£205m payday for EU ‘In’ backer

A LEADING backer of a campaign for the UK to stay in the EU pocketed £205m from his hedge fund last year.

Cambridge-educated billionaire David Harding, 54, earned the cash from his 54pc stake in Winton Capital Management, which he founded in 1997.

Harding is a co-treasurer of Britain Stronger In Europe, the campaign to stay in the EU, which he has given more than £1m. The businessman is a physics graduate and has previously donated £5m to the Science Museum, as well as funding research at his old university.

Winton paid a total dividend of £380.5m in 2015, more than double what it shared out the previous year. Directors including Harding also earned £23.1m in pay.

According to the Sunday Times Rich List, he has a total worth of £1.2bn.