Expatriate Kiwi billionaires Richard and Christopher Chandler have been fairly successful over the past four decades at amassing huge fortunes out of the public eye. But that was blown apart last year when British MPs and media outlets started taking a sudden interest in the pair.
The brothers found themselves at the centre of a media and political firestorm, including allegations in Parliament that they were once suspected of having links to Russian intelligence. Christopher was also accused of lobbying key Tory figures like Boris Johnson over Brexit strategies, through a think-tank called the Legatum Institute.
Christopher took the brunt of most of the accusations, which he has strenuously denied, and has since gone on the front foot to try to clear his name. That includes suing a Washington-based private investigator he believes was the source for much of the information, which dates back to the days when the pair lived in Monaco.
In the meantime, Legatum has made a point of stressing its philanthropic work. Its response to one lengthy article was to state that: “The truth remains that Christopher Chandler and his partners at Legatum run an ethical global investment business with a unique mission to use our capital to ‘help others prosper.’ To date we have quietly founded, sponsored and funded over 1000 humanitarian projects in over 100 countries, measurably benefiting over 270 million people.”
According to its website, the firm’s international activities include a centre for entrepreneurship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a $100 million fund intended to combat modern-day slavery, and another fund dedicated to controlling and eliminating neglected tropical diseases. Yet another fund is intended to help more than 100 million children who are not in school to restart their education.
The website also pays tribute to Chandler’s grandfather, Chicago-born Edward Chandler, who founded his own advertising firm in Auckland in 1903. “One man’s pursuit of an opportunity more than a century ago not only laid the foundation for a successful business but inspired an enduring legacy that will benefit generations to come,” it notes.
Edward lost two of his three sons in World War II. His third son, Robert, returned to New Zealand after the war and set up a beekeeping operation in Waikato. He also built houses and apartments, and in 1973 he and his Croatian wife, Marija, opened Chandler House, a department store in Hamilton.
They also had three sons: Richard, Christopher and George. After Christopher completed a law degree at Auckland University, he and Richard joined the family business. It grew to include a chain of fashion stores, as well as manufacturing and real estate, which they sold a few years later for $10m.
The entire family moved to Monaco in 1986 and Richard and Christopher eventually turned the family assets into several billion dollars by investing in Hong Kong real estate, Brazilian telecoms, Japanese banks, a South Korean oil conglomerate, and by jumping on the privatisation bandwagon in Russia.
The brothers went their separate ways in 2006, with Christopher moving to Dubai and Richard to Singapore. George is believed to be a retired accountant who reportedly moved to Canada.
Richard is still in Singapore and Christopher, who is 59, continues to live in Dubai, where the Legatum Group is based. It has been reported that he also applied for Maltese citizenship in 2015.
2018: $1.5 billion