Paul Kemsley
Encyclopedia
Paul Zeital Kemsley is an English businessman. He is best known as a property developer, and to sports fans as a former Vice-Chairman of Premier League football
club Tottenham Hotspur
, and as Chairman of the revived New York Cosmos
.
, Harrow. At the age of 15 Kemsley worked on Saturdays at John Paul Menswear, which led him to meeting Mike Ashley
, who opened his first Sports World
equipment outlet across the road. They would play darts for money on quiet afternoons.
Kemsley left school in 1984, at the age of 17, and began working at Gross Fine as a junior surveyor. Then, from 1985 to 1992, Kemsley worked as an agent at the commercial real-estate firm Ross Jaye. In 1992, he decided to leave and join his old friend Ashley at Sports Direct
where he helped to expand the group.
By 1995, Kemsley wanted to start his own business and he established a property and securities company with "the £1,800 he had left in his pocket." This was Rock Joint Ventures Ltd, formed with Joe Lewis of ENIC Group
, a British investment company, and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy
. Rock was an investor and developer of commercial and residential property, but specialized in land trading. It also had a private hedge fund that specialized in acquiring strategic stakes in public companies, the most well-known being their 28% share in Countryside Properties
plc in 2004, which they sold to the chairman for a profit of £12 million.
By 2007, Rock's property portfolio was valued at £750 million. Lewis parted from the company around that time. It set up a joint venture with HBOS
to build a £1bn property portfolio. However, in the wake of the financial crisis of 2007–2010, Rock was placed into administration in June 2009, ending Kemsley's involvement. The administrator PwC
began selling the major properties of the portfolio, which included the Selhurst Park
stadium, in October 2009.
Kemsley is known as a close friend of Mike Ashley, David Pearl
, Sir Philip Green
and Sir Alan Sugar. It was through his friendship with Sugar that Kemsley played a part in the ENIC/Levy partnership's purchase of a majority share holding in Tottenham Hotspur. Kemsley later appeared as one of Sir Alan's interviewer/advisors on the UK BBC
edition of The Apprentice from 2005 to 2008.
Kemsley is well known as an aggressive player in the property business. In his most successful property deal he bought 27-35 Poultry, an office block in the City of London
, for £40 million in May 2006. He then sold it within five months to a former Russian government minister for £72 million. He has developed successful investments in various online betting operators including Party Gaming, Chinese
-licensed Betex, and AIM
-quoted FUN Technologies
.
His personal wealth was estimated at £180 million in the Sunday Times Rich List 2008
. However, in September 2008 he placed a series of large bets that doomed US bank Lehman Brothers
would recover, and in May 2009 the spread betting
company Spreadex
took legal action against him, claiming that he was liable to pay a margin call
of £2 million.
he is in New York, leading a bold attempt to relaunch the New York Cosmos
soccer club. In August 2010, he became the Chairman, with soccer legend and former Cosmos star Pelé
as Honorary President. In January 2011, he appointed former Manchester United player Eric Cantona
as Director Of Soccer.
In October, 2011 he resigned from his post as Chairmen of the New York Cosmos to pursue other business ventures.
, Hertfordshire in 2007, but have since moved to America. He actively supports various charitable causes.
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
club Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
, and as Chairman of the revived New York Cosmos
New York Cosmos (2010)
The New York Cosmos are an American soccer club based in New York City. The team was formed in August 2010 by a consortium led by English businessman Paul Kemsley, and aspires to become a franchise of Major League Soccer, the top professional soccer league in the United States of America and Canada...
.
Biography
He was educated at Atholl School in Rayners LaneRayners Lane
Rayners Lane is a suburban district in the London Borough of Harrow between Pinner and West Harrow.-History:During the Middle Ages the Rayners Lane road was used when transporting grain to the mill on Pinner Green. The road was originally called Bourne Lane as it crossed several streams including...
, Harrow. At the age of 15 Kemsley worked on Saturdays at John Paul Menswear, which led him to meeting Mike Ashley
Mike Ashley (businessman)
Michael James Wallace "Mike" Ashley is an English millionaire retail entrepreneur in the sporting goods market...
, who opened his first Sports World
Sports World
SportsDirect.com is a British sporting goods retailer, the primary retail asset of Sports Direct International plc. The company was formerly known as Sports World and before that Sports Soccer, but since 2007 branches of the chain have been rebranded as SportsDirect.com, the domain name of its...
equipment outlet across the road. They would play darts for money on quiet afternoons.
Kemsley left school in 1984, at the age of 17, and began working at Gross Fine as a junior surveyor. Then, from 1985 to 1992, Kemsley worked as an agent at the commercial real-estate firm Ross Jaye. In 1992, he decided to leave and join his old friend Ashley at Sports Direct
Sports Direct
Sports Direct International plc is a British retailing group. Founded in 1982 by former county squash coach Mike Ashley, the company is now the UK's largest sporting retailer through a number of retail subsidiaries and sports equipment brands. Although now a publicly traded company on the London...
where he helped to expand the group.
By 1995, Kemsley wanted to start his own business and he established a property and securities company with "the £1,800 he had left in his pocket." This was Rock Joint Ventures Ltd, formed with Joe Lewis of ENIC Group
ENIC Group
ENIC International Ltd is a British investment company ultimately controlled and owned by Joseph Lewis .Focused on sports, media and investment, the group is chaired by Daniel Levy....
, a British investment company, and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy
Daniel Levy
Daniel Levy may refer to:*Daniel Levy , Chairman of the British football club Tottenham Hotspur*Daniel Levy , Israeli political analyst, active in the joint non-governmental Israeli-Palestinian Geneva Initiative...
. Rock was an investor and developer of commercial and residential property, but specialized in land trading. It also had a private hedge fund that specialized in acquiring strategic stakes in public companies, the most well-known being their 28% share in Countryside Properties
Countryside Properties
Countryside Properties Ltd is a property development company based in the United Kingdom. It is active in urban regeneration and creation of sustainable communities. It also carries out Design and Build contracts for housing associations....
plc in 2004, which they sold to the chairman for a profit of £12 million.
By 2007, Rock's property portfolio was valued at £750 million. Lewis parted from the company around that time. It set up a joint venture with HBOS
HBOS
HBOS plc is a banking and insurance company in the United Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group having been taken over in January 2009...
to build a £1bn property portfolio. However, in the wake of the financial crisis of 2007–2010, Rock was placed into administration in June 2009, ending Kemsley's involvement. The administrator PwC
PwC
PricewaterhouseCoopers is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest professional services firm measured by revenues and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms....
began selling the major properties of the portfolio, which included the Selhurst Park
Selhurst Park
Selhurst Park is an English football stadium located in the London suburb of South Norwood in the Borough of Croydon. It is the current home ground of Crystal Palace Football Club. Its present capacity is 26,309.-History:...
stadium, in October 2009.
Kemsley is known as a close friend of Mike Ashley, David Pearl
David Pearl (businessman)
David Pearl is a millionaire property developer with most business interests in London. Originally from a poor background in North London, Pearl’s wealth was estimated at £233m in 2009, in position 241 on The Sunday Times Rich List....
, Sir Philip Green
Philip Green
Sir Philip Green is a British businessman. Green was born into a Jewish family in 1952, beginning as a businessman at the age of 15. The first and last quoted company Green took lead of was "Amber Day", from which he stepped down as CEO and Chairman in 1992...
and Sir Alan Sugar. It was through his friendship with Sugar that Kemsley played a part in the ENIC/Levy partnership's purchase of a majority share holding in Tottenham Hotspur. Kemsley later appeared as one of Sir Alan's interviewer/advisors on the UK BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
edition of The Apprentice from 2005 to 2008.
Kemsley is well known as an aggressive player in the property business. In his most successful property deal he bought 27-35 Poultry, an office block 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...
, for £40 million in May 2006. He then sold it within five months to a former Russian government minister for £72 million. He has developed successful investments in various online betting operators including Party Gaming, 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...
-licensed Betex, and AIM
Alternative Investment Market
AIM is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange, allowing smaller companies to float shares with a more flexible regulatory system than is applicable to the main market....
-quoted FUN Technologies
FUN Technologies
FUN Technologies was a listed company providing online games.Founded in 2002 by Canadian businessmen Lorne Abony and Andrew Rivkin, FUN grew to become the world's largest provider of online casual games and fantasy sports, with over 35 million registered customers. FUN was publicly traded with a...
.
His personal wealth was estimated at £180 million in the Sunday Times Rich List 2008
Sunday Times Rich List 2008
The Sunday Times Rich List 2008 was published on 27 April 2008.Since 1989 the UK national Sunday newspaper The Sunday Times has published an annual magazine supplement to the newspaper called the Sunday Times Rich List...
. However, in September 2008 he placed a series of large bets that doomed US bank Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a global financial services firm. Before declaring bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth largest investment bank in the USA , doing business in investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (former NYSE ticker...
would recover, and in May 2009 the spread betting
Spread betting
Spread betting is any of various types of wagering on the outcome of an event, where the pay-off is based on the accuracy of the wager, rather than a simple "win or lose" outcome, such as fixed-odds betting or parimutuel betting. A spread is a range of outcomes and the bet is whether the outcome...
company Spreadex
Spreadex
Spreadex Ltd is a British-based company that offers financial spread betting, sports spread betting and sports fixed-odds betting.-History:Spreadex commenced trading in 1999 in Dunstable, Bedfordshire....
took legal action against him, claiming that he was liable to pay a margin call
Margin Call
Margin Call is a 2011 American independent drama film, written and directed by J.C. Chandor. The film has an ensemble cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker, and Penn Badgley...
of £2 million.
he is in New York, leading a bold attempt to relaunch the New York Cosmos
New York Cosmos (2010)
The New York Cosmos are an American soccer club based in New York City. The team was formed in August 2010 by a consortium led by English businessman Paul Kemsley, and aspires to become a franchise of Major League Soccer, the top professional soccer league in the United States of America and Canada...
soccer club. In August 2010, he became the Chairman, with soccer legend and former Cosmos star Pelé
Pelé
However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
as Honorary President. In January 2011, he appointed former Manchester United player Eric Cantona
Eric Cantona
Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona is a French actor and former French international footballer. He played for Auxerre, Martigues, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nîmes and Leeds United before ending his professional footballing career at Manchester United, where he won four Premier League titles in...
as Director Of Soccer.
In October, 2011 he resigned from his post as Chairmen of the New York Cosmos to pursue other business ventures.
Personal life
He is married to Loretta (née Gold) from Portsmouth. The couple have three children and were living in RadlettRadlett
Radlett is a small town in the county of Hertfordshire between St Albans and Borehamwood on Watling Street with a population of approximately 8,000. It is located in the council district of Hertsmere and is covered by two wards, Aldenham East and Aldenham West...
, Hertfordshire in 2007, but have since moved to America. He actively supports various charitable causes.
External links
- Spurs vice-chairman Kemsley quits at BBC News OnlineBBC News OnlineBBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. The website is the most popular news website in the United Kingdom and forms a major part of BBC Online ....
, 17 October 2007