Everything about John Madejski totally explained
John Robert Madejski OBE DL (born
Robert John Hurst on
April 28 1941 in
Stoke-on-Trent) is an
English businessman, with a raft of commercial interests, spanning property, broadcast media, hotels, restaurants, publishing and football.
As of 2007, he's in the top 200 wealthiest people in the UK, with a net worth said to be in the region of
£400 million (
see Sunday Times Rich List 2007). He changed his name when his stepfather, a
Polish airman during
World War II, returned to Britain to marry his mother.
John Madejski is perhaps best known as chairman of
Reading F.C., but he's also
Chancellor of the
University of Reading and
Deputy Lieutenant of
Berkshire. He is a benefactor to many institutions, especially in academia, education and the arts.
Life and career
While on holiday in
Florida in the mid 1970s Madejski saw a car sales magazine that included pictures of the vehicles on sale. He immediately realised the potential of the idea, and founded
Thames Valley Trader in 1976. Initially the magazine sold anything and everything, from houses to cars and even aircraft, but it soon concentrated solely on vehicles, and was renamed
Auto Trader. Madejski partnered with the
Guardian Media Group in 1982 to give the title national exposure. By 1998, 52 titles were being published with a combined circulation of more than 700,000. In
1998 he sold his company
Hurst Publishing for £174 million
John Madejski became chairman of the
Football League club
Reading F.C. in 1990, and has given his name to the club's
Madejski Stadium, built in
1998 with £25 million largely contributed by him. He plucked Reading from the jaws of the
receivers, and now owns 98 per cent of the club he rescued. He said "When
Robert Maxwell was alive I offered him five pounds a share. When he fell off his boat I got them for 10p. Funny old life isn't it?". In 2006 he led the
Royals to the top tier of English football for the first time in their 135-year history, and has since proposed plans for an expansion of the stadium to 38,000 seats . Having guided
Reading to the
Premier League Madejski is ready to sell up, so long as the offer is a good one, saying:
Madejski has since added that Reading's next owner will have to be super-yacht rich. "I'll listen to sensible offers - but from billionaires only. Millionaires need not apply."
The club achieved pre-tax profits of £6.6m during the tax year ending in June 2007 and the club has recently been valued at £100 million.
He was immortalised in fiction in Patrick Robinson's book Ghost Force when he and a fictional Siberian oil tycoon and governor who was also the President of Barcelona Football Club plan to make an attempt to purchase Arsenal Football Club. However the tycoon is murdered by the Russian Government before the Arsenal-Barcelona game at the Emirates Stadium which Arsenal win.
He is also a benefactor to the
Royal Academy of Arts in
Piccadilly,
London and in
2004 had the
John Madejski Fine Rooms at
Burlington House named after him in recognition of a contribution of £3 million to the institution. A sculpture by
Edgar Degas,
La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans, he purchased at
Sotheby's in 2004 is also on display in the John Madejski Fine Rooms. The
John Madejski Centre for Reputation at
Henley Management College, the new garden at the
Victoria and Albert Museum, a lecture theatre at the
University of Reading and a gallery at the
Museum of Reading also bear his name. He has recently contributed to the running of
Thamesbridge College,
Reading, which re-opened in September 2006 under the new name of the
John Madejski Academy.
Madejski has said he isn't particularly concerned about how this might appear adding "People can think what they like about me. I don't care. It's never been a popularity contest. I do it all for the community. In my view, you start life with nothing and you end it with nothing. I'd like to enjoy it all before I kick the bucket." His latest project is a £500m redevelopment of Reading town centre.
Madejski is active in politics: he's contributed extensively to the
Conservative Party and was vociferous in his calls for the removal of the then party leader
Iain Duncan Smith in
2003.
He owns a large number of luxury cars, owning a couple of
Rolls-Royces, two
Bentleys, four
Jaguars, an
AC Cobra and a pair of
Ferraris, including a red
328 which sits inside a glass case in the gym of his home.
Madejski has two children, but has never married. He made front-page headlines in UK
tabloid newspapers in October 2004 due to his alleged romantic attachment with singer and TV star
Cilla Black. The pair became friends due to their mutual affiliation with the Conservative Party. On
3 March 2007, Madejski was shown on the
BBC programme
Match of the Day seated between Cilla and
Chris Tarrant watching the Reading F.C. game against
Arsenal F.C. at the
Emirates Stadium. He is often seen watching football games at Reading's Madejski Stadium with celebrities such as
Jennifer Saunders and
Lenny Henry
Honours
In 2006 he was admitted as a Freeman of the Borough "in recognition of the distinguished service rendered to the Borough of Reading, by his contribution to the growth and success of football in Reading, and by his support for education and arts".
In July 2007, Madejski was made the Chancellor-elect of the University of Reading – to succeed to the post in December 2007 on the retirement of The Lord Carrington.
On December 14 2007, Madejski was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters University of Reading and formally installed as the 7th Chancellor of the University. Further Information
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