Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere

Last updated

Claudia Caroline Clemence
(m. 1993)
The Viscount Rothermere
Viscount Rothermere
Baron Rothermere
Baronet
Children6
Parent(s) The 3rd Viscount Rothermere and Patricia Evelyn Beverley Matthews
Education Gordonstoun School
Alma mater Duke University
OccupationPublisher

Jonathan Harold Esmond Vere Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere (born 3 December 1967), is a British peer and owner of a newspaper and media empire founded by his great-grandfather Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere. He is the chairman and controlling shareholder of the Daily Mail and General Trust, formerly "Associated Newspapers", a media conglomerate which includes the Daily Mail .

Contents

Early life and career

Lord Rothermere was educated at Gordonstoun School and Duke University. [1]

Harmsworth held various positions in Associated Newspapers and was managing director of the Evening Standard , when the sudden death of his father in 1998 resulted in his becoming the controlling shareholder [2] and chairman of Associated and of its parent Daily Mail and General Trust just before his 31st birthday. One change he has instituted since becoming chairman is requiring directors to retire at age 75.

He has non-domicile (non-dom) tax status and owns his media businesses through a complex structure of offshore holdings and trusts. [3]

According to the International Business Times:

The Daily Mail owner did not deny claiming tax concessions as "non-dom", though he insisted this was because his father had lived in France. Lord Rothermere acquired France as his "domicile of birth" upon his birth as his father acquired a French "domicile of choice" by becoming a tax exile in Paris. [4]

In 2013, Private Eye reported that the non-dom status could be in doubt because of his stately home, Ferne House in Wiltshire, and status as a Freeman of the City of London. [3]

He was a supporter of the then Conservative Party leader David Cameron. [5]

He ranked fourth in the Publishing, Advertising, and PR section of The Sunday Times Rich List of 2013 with an estimated wealth of £720 million. [6] In April 2015, The Sunday Times estimated his net worth at £1 billion. [7]

The BBC's Newsnight programme at the end of January 2017 reported that David Cameron, when Prime Minister, had approached Lord Rothermere to sack Eurosceptic Paul Dacre, the editor of the Daily Mail in the run up to the 2016 EU membership referendum. [8] A representative of Lord Rothermere refused to confirm or deny the story, although a spokesman for Cameron confirmed that he had tried to persuade both Dacre and Rothermere over the vote. Rothermere's representative told the media: "Over the years, Lord Rothermere has been leant on by more than one prime minister to remove Associated Newspapers' editors but, as he told Lord Justice Leveson on oath, he does not interfere with the editorial policies of his papers". [9]

Lord Rothermere chairs the Imperial War Museum foundation, following the tradition set by his great grandfather, the first Viscount. [10]

Personal life

Rothermere married Claudia DeVriese, daughter of Terence J. Clemence, on 15 July 1993. [11] They have five children:[ citation needed ]

In 2002, The Guardian reported that Rothermere had fathered at least one more child prior to his marriage. [15] Rothermere confirmed this in his testimony to the Leveson Inquiry. [16]

Arms

Coat of arms of Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere
Coronet of a British Viscount.svg
Rothermere Escutcheon.png
Coronet
A Coronet of a Viscount
Crest
Between two Ostrich Feathers Or a Cubit Arm erect proper the hand grasping a Roll of Paper Or
Escutcheon
Azure two Scrolls of Paper in saltire Or banded in the centre Gules between four Bees volant of the second
Supporters
On either side a Gladiator fully habited and accoutred the dexter holding in the exterior hand a Sword and the sinister holding on the exterior arm a Shield all proper each charged on the breast with a Fountain
Motto
Bene Qui Sedulo (He who acts diligently acts well)

Related Research Articles

<i>Daily Mail</i> British tabloid newspaper

The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper published in London. It was founded in 1896. As of 2020, it was the highest paid circulation newspaper in the UK. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982, a Scottish edition was launched in 1947, and an Irish edition in 2006. Content from the paper appears on the MailOnline news website, although the website is managed separately and has its own editor.

<i>Daily Mirror</i> British daily tabloid newspaper

The Daily Mirror is a British national daily tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply The Mirror. It had an average daily print circulation of 716,923 in December 2016, dropping to 587,803 the following year. Its Sunday sister paper is the Sunday Mirror. Unlike other major British tabloids such as The Sun and the Daily Mail, the Mirror has no separate Scottish edition; this function is performed by the Daily Record and the Sunday Mail, which incorporate certain stories from the Mirror that are of Scottish significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viscount Rothermere</span> Viscountcy in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Viscount Rothermere, of Hemsted in the county of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for the press lord Harold Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth. He had already been created a baronet, of Horsey in the County of Norfolk, on 14 July 1910, and Baron Rothermere, of Hemsted in the County of Kent, in 1914. Every holder of the titles has served as chairman of Daily Mail and General Trust plc. As of 2022 the titles are held by the first Viscount's great-grandson, the fourth Viscount, who succeeded his father in 1998.

DMG Media is an intermediate holding company for Associated Newspapers, Northcliffe Media, Harmsworth Printing, Harmsworth Media and other subsidiaries of Daily Mail and General Trust. It is based at 9 Derry Street in Kensington, west London.

Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) is a British multinational media conglomerate, the owner of the Daily Mail and several other titles. The 4th Viscount Rothermere is the chair and controlling shareholder of the company. The head office is located in Northcliffe House in Kensington, London. In January 2022, DMGT delisted from the London Stock Exchange following a successful offer for DMGT by Rothermere Continuation Limited.

Vere Harold Esmond Harmsworth, 3rd Viscount Rothermere, known as Vere Harmsworth until 1978, was a British newspaper magnate. He controlled large media interests in the United Kingdom and United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esmond Harmsworth, 2nd Viscount Rothermere</span> British Conservative politician and press magnate

Esmond Cecil Harmsworth, 2nd Viscount Rothermere was a British Conservative politician and press magnate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere</span> British newspaper proprietor (1868–1940)

Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere, was a leading British newspaper proprietor who owned Associated Newspapers Ltd. He is best known, like his brother Alfred Harmsworth, later Viscount Northcliffe, for the development of the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror. Rothermere was a pioneer of popular tabloid journalism, and an enthusiastic proponent of closer links between the UK and Nazi Germany of which he was a prominent British admirer.

The Mail on Sunday is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was founded in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the Daily Mail, was first published in 1896.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe</span> British newspaper and publishing magnate (1865–1922)

Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, was a British newspaper and publishing magnate. As owner of the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror, he was an early developer of popular journalism, and he exercised vast influence over British popular opinion during the Edwardian era. Lord Beaverbrook said he was "the greatest figure who ever strode down Fleet Street." About the beginning of the 20th century there were increasing attempts to develop popular journalism intended for the working class and tending to emphasize sensational topics. Harmsworth was the main innovator. He said, "News is something someone wants to suppress. Everything else is advertising."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Hulton</span> British newspaper proprietor and thoroughbred racehorse owner

Sir Edward Hulton, 1st Baronet was a British newspaper proprietor and thoroughbred racehorse owner.

Paul Michael Dacre is an English journalist and the former long-serving editor of the British tabloid the Daily Mail. He is also editor-in-chief of DMG Media, which publishes the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, the free daily tabloid Metro, the MailOnline website, and other titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1921 Westminster Abbey by-election</span>

The 1921 Westminster Abbey by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 25 August 1921 for the British House of Commons constituency of Westminster Abbey in London. The seat had become vacant when the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) William Burdett-Coutts had died on 28 July 1921. Burdett-Coutts had held the seat since it had been created for the 1918 general election, when he had been returned unopposed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leveson Inquiry</span> 2011 judicial public inquiry into the British press

The Leveson Inquiry was a judicial public inquiry into the culture, practices, and ethics of the British press following the News International phone hacking scandal, chaired by Lord Justice Leveson, who was appointed in July 2011. A series of public hearings were held throughout 2011 and 2012. The Inquiry published the Leveson Report in November 2012, which reviewed the general culture and ethics of the British media, and made recommendations for a new, independent body to replace the existing Press Complaints Commission, which would have to be recognised by the state through new laws. Prime Minister David Cameron, under whose direction the inquiry had been established, said that he welcomed many of the findings, but declined to enact the requisite legislation. Part 2 of the inquiry was to be delayed until after criminal prosecutions regarding events at the News of the World, but the Conservative Party's 2017 manifesto stated that the second part of the inquiry would be dropped entirely, and this was confirmed by Culture Secretary Matt Hancock in a statement to the House of Commons on 1 March 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vere Harmsworth Library</span>

The Vere Harmsworth Library is a dependent library of the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

Patricia Evelyn Beverley Matthews Harmsworth, Viscountess Rothermere was an English socialite and actress. As Beverly Brooks, she appeared in several films, such as Reach for the Sky (1956).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Fleming (socialite)</span> English society hostess (1913–1981)

Ann Geraldine Mary Fleming was a British aristocrat and socialite. She married Lord O'Neill, Lord Rothermere and finally the writer Ian Fleming.

Stephen Gordon Turner was a British journalist and trade union leader.

Edward Verity is a British journalist. He has been editor of the Daily Mail since 2021. He was formerly editor of Mail newspapers, with responsibility for the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and You magazine. Before that, he was editor of The Mail on Sunday.

References

  1. Greenslade, Roy (22 July 2002). "Seconds out, round two". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  2. "Rothermere: 'DMGT remains committed to journalism'". Press Gazette . 21 January 2009. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Rothermere's patriot games". Street of Shame. Private Eye. 18 October 2013. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013.
  4. "How much is Daily Mail owner Lord Rothermere worth?". International Business Times UK. 10 July 2017.
  5. Vervier, Catherine (20 July 2008). "The end of the affair: Dacre moves towards Cameron". The Independent . Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  6. Sweney, Mark (19 April 2013). "Barclay brothers named richest media figures in UK with £2.3bn fortune". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  7. "Sunday Times Rich List". The Sunday Times. No. 34. 26 April 2014.
  8. Ponsford, Dominic (1 February 2017). "BBC: David Cameron tried to get Paul Dacre sacked as Daily Mail editor because of his Eurosceptic stance". Press Gazette. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  9. Walker, Peter (1 February 2017). "David Cameron 'asked Daily Mail owner to sack Paul Dacre over Brexit'". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  10. "Plaque - Harmsworth - IWM". London Remembers.
  11. General Register Office of England and Wales, Marriages, September quarter 1993, Westminster, Vol 15, page 1798.
  12. General Register Office of England and Wales, Births, Register number E60C, Entry number 038, Westminster.
  13. General Register Office of England and Wales, Births, Register number A65C, Entry number 255, Westminster.
  14. General Register Office of England and Wales, Births, Register number C95C, Entry number 140, Westminster.
  15. Roy Greenslade (22 July 2002). "Seconds out, round two". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  16. "Statement by Lord Justice Leveson". Archived from the original on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Viscount Rothermere
1998–present
Incumbent