‘Reprehensible’ tycoon ordered to pay wife £100m
NEWSPAPER tycoon Sir Frederick Barclay was criticised for his ‘reprehensible behaviour’ yesterday as a judge ordered him to pay his estranged wife £100million.
Daily Telegraph owner Sir Frederick, 86, repeatedly ignored instructions to reveal details about his finances during a legal battle over money with his wife, Mr Justice Cohen said.
The High Court judge ordered the businessman to pay Lady Barclay £100million – with the first £ 50million to be handed over within three months.
Mr Justice Cohen said he had decided his criticism of Sir Frederick should be made public because the tycoon had flouted court orders during the divorce proceedings, which started in October 2019.
He said Sir Frederick had ‘ completely ignored’ a ruling when he sold a luxury yacht which was covered by a court order, adding: ‘I regarded that behaviour as reprehensible.’
The Family Division judge said: ‘[Sir Frederick] is a public figure who should have been aware of the potential consequences of disobedience of court orders and his behaviour in the proceedings should not be allowed to pass completely under the radar.’
Divorce proceedings in the Family Division are usually conducted in private and details can be reported only with permission from the judge. In a statement issued after the judgment was made public, Sir Frederick said: ‘I am saddened that after 34 years my marriage has come to an end. This was not something I wanted.’
Sir Frederick and his identical twin brother Sir David, who died in January, built a huge business empire which included The Ritz hotel, the Telegraph newspapers, the Spectator magazine and several retail and delivery firms. They built a castle on the Channel Island of Brecqhou and had an estimated joint wealth of £7billion in 2020.
The brothers, who were knighted in 2000, were notoriously private about their business dealings and put their vast wealth into complex family trusts. Mr Justice Cohen said Sir Frederick’s delays over disclosing information about his finances had held up the divorce proceedings by around nine months.
The couple married in May 1987.
Lady Barclay, 78, who filed for a divorce on the grounds of her husband’s unreasonable behaviour, had sought a settlement of £120million.
Sir Frederick offered to give her 40 per cent of ‘loan notes’ due to him from a trust and half of any money he received from the sale of the family home and yacht, which were also owned by a trust.
He has also paid her legal costs of around £1.8million. Lawyers for Lady Barclay said the offer might have left her with nothing if the trustees decided it was not in Sir Frederick’s interests for the funds to be made available for him to pay the divorce settlement.
Mr Justice Cohen said he had rejected arguments that Sir Frederick did not have access to the vast bulk of his wealth because it was tied up in loan notes linked to the family businesses.
He rejected a media application to allow details of the hearing to be reported, saying Sir Frederick’s role in the ownership of the Telegraph newspapers did not mean he had lost his right to privacy.
In separate court proceedings, Sir Frederick and his daughter Amanda have taken legal action against Sir David’s sons over claims that they bugged Sir Frederick’s conversations concerning the sale of The Ritz in central London last year.
The case exposed a bitter rift in the family. Sir David’s sons admitted bugging their uncle’s conversations but said they did so over fears he posed ‘a significant risk of harm’ to their family business.
‘Sold yacht despite a court ruling’