Gavyn Davies
Gavyn Davies (born 27 November 1950) was the chairman of the BBC from 2001 until 2004, a former Goldman Sachs economist and a former economic advisor to the British Government. On 28 January 2004 he announced that his resignation from his BBC post following the publication of the Hutton Inquiry report which heavily criticised the organisation.
He is now chairman of Fulcrum Asset Management, and a founding partner of Prisma Capital Partners and Active Private Equity.[1]
Contents
Biography
He was born in Zimbabwe and went to Oxford and Cambridge Universities before working in the Number 10 policy unit from 1974-6 and as an economic adviser for both the Wilson and Callaghan Labour Governments from 1976-9 (where he met Sue Nye). As Callaghan's Treasury adviser he first promoted the idea of allowing council tenants buy their homes - possibly why Thatcher gave him an OBE in 1979. He worked as an economist in the City, first for Phillips and Drew, then Simon and Coates, before starting at Goldman Sachs in 1986. He was also an economic adviser to Tory Chancellor Kenneth Clarke (one of his Treasury's 'wise men') from 1993 and was ex-Prime Minister John Major's favourite economist.
He was brought in by the Government to review the funding of the BBC, coming up with a proposal for huge increase in the licence fee and the suggestion that the BBC should bring the private sector into its commercial activities. He is a director of iMPOWER, along with Robert Devereux.
In December 2000 Davies was appointed Vice-Chairman of the BBC. In September 2001 he was appointed Chairman of the BBC and he resigned from Goldman Sachs. He is paid £77,590 plus extensive perks.
They have a house in Clerkenwell, London, a multi-million pound modern house in Croyde, near Barnstaple in Devon and a £1.8 million house in South West London. The house in Devon, called Baggy House, has an entire wall made of glass which slides open at the touch of a button.
Education
Davies was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge and Balliol College, Oxford. He worked in Harold Wilson's Policy Unit from 1974-76 and then as an economic advisor to James Callaghan from 1976-1979. Afterwards he had stints as Chief Economist at Simon & Coates and Goldman Sachs. He was later promoted to international managing director for the bank. During this time he also served as one of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's "wise men" during the 1992-1997 parliament. Gavyn Davies graduated in economics from St John's College, Cambridge in 1972 and then did two years of research at Balliol College, Oxford. He joined the policy unit at 10 Downing Street as an economist in 1974 and was an economic policy adviser to the prime minister from 1976-79.
City Economist
He subsequently pursued a career as a City economist, first with Phillips and Drew (1979-81), then with Simon and Coates (1981-86). He joined Goldman Sachs International in April 1986 and was a partner or managing director from 1988-2001. He was also the firm’s chief economist over that period and chairman of the Global Investment Research Department.
From 1979-2001, he was repeatedly ranked as the City's top UK, European or global economist in surveys of institutional investors. From 1992-1997, he was a member of HM Treasury's independent forecasting panel. He has been an economic adviser to the House of Commons select committee on the Treasury and a visiting professor at the London School of Economics.
At Goldman Sachs he was a senior partner, paid £2 million a year. In August 2000 he made £15 million from selling 219,000 shares in Goldman Sachs. His total shareholding is worth £85 million. In 1998 when thousands of people in the north east of England were losing their jobs he said that half a million job losses were a fact of life in the battle against inflation.
Government adviser
He was born in Zimbabwe and went to Oxford and Cambridge Universities before working in the Number 10 policy unit from 1974-6 and as an economic adviser for both the Wilson and Callaghan Labour Governments from 1976-9 (where he met Sue Nye). As Callaghan's Treasury adviser he first promoted the idea of allowing council tenants buy their homes - possibly why Thatcher gave him an OBE in 1979. He worked as an economist in the City, first for Phillips and Drew, then Simon and Coates, before starting at Goldman Sachs in 1986. He was also an economic adviser to Tory Chancellor Kenneth Clarke (one of his Treasury's 'wise men') from 1993 and was ex-Prime Minister John Major's favourite economist.
Honorary degrees
In July 1998 he was made an honorary doctor of science (social sciences) by the University of Southampton. In July 2002 he received an honorary degree of doctor of laws from Nottingham University and was also appointed a fellow of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. In July 2003 he received a fellowship of the Imperial College faculty of medicine.
In July 2004, he received an honorary doctorate from Middlesex University.
Recommends part privatisation of the BBC
In 1999, he chaired a UK government inquiry into “the future funding of the BBC”. His suggestions - to sell off a portion of BBC Worldwide (the corporation's commercial wing) and to raise the TV Licence fee by around 20% in order to fund new digital channels - were swiftly rejected by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.
He was brought in by the Government to review the funding of the BBC, coming up with a proposal for huge increase in the licence fee and the suggestion that the BBC should bring the private sector into its commercial activities. He is a director of iMPOWER, along with Robert Devereux.
Appointed to the BBC
In December 2000 Davies was appointed Vice-Chairman of the BBC. In September 2001 he was appointed Chairman of the BBC and he resigned from Goldman Sachs. He is paid £77,590 plus extensive perks. Greg Dyke was the Director-General of the BBC at the time.
In January 2001 he was appointed a vice-chairman of the broadcaster. He was promoted to chairman just 10 months later for a five year term. He resigned in January 2004 following the publication of the Hutton Inquiry which heavily criticised the BBC's news reporting that Davies had supported. In his resignation statement he said he was "happy to accept ... ultimate responsibility" for everything the BBC does. However he raised questions about the conclusions of Lord Hutton, including the question of the use of unverifiable sources and possible threats to the freedom of the press.
Personal Wealth
Davies is reported to have amassed a wealth of £150m through shrewd investments. Davies has in the past donated part of his wealth to the Labour Party of whom he had been a long-term supporter.
Davies and Nye have a house in Clerkenwell, London, a multi-million pound modern house in Croyde, near Barnstaple in Devon and a £1.8 million house in South West London. The house in Devon, called Baggy House, has an entire wall made of glass which slides open at the touch of a button.
New Labour links
He is married to Sue Nye, who runs Gordon Brown's private office. Their children were bridesmaid and pageboy at Gordon Brown's wedding. He is an 'unofficial' adviser to Gordon Brown and a friend of Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson. He was offered the job of Deputy Governor of the Bank of England in 1998, but turned it down when he could not get a guarantee that he would ultimately get the Governor's job. Before the 1997 election Davies and Sue Nye were involved in organising expensive dinners for City bosses as part of the Labour Party's bid to win them over.
Tony's Crony?
His appointment as BBC chairman sparked allegations of cronyism from Opposition political parties - Davies' wife is a private secretary of Chancellor Gordon Brown and the pair are known to be good friends. Defenders of the appointment pointed out that Davies had been selected by a panel independent of Government. It has been suggested that the behaviour of Davies and Greg Dyke during the David Kelly affair was in part due to a wish to demonstrate their independence of government. Since his resignation, he has become somewhat of a critic of the government.
In 2005 he set up a $1.35 Billion hedge fund to invest in macroeconomic situations. He also writes a weekly column on mathematics and statistics, Gavyn Davies does the maths, on Thursdays for the Guardian newspaper.
References, Resources and Contact
References
- ↑ Guardian Profile (Accessed: 23 October 2007)
