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Hedge Fund Billionaire Chris Hohn Takes Home Record-Breaking Salary Of £343 Million

Hedge Fund Billionaire Chris Hohn Takes Home Record-Breaking Salary Of £343 Million

It equates to £940,000 a day

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

Hedge fund billionaire Sir Chris Hohn has taken home a £343 million ($479m) salary for the past year, in what is believed to be the UK's largest ever annual pay packet.

Hohn, whose personal fortune is estimated at $5.9bn (£4.2bn) by Forbes, paid himself the huge wage after his hedge fund, The Children's Investment Fund, recorded a 66 percent jump in pre-tax profits to $695m (£497m).

Equating to £940,000 ($1.3m) a day, it is believed to be the highest amount ever paid to one person in Britain, being significantly higher than the previous record of £323m ($451m) paid to Denise Coates - who is the majority shareholder of bet365 - back in 2018.

The Guardian reports that it is also 9,000 times the average UK salary and 1,700 times the amount that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is paid.

The son of a Jamaican car mechanic, Hohn studied at Southampton University before going on to get his MBA at Harvard.

After briefly working in consulting and private equity, he joined Richard Perry's hedge fund, Perry Capital, in 1996.

Having opened Perry's first UK office and launching his own portfolio, Hohn eventually left to set up The Children's Investment Fund in 2003.

Hohn in 2009.
PA

Hohn also hit headlines in 2014 when he paid his ex-wife Jamie Cooper more than $500m (£357m) in a divorce settlement, which was reportedly the largest ever in UK history at the time.

He is also known for his philanthropy, having donated $386m (£276m) in 2019 through his Children's Investment Fund Foundation, which was a rise of $64m (£45m) on the previous year.

Hohn is the single biggest donor to Extinction Rebellion, saying in 2019 that he donated £50,000 ($69,000) to the cause.

"I recently gave them £50,000 because humanity is aggressively destroying the world with climate change and there is an urgent need for us all to wake up to this fact," he said.

It is believed that his charity then pledged a further £150,000 ($209,000).

According to the Guardian, The High Pay Centre's Luke Hildyard has called for higher taxes on top earners like Hohn.

Hildyard, who campaigns against excessive executive pay, said: "The sources of hedge fund owner's wealth include the profits of the companies they invest in and the funds provided by their super-rich clients.

"Extreme payouts such as this demonstrate that there is considerable scope for highly profitable companies to pay their staff more, and for the super-rich individuals that either own or invest in hedge funds to pay more tax, so that everyone can enjoy better public services and a fairer, more cohesive society."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: UK News, News