Ronald Cohen
Sir Ronald Cohen is a pioneer of Private Equity in the UK.
He believes passionately that PE is good for the economy and, according to Robert Peston, has "lobbied tirelessly for favourable tax treatment for the industry he helped to create."[1]
Political links
Cohen is said to be close to Tony Blair but closer to Gordon Brown, according to Robert Peston's 2008 book, Who Runs Britain?. 'On 11 October 2006, Brown hosted a party in 11 Downing Street to celebrate Bridges' initial success.'
He has contributed £1.8m to the Labour Party according to Robert Peston's 2008 book, Who Runs Britain?.[2]
- He pledged £100,000 to the Labour Party on 16/4/99, £100,000 in 1997.
- He received a knighthood in the 2000 New Years Honours List
- He gave a further £100,000 to the Labour Party in June 2001
Tony Blair is reported to have turned to Cohen for help with fundraising for Labour before the 2005 election[3]
- Chairman of the Government's Tech Stars Steering Committee Taskforce
- Member of the DTI's UK Competitiveness Committee
- Sits on the CBI's City Advisory Group and Wider Share Ownership Committee.
Affiliations
- British Venture Capital Association, founder and ex-Chair
- European Venture Capital Association, founder and director
- City Group for Smaller Companies (CISCO), founder and director alongside Katie Morris. *EASQDAQ, European Stock Market, founder and vice-Chairman. It deals in stocks worth more than $36 billion). He has also provided funding for
- Tradepoint Financial Networks, provided funding for. TFN is an electronic rival to the London Stock Exchange.
He was President of the Oxford University Union and went to Harvard Business School in America. He was one of the Bioscience bosses who wrote a letter to the Financial Times in May 2001 in support of the Labour Party.
Apax Partners
Apax Partners invested in Autonomy, Britain's most successful internet company, making $600 million from a $3 million investment. They are also backers of Jazztel, a Spanish business phone services company and an Israeli company Commtouch, an e-mail provider.
Career
Cohen is Chairman of hedge fund Portland Capital and founder of Bridges Capital, a fund 'with a social purpose'. In 2002 he founded, and became Chairman of, Apax Partners & Company, an international PE company which manages $7 billion of investment. He was knighted in 2000. Cohen left Apax Partners in 2005.[4] Before founding Apax Partners, he was a consultant with McKinsey. He is Chairman of the Government's Tech Stars Steering Committee Taskforce and a member of the DTI's UK Competitiveness Committee. He sits on the CBI's City Advisory Group and Wider Share Ownership Committee. [5]
References
- ↑ Robert Peston, Who Runs Britain?, Hodder and Stoughton, 2008
- ↑ Robert Peston, Who Runs Britain?, Hodder and Stoughton, 2008
- ↑ The Jewish Chronicle 'JC Power 100: Sacks stays on top, as new names emerge'. 9th May 2008.
- ↑ Robert Peston, Who Runs Britain?, Hodder and Stoughton, 2008
- ↑ Taken from 'Ronald Cohen' available through search function on http://www.red-star-research.org.uk/subframe5.html
