Mobile phone magnate John Caudwell has revealed plans to give away the vast majority of his mega wealth.
The entrepreneur, who made a fortune selling Phones4u, has pledged to donate 70% of his riches to good causes – at least £1billion as it stands.
Mr Caudwell, already one of Britain’s biggest philanthropists, announced the pledge, up from a previous 50% commitment, during our exclusive interview.
The other 30% of his current £1.5billion fortune will be split between his five children, Rebekah, 39, Libby, 31, Rufus, 23, Scarlett, 17 and Jacobi, 15.
He says: “I don’t want my kids to be broke, but if you left your kids your entire wealth, that does nothing to rebalance the rich-poor divide.
“If they are worth several billion, what about giving most of that away and just leaving a few hundred million to the kids? They’re still filthy rich, they can still ruin their lives.
“I don’t think leaving your kids filthy rich is going to be good for them.
“And if it is good for them, it probably isn’t any good for their kids, so sooner or later, the chickens come home to roost.”
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The bold move came as the 66-year-old businessman, now a property mogul, turned his fire on tax-avoiding wealthy individuals and multi-nationals.
The tycoon claims he has paid more than £300million in UK incomes taxes in the past 10 years.
Mr Caudwell splits his time between Britain, where he owns 50-room £12million Jacobean Broughton Hall in Staffordshire and lavish homes in Mayfair in London and Monaco, where his glamorous girlfriend Modesta Vzesniauskaite, a former Lithuanian cycling champion, aged 35, is based.
His trappings of wealth also include a fleet of cars, a helicopter he flies and 73-metre superyacht the Titania.
“I could easily be in Monaco with my girlfriend and paying no tax,” he says.
Asked what his wealthy friends think of him not doing so, he says: “They think I’m a mug. I’ve had arguments about it.”
He goes on: “I’ve had to work like hell to get where I am, but Britain has been good to me, the people of Britain have been good to me.
“Why should I feel I can rob them of all that money?”
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We spoke with the tycoon in the opulent surroundings of a Mayfair townhouse. For all its grandeur, his tatty pair of moccasin slippers sit at the bottom of the stairs near a bike he uses to cycle every day and to meetings.
Yet the tycoon is camping out here while his even bigger home, which once belonged to a playboy member of the Brunei royal family, is being refurbished a stone’s throw away.
The cost of the colossal overhaul was estimated a few years ago at £250million.
The finished home, measuring 44,000 square metres, includes a Thai-themed dining room, in honour of Mr Caudwell’s favourite cuisine, complete with a fish-filled flowing river.
A vast basement will include a new swimming pool and car lift to where up to six vehicles are stored.
The extravagant home is a long way from Mr Caudwell’s humble roots, growing up in Stoke-on-Trent.
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His mum worked in the post room of Royal Doulton and his dad, who suffered a stroke when John was 14 and died four years later, worked for an engineering company.
He still sees his mother regularly, sometimes twice week, often taking one of his home-cooked shepherd’s pies.
Mr Caudwell once worked in a tyre factory and sold used cars but jumped on the mobile phone revolution in the 1980s, trading as Midland Mobile Phones – later renamed Phones4u.
It grew to a chain of nearly 600 shops and was selling 26 phones a minute by the time he sold the business for £1.5billion in 2006.
But while he netted a fortune, more than 3,500 workers would later lose their jobs after Phones4u collapsed in 2014 when mobile networks ditched the chain.
Mr Caudwell was married to wife Kate for 25 years, but they divorced in 2001.
He then had a long-term relationship with former model Claire Johnson.
Much of his time is now spent on charitable work through Caudwell Children, which helps disabled youngsters.
He also pumped £10million into the Caudwell International Children’s Centre in Staffordshire, a purpose-built facility dedicated to autism support.
The tycoon is encouraging others with plenty of money to leave a big chunk of their wealth to charity.
“Wealthy people ought to think very seriously about giving most of it away,” he says. “Just leave a few hundred million to the kids.”
One of Mr Caudwell’s Monaco friends is shamed tycoon Philip Green.
He is coy about discussing the Topshop baron, but says: “It’s up to him to run his life the way he wishes, but it’s not my way.”
He is also critical of big firms which use clever accounting to slash their corporation tax bills. “I find it disgusting,” he says, adding authorities should consider criminalising the practice.
The other big issue Mr Caudwell feels passionately about is Brexit, having been an ardent supporter of the UK leaving the EU.
He says he is despairing of the current political chaos, is critical of Theresa May’s handling of the process and claims Britain would be better off with a hard Brexit. Clearly no fan of the EU, he says: “Why do we want to be curtailed by a bunch of losers?”
Yet what about the fact the EU is the UK’s biggest single trading party?
“There are 20 times more people in the rest of the world than there are in Europe,” is his answer. Or the potentially devastating impact on certain sectors of the economy if we crash out?
Mr Caudwell responds: “If you learn something in business and in life, it’s take the pain now, deal with the pain and come through it stronger than ever – and we would.”
Yet taking some “pain” is arguably a lot easier if you’re a billionaire than an ordinary worker who loses their job because of Brexit.
“I don’t know the answers to some of the problems,” he admits, but adds: “I do know we will find solutions, we’ll move on.”
One aspect of Mr Caudwell’s life he has been unable to move on from is a chronic illness which has blighted the life of his son Rufus for the past 12 years.
From being an energetic and outgoing boy, aged 11 he deteriorated at devastating speed after being struck down with a mystery illness which left him mentally traumatised, needing 24 hour supervision and house bound for long periods because of extreme anxiety.
At one stage, the condition got so bad Rufus did not leave the house for two and a half years.
He was eventually diagnosed with neurological Lyme disease.
But the real breakthrough came when doctors much later pinpointed the main reason for his trauma, a barely known condition called Pans/Pandas.
Talking about the illness for the first time, Mr Caudwell said: “The person feels like they’re being attacked by a knife and it feels like the same anxiety they would feel if they were being attacked by someone.”
Yet the illness can be treated with antibiotics if diagnosed in the early stages.
Studies in the US suggest one in 200 children may have the condition.
It has inspired Mr Caudwell to set himself a mission. “It’s my job to try to make sure most of Britain has heard of Pans/Pandas in the next year,” he says.
With his steely ambition, who would doubt him?
