David and Simon Reuben
Encyclopedia
David and Simon Reuben are well known British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 businessmen and philanthropists. In the Forbes magazine List of billionaires 2011, ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK, the brothers were placed second with an estimated fortune of £5.5  billion ($8.5 billion).http://www.forbes.com/lists/2010/10/billionaires-2010_David-Simon-Reuben_IWRB.html They are joint Chief Executives of Reuben Brothers
Reuben Brothers
Reuben Brothers is a privately held company wholly owned by David and Simon Reuben. Based in Switzerland, Reuben Brothers has various departments in countries including the United Kingdom. Its main activities are in real estate, private equity, and venture capitalism...

.

Early life and career

The brothers were born to a Jewish business family. The brothers increased their fortune during the 1970s and 1980s in both metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...

s trading and property. Nearly half their fortune is in liquid assets such as cash and bonds. They are not keen on publicity, but provide some details about their many interests on their personal website.

Metals Business

In the early 1990s the brother invested in the Russian metals market, financing significantly the production and distribution of metals. The Reubens became the world's third-biggest producer of a metal.

At its peak, their company, Trans-World Metals, and its associates controlled five percent of the world's aluminium output. When Russian aluminium smelters were incapacitated by debt
Debt
A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...

. Trans World entered into tolling arrangements with factories in which they paid for and delivered raw materials in return for finished aluminium, which it then sold for profit. The company's investment in Russia was $1.5 billion (£870 million), with global sales in 1995 topping $7 billion.

Their former status as Russia's biggest foreign investors means they are forced to endure more press scrutiny than they would like to. During their 10 years in the country, the Reuben's did business with some unconventional characters. They also came across several members of the country's new oligarchy
Oligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...

, including Roman Abramovich
Roman Abramovich
Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich is a Russian businessman and the main owner of the private investment company Millhouse LLC.In 2003, Abramovich was named Person of the Year by Expert, a Russian business magazine. He shared this title with Mikhail Khodorkovsky...

, now owner of Chelsea F.C.

In 2005 they settled a multi-million pound legal dispute with Oleg Deripaska
Oleg Deripaska
Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska is the Russian Chief executive officer of Basic Element company and a member of the Board of Directors and CEO of United Company RUSAL, a Russian aluminium industry company...

 which resulted in a substantial settlement being awarded to the Reubens.

Other Business and Activities

By 2000, the Russian business environment was turning sour for them and they sold all their Russian assets and focused their business activities mainly in the UK property market, where they have a substantial portfolio of debt free assets. With others, they have been involved in financing a number of major acquisitions and also have investments in technology companies. They are always looking out for new investments, increasingly across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.

Today their business activities revolve around Real Estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...

 both in the UK and abroad, Venture Capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...

 and Private Equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....

.

The Wellington Pub Company (the largest free-of-tie pub estate in the UK with approximately 850 tenanted pubs) and Global Switch, (the data centre business) form part of the Reuben Brothers group of companies.

Amongst others the Reuben Brothers own or have a significant stake in are Northern Racing, London Oxford Airport, Luup
LUUP
Luup is an m-commerce payment solution that allows users to pay, send and receive money via their mobile phone. Luup is building an international mobile transaction network by partnering with banks and financial institutions around the world...

, Kristal Waters, Ikyp, Spirit Pub Group, Travelodge Hotel, and Metro Bank.

More recently Reuben Brothers
Reuben Brothers
Reuben Brothers is a privately held company wholly owned by David and Simon Reuben. Based in Switzerland, Reuben Brothers has various departments in countries including the United Kingdom. Its main activities are in real estate, private equity, and venture capitalism...

 returned to the metals business acquiring the metal trading company Metalloyd. Since then Reuben Brothers
Reuben Brothers
Reuben Brothers is a privately held company wholly owned by David and Simon Reuben. Based in Switzerland, Reuben Brothers has various departments in countries including the United Kingdom. Its main activities are in real estate, private equity, and venture capitalism...

 have moved to expand their mining interests around the world.

Real Estate

The regeneration of the Paddington
Paddington
Paddington is a district within the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965...

 area of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 involves a 1800000 sq ft (167,225.5 m²) development scheme of offices and flats. They will include a 43-story residential tower - the tallest in the West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...

, where traditionally it has been hard to obtain planning permission for skyscrapers. Called Merchant Square, it will have 559 flats and more than 600000 sq ft (55,741.8 m²) of office space.
The project is part of an estimated 8 m sq ft of development round the railway station, much of which has already been built. An estimated 30,000 people will eventually work there.

Aldersgate Investments Limited, a Reuben Brothers
Reuben Brothers
Reuben Brothers is a privately held company wholly owned by David and Simon Reuben. Based in Switzerland, Reuben Brothers has various departments in countries including the United Kingdom. Its main activities are in real estate, private equity, and venture capitalism...

 vehicle, entered a 50:50 joint venture with Park Plaza Hotels Limited to develop a new apart-hotel under the 'art'otel' brand in Hoxton, in the City of London.

The Reuben Brothers
Reuben Brothers
Reuben Brothers is a privately held company wholly owned by David and Simon Reuben. Based in Switzerland, Reuben Brothers has various departments in countries including the United Kingdom. Its main activities are in real estate, private equity, and venture capitalism...

 have been given the go-ahead to build three towers opposite Tate Britain.
The development features a mix of apartments and an apart-hotel on the River Thames next to the Riverbank Park Plaza hotel. The development, designed by Foster & Partners, will see 1960s office building Hampton House demolished and replaced with the three towers, the highest of which stands at 27 stories.

Some of the Reuben's more significant UK Property's include: Millbank Tower
Millbank Tower
Millbank Tower is a high skyscraper in the City of Westminster at Millbank, on the banks of the River Thames in London, in the United Kingdom. The Tower was constructed in 1963 for Vickers and was originally known as Vickers Tower. It was designed by Ronald Ward and Partners and built by John...

; the John Lewis headquarters in Victoria; the American Express offices in Victoria; Carlton House SW1; Academy House on Sackville Street; Connaught House on Berkeley Square; Market Towers; and prime Sloane Street
Sloane Street
Sloane Street is a major London street which runs north to south, from Knightsbridge to Sloane Square, crossing Pont Street about half way along, entirely in The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Sloane Street takes its name from Sir Hans Sloane, who purchased the surrounding area in 1712...

 shops.

Reuben Brothers purchased the iconic Piccadilly estate, better known as the In and Out club, which comprises six freehold buildings, which have a planning consent for a six-star hotel and private members’ club

Global Switch

The Reuben Brothers
Reuben Brothers
Reuben Brothers is a privately held company wholly owned by David and Simon Reuben. Based in Switzerland, Reuben Brothers has various departments in countries including the United Kingdom. Its main activities are in real estate, private equity, and venture capitalism...

 are owners of Global Switch: the largest wholesale carrier neutral data centre provider in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific or Asia Pacific is the part of the world in or near the Western Pacific Ocean...



Global Switch has eight data centres: six are located in Europe - in London, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 – with centres in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 serving the Asia Pacific market.

The centres currently total around 3000000 sq ft (278,709.1 m²) of floor space and are occupied by a broad range of customers, global and national, large and small including government organisations, financial institutions, enterprises, global systems integrators, telecommunication carriers, managed service providers and other hosting businesses. Various initiatives are underway which will increase the overall floor space to around 4000000 sq ft (371,612.2 m²). Global Switch's chairman is John Corcoran, a former Multiplex executive, who has been with the company since 2007.

Reuben Foundation

The family are well known for philanthropy
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...

 and have a charitable wing, The Reuben Foundation
The Reuben Foundation
Formed in 2002, the Reuben Foundation is a UK-registered foundation created to channel the charitable giving of the Reuben Brothers. The brothers continue to proactively look at supporting a range of charitable causes, from long-term funding projects to individual charitable donations.* 2004 The...

, which donates mainly in the healthcare and education sectors through a initial endowment of $100 million. The family are active in the running of the foundation.

> 2004 The Reuben Foundation
The Reuben Foundation
Formed in 2002, the Reuben Foundation is a UK-registered foundation created to channel the charitable giving of the Reuben Brothers. The brothers continue to proactively look at supporting a range of charitable causes, from long-term funding projects to individual charitable donations.* 2004 The...

 completed a multimillion pound project to build a school in North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...

, the school is called the N.Reuben primary school named after their mother. N Reuben School has over 250 students currently enrolled and was given a "stellar" report by Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....



> 2005 The Reuben Foundation opened the largest breast cancer unit in the Meir hospital in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 servicing both the Jewish and Arab community.

> 2008 The Reuben Foundation opened another cancer clinic in Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...

, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, servicing all sectors of Israeli society.

> 2008 The Reuben Foundation Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children is a children's hospital located in London, United Kingdom...

 opened the largest cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

 clinics for children in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. The center was opened by Mayor Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...



> 2010 The Reuben Foundation together with Virgin Unite
Virgin Unite
Virgin Unite is the working name of The Virgin Foundation, the independent charitable arm of the Virgin Group. Created by Richard Branson and Virgin employees in September 2004, Virgin Unite pools volunteering efforts from across the Virgin Group and its hundreds of subsidiaries and associated...

 launched 'The Haiti Project' which raised substantial funds for the relief effort.

> 2011 The Reuben Foundation together with the Mayor of London
Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...

 and Mayor of New York launched the Team London programme through a multi-million pound endowment, to encourage volunteering across London

The Reuben Foundation also contributes to the Royal Marsden and The Princess Royal Trust for Carers
The Princess Royal Trust for Carers
The Princess Royal Trust for Carers was created on the initiative of HRH The Princess Royal in 1991. At that time people caring at home for family members or friends with disabilities and chronic illnesses were scarcely recognised as requiring support....

. The foundation also sponsored the Daily Telegraph spirit of the community awards and are patrons of Tickets For Troops. The Foundation also actively supports the Prince's Trust and the Royal Parks Fund

Personal

The Reuben brothers cling tightly to their privacy. Simon Reuben, three years younger than his brother David, has given only one interview to a British publication in his entire career and that was more a case of finding himself in a room with a journalist and having to make polite conversation.

One friend, who spends time with Simon at the Isle de France Hotel in St Barts, said they are "trustworthy and really rather shy." And an executive who works closely with them said: "People often say that they are secretive but it's more a case of being very private. They are just not ostentatious people. David is the trader and Simon is the investor. They work brilliantly together. They are quite different. For example, David is a technophile and loves gadgets while Simon is completely the opposite. But I have been with them when they finish sentences for each other. In a business sense, they are incredibly smart and have a reputation for never having overpaid for anything."

In 2005, they won the Variety Club 'entrepreneurs of the year' award.

Both Reuben brothers are married with children. They both follow Chelsea FC.

External links

  • David and Simon Reuben
  • Profile in The Guardian
  • http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9064-2220021,00.html
  • http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=409816&in_page_id=2
  • http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2004/07/12/375898/index.htm
  • http://www.reubenbrothers.com/Article74.html
  • http://www.reubenbrothers.com/article70.html
  • http://www.reubenbrothers.com/article46.html
  • http://www.reubenbrothers.com/Article102.html
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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