adam Werritty
, a close friend and business associate of then Secretary of State for Defence
Dr Liam Fox MP, was provided with a free desk by Hintze at CQS's London base as part of his £29,000 donation to Fox's charity Atlantic Bridge. Hintze also supplied a private jet for Fox and Werritty to fly from the United States to London in May 2011.
in 2005.
in the London Borough of Wandsworth
.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n/British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
businessman, philanthropist and political patron, based in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. According to the latest Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
Rich List, he is the world’s 880th richest person, worth $1.2 billion.
Early life
After his RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n nobility related grandparents fled Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
post the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, he was born in the Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
city of Harbin
Harbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
. After Mao Tse-tung and the Chinese Communist Party took over power, his refugee parents fled to Australia.
Raised by his secretary mother in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, he was educated at the local Christian Brothers
Christian Brothers
Christian Brothers may refer to:* Congregation of Christian Brothers, a Catholic lay order founded at Waterford, Ireland in 1802 by the Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice...
school. He then graduated from the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
having studied physics and engineering, residing at St John's College
St John's College, University of Sydney
]St John's College, or the College of St John the Evangelist, is a residential College within the University of Sydney.Established in 1857, the College of St John the Evangelist is the oldest Roman Catholic university college and second-oldest university college in Australia, and is one of the...
, and then took an MBA at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
Career
On graduation, he joined the Australian ArmyAustralian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
for three years, raising to the rank of Captain.
Moving to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to train in financial services, he worked for Salomon Brothers
Salomon Brothers
Salomon Brothers was a bulge bracket, Wall Street investment bank. Founded in 1910 by three brothers along with a clerk named Ben Levy, it remained a partnership until the early 1980s, when it was acquired by the commodity trading firm Phibro Corporation and then became Salomon Inc. Eventually...
and Credit Swiss First Boston. Relocating to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with them, he then became Head of Equity Trading at Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
.
In 1999 he launched his own hedge fund
Hedge fund
A hedge fund is a private pool of capital actively managed by an investment adviser. Hedge funds are only open for investment to a limited number of accredited or qualified investors who meet criteria set by regulators. These investors can be institutions, such as pension funds, university...
company, CQS
CQS (Hedge Fund)
CQS is a London-based credit hedge fund that is one of the biggest of its kind globally. It is known for its successful bets in the US subprime mortgage market....
, and has been cited in the press as one of the highest paid people in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
.
Philanthophy
With his wife Dorothy, Hintze set up the Hintze Family Charitable Foundation, which has given significant and wide-ranging philanthropic support to around 150 different causes, focusing mainly on health, education, religion and the arts.Among major donations, he has established the chair of International Security at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
, enabled the restoration of Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
’s frescoes in the Pauline Chapel
Pauline Chapel
Pauline Chapel can refer to several different places:*Cappella Paolina in the Vatican*The Cappella Paolina in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore*The Cappella Paolina in the Quirinal Palace*Pauline Chapel ....
at the Vatican
Apostolic Palace
The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, which is located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Sacred Palace, the Papal Palace and the Palace of the Vatican...
and sponsored two major galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
. He also came to the aid of Wandsworth Museum
Wandsworth Museum
Wandsworth Museum is a local museum in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest London, England. The museum is a community museum, covering the cultural and social history of Wandsworth, especially with respect to contemporary and traditional skills of local people, using artefacts and...
, which was facing imminent closure by offering a £2,000,000 rescue package while co-chairing Clapham's Trinity Hospice campaign for a new in-patient centre which has now been completed. Through CQS and the Hintze Family Charitable Foundation he provided funding to create a 'theatre in the round' at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Most recent projects have included sponsorship of an iconic exhibition of Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
's Tapestries for the Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...
at the V&A and a £2,000,000 donation to the National Gallery
National gallery
The National Gallery is an art gallery on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom.National Gallery may also refer to:*Armenia: National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan*Australia:**National Gallery of Australia, Canberra...
.
Hintze currently serves as chairman of the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment, a trustee of the National Gallery
National gallery
The National Gallery is an art gallery on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom.National Gallery may also refer to:*Armenia: National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan*Australia:**National Gallery of Australia, Canberra...
, the Institute of Economic Affairs
Institute of Economic Affairs
The Institute of Economic Affairs , founded in 1955, styles itself the UK's pre-eminent free-market think-tank. Its mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social...
, the University of Sydney Trust and Wandsworth Museum
Wandsworth Museum
Wandsworth Museum is a local museum in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest London, England. The museum is a community museum, covering the cultural and social history of Wandsworth, especially with respect to contemporary and traditional skills of local people, using artefacts and...
. He also serves on the International Council of the V&A and is Chairman of the UK Patrons of the Arts of the Vatican Museums
Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums , in Viale Vaticano in Rome, inside the Vatican City, are among the greatest museums in the world, since they display works from the immense collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries, including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and...
. In 2009 he was appointed vice-president of the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association
Public Monuments and Sculpture Association
The Public Monuments and Sculpture Association, or PMSA, was established in 1991 to bring together individuals and organisations with an interest in public sculptures and monuments, their production, preservation and history....
.
Conservative party donations
In 2006, at the time of the Cash for PeeragesCash for Peerages
Cash for Honours is the name given by some in the media to a political scandal in the United Kingdom in 2006 and 2007 concerning the connection between political donations and the award of life peerages...
allegations concerning the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
, Hintze voluntarily revealed he was one of the previously anonymous patrons who had made loans to the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
. To date his known loans and donations to the party total around £4million. In the five months to September 2011 he donated £31,000, enough to grant him membership to the Conservative Treasurers’ Group, the second highest rung on the party's donor’s ladder, which allows its members access to senior Conservative figures through a series of lunches, receptions and campaign launches.
When the Conservative Party were in opposition, Hintze provided the following personal cash donations: £37,500 to George Osborne
George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne, MP is a British Conservative politician. He is the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, a role to which he was appointed in May 2010, and has been the Member of Parliament for Tatton since 2001.Osborne is part of the old Anglo-Irish aristocracy, known in...
; £25,000 to David Willetts
David Willetts
David Linsay Willetts is a British Conservative Party politician and the Minister of State for Universities and Science. He is the Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Havant in Hampshire.-Education:...
; £10,000 to the private office of Dr Liam Fox MP
Liam Fox
Liam Fox MP is a British Conservative politician, Member of Parliament for North Somerset, and former Secretary of State for Defence....
; £1,200 to Theresa May
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May is a British Conservative politician who is Home Secretary in the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition government. She was elected to Parliament in 1997 as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, and served as the Chairman of the Conservative Party, 2003–04...
; £7,000 to David Davis
David Davis (British politician)
David Michael Davis is a British Conservative Party politician who is the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Haltemprice and Howden...
; £1,500 to Adam Holloway
Adam Holloway
Adam James Harold Holloway is a British Conservative Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Gravesham.-Early life:...
; £5,000 Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
. In addition, CQS made non-cash donations of: £25,763 to William Hague
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
; £10,439 to Dr Liam Fox; £1,254 to George Osborne. In May 2008, David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
declared a donation from Hintze to the Conservative Party that was used to pay for drinks receptions for Tory MPs and their partners. In March 2008, Hintze paid for a private jet to ferry Cameron and George Osborne from Newcastle to Biggin Hill
Biggin Hill
Biggin Hill is an area and electoral ward in the outskirts of the London Borough of Bromley in southeast London, United Kingdom.-History:Historically the settlement was known as Aperfield and formed part of the parish of Cudham...
after the Conservative Party conference.
In October 2011, it was revealed that Adam Werritty
Adam Werritty
Adam Werritty is a Scottish businessman. Werritty is a close friend of the former UK Secretary of State for Defence Liam Fox: he resided for a period in 2002 and 2003 at Fox's London apartment and was best man at his wedding in 2005. The two were also business associates who once held joint...
, a close friend and business associate of then Secretary of State for Defence
Secretary of State for Defence
The Secretary of State for Defence, popularly known as the Defence Secretary, is the senior Government of the United Kingdom minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence, chairing the Defence Council. It is a Cabinet position...
Dr Liam Fox MP, was provided with a free desk by Hintze at CQS's London base as part of his £29,000 donation to Fox's charity Atlantic Bridge. Hintze also supplied a private jet for Fox and Werritty to fly from the United States to London in May 2011.
Awards
He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory by Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
in 2005.
Personal life
Married to American citizen Dorothy, whom he met at Harvard, the couple have four children, all educated at British state schools. The family live in BalhamBalham
Balham is a district of London, EnglandBalham can also refer to:*Balham, Ardennes, a commune in France*Balham station, railway and tube station in Balham, London*Balaam, a Biblical figure...
in the London Borough of Wandsworth
London Borough of Wandsworth
The London Borough of Wandsworth is a London borough in southwest London, England, and forms part of Inner London.-History:The borough was formed in 1965 from the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea and much of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth, but...
.