Michael Hintze

Michael Hintze is an Australian businessman, philanthropist and political patron, based in the United Kingdom. He is the head of CQS Management, a private London hedge fund, and has been cited in the press as one of the highest paid people in the City. According to the Forbes Rich List, Michael Hintze is worth $1.1 billion though many consider this to be a conservative estimate.

Activities

Hintze's hedge fund CQS took out a short position on Bradford & Bingley before the practice was banned. Short-selling involves a trader borrowing shares for a fee and selling them in the hope that, if the share price falls, the trader can buy them back at a cheaper price and return them to the borrower, thereby making a profit.

Donations to the Conservative Party

In 2006, at the time of the "Cash for Peerages" allegations concerning the Labour Party, Hintze voluntarily revealed he was one of the previously anonymous patrons who had made loans to the Conservative Party.

His total donations to the Tories were £1.3 million as of March 2011 according to the Electoral Commission register.

Biographical information

Hintze was educated at the University of Sydney residing at St John's College, and Harvard University.

He started his career in the Australian Army before moving to the US to work in finance. He moved to London with Credit Suisse First Boston before becoming Head of Equity Trading at Goldman Sachs. In 1999 he launched his own hedge fund company, CQS.

Along with his wife Dorothy, Michael Hintze has significant and wide-ranging philanthropic interests and currently supports around 150 different causes. Among major donations, he has established the chair of International Security at the University of Sydney, enabled the restoration of Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Pauline Chapel at the Vatican and sponsored two major galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum. He also came to the aid of Wandsworth Museum, a much loved local community resource which was facing imminent closure by offering a £2,000,000 rescue package. Through CQS and the Hintze Family Charitable Foundation he provided funding to create a 'theatre in the round' at the Old Vic in London. Most recent projects have included sponsorship of an iconic exhibition of Raphael's Tapestries for the Sistine Chapel at the V&A and a £2,000,000 donation to the National Gallery.

He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory by Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 and is a known supporter of both Catholic and Anglican institutions.

References

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4837720.ece

Affiliations

Hintze currently serves as chairman of the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment, a trustee of the National Gallery, the Institute of Economic Affairs, the University of Sydney Trust and Wandsworth Museum. He also serves on the International Council of the V&A and is a Patron of the Arts of the Vatican Museums. In 2009 he was appointed vice-president of the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association.

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