The twin brothers—who rose from nothing, were knighted by the Queen and snapped up trophy assets like the Ritz Hotel and The Telegraph newspaper—have become entwined in a family battle over assets that includes allegations of commercial espionage.
Two decades later, so very much has changed. The once inseparable brothers, who built an empire worth an estimated $4 billion, are at war, fighting over their businesses and the fortune they created. Now aged 85, their energy is spent marshalling their children – a generation born of less “humble beginnings" – who are now threatening to break up the Barclay assets as allegations of bugging, “betrayal” and “commercial espionage” hit the London High Court.
David’s sons say that they “regret any distress caused.” But—as with all succession melodramas—add, “Our intention has always been to act in the best interests of the entire family.” The defendants have offered to pay Frederick and Amanda damages tied to the breach of confidence.It’s a story of a deep bond between billionaire brothers, broken by the strains of succession, straight from an HBO drama that never was.
Following transcription of 405 hours of recordings by Quest, a private investigation group chaired by the former commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police, Lord John Stevens, Monday’s court documents reveal that a WhatsApp group chat was used to discuss their ”use” of the recordings.
At their peak in 2018, the brothers’ net worth hit an estimated $5.8 billion, with a diverse empire that still includes Very a catalogue retail giant that survived the leap to online, and notably The Daily Telegraph newspaper, described by former columnist Peter Oborne as the paper for “schoolteachers, military folk, farmers”–or, as Oborne writes–“decent people with a stake in the country.” Their ownership of the paper, which was loudly pro-Brexit, has put them in headlines in recent years.
The source says David Barclay was very ill, and he asked his brother Frederick “to do something for me before I die.” Being unable to “run the business,” David asked his brother to give up some of his shares and transfer them to David’s children Aidan, Howard and Duncan . The idea was the brothers’ combined four heirs—Frederick’s daughter Amanda on one side and David’s three sons on the other—would thus equally split ownership of the family’s assets.
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