MAVERICK WHO LOVES A FIGHT

FOR three years, Terry Smith entertained the City with his must-read blog, Straight Talking.

The pugilistic stock-picker didn’t just share his sage views on the financial markets, but often veered from hot topics like climate change to everyday irritants such as Nick Clegg.

That was until 2013, when Smith announced he would keep outspoken musings to himself.

The son of a lorry driver, Smith grew up in east London. After gaining a first in history at university, he joined Barclays Bank where his brusque directness – and his ability to pick a winner – raised eyebrows.

He famously told investors to sell shares in Barclays when working for BZW, Barclays’ own investment bank. In 1992 he was sacked from his £325,000-a-year job at blue-blood City firm UBS Phillips & Drew after refusing to withdraw a book he wrote which exposed dubious but legal accounting practices common in the industry.

As his reputation and ego grew, so did his critics. It was claimed he favoured colleagues who were like him – without inherited wealth.

He joined Collins Stewart, led a management buyout and left in 2010 after leading the firm through a merger and adding £2bn to its value.

He then launched Fundsmith, a low-cost fund management firm, investing £25m.

A boxing fan and formidably fit, Smith, 63, is a qualified helicopter pilot and an exponent of Muay Thai, a particularly vicious fighting style.

One suspects that even from the quiet of the Indian Ocean, it won’t be long before Smith finds another battle.