Jitesh Gadhia, Baron Gadhia

Lord Gadhia

Jitesh Kishorekumar Gadhia, Baron Gadhia of Northwood is a British investment banker, Conservative Party donor and member of the House of Lords. A member of the Leader's Group of high-value donors, he was described by The Herald as a member of David Cameron's "inner circle".[1]

Education and career

Gadhia studied economics at the University of Cambridge and the London Business School, where he was a Sloan Fellow.[2]

Gadhia is a senior managing director at The Blackstone Group, a US private equity firm.[3][2] Prior to this, he worked for Barclays, ABN AMRO, and Barings Bank, which collapsed while he worked there.[2][4][5] He also sits on the board of UK Financial Investments.[4] Gadhia was a trustee of Nesta,[6] and has written for The Daily Telegraph.[2][5]

In September 2017, Gadhia was appointed a non-executive director of fracking company Third Energy,[7] though questions were raised about a potential conflict of interest when the company was late publishing its annual results, amid concerns about its financial resilience and ability to fund clean-up costs.[8] Gadhia resigned as a director in September 2018.[9]

Political support

He has donated at least £225,000 to the Conservative Party, and another £18,000 to the Conservative Friends of India.[3][1] He has also donated at least £25,000 to the Liberal Democrats in Scotland.[3][1]

He was involved in the cash for access scandal in 2014, along with James Stunt (billionaire art dealer, gambling and shipping tycoon) and Alexander Temerko (Russian energy tycoon), and approximately 40 others.[10][3]

In August 2016 it was announced that he was to be made a life peer in as part of Cameron's Resignation Honours list.[11] In the afternoon of 31 August he was created Baron Gadhia, of Northwood in the County of Middlesex.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gordon, Tom (2015-02-08). "Scottish LibDems took £25k from elite Tory donor". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Jitesh Gadhia joins Blackstone Group as senior MD". Business Standard. Mumbai. 2010-09-01. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Malnick, Edward; Newell, Claire; Fayaz, Syed; Heighton, Luke; Telford, Lyndsey (2015-03-11). "Danny Alexander and the private dinner with Telegraph's 'dodgy' donor". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  4. 1 2 Quinn, James (2016-07-09). "Comparethemarket owner to float with £2bn valuation". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  5. 1 2 Gadhia, Jitesh (2015-02-25). "Barings' collapse was the start of the City's cultural decline". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  6. ↑ "Nesta Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2014" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  7. ↑ Duke, Simon (3 September 2017). "City veterans Keith Cochrane and Lord Gadhia go fracking in Yorkshire". Times. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  8. ↑ Vaughan, Adam (19 February 2018). "Fracking row: Treasury 'showing shambolic conflict of interest'". Guardian. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  9. ↑ Hayhurst, Ruth (18 September 2018). ""City heavyweights" resign from fracking firm, Third Energy". Drill or Drop. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  10. ↑ Blanchard, Jack (2014-11-12). "Tories in 'cash for access' backlash as donors pay £50K for 'Dinner with Dave'". Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  11. ↑ "Resignation Honours 2016 - Publications - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  12. ↑ "No. 61698". The London Gazette. 7 September 2016. p. 19040.
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