10 Facts About Gavyn Davies

Gavyn Davies, OBE was born on 27 November 1950 and is a former Goldman Sachs partner who was the chairman of the BBC from 2001 until 2004.

Gavyn Davies was born in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, where his father was head teacher at what was then its only black high school.

Gavyn Davies worked in Harold Wilson's Policy Unit from 1974 to 1976 and then as an economic advisor to James Callaghan from 1976 to 1979.

Gavyn Davies was later promoted to international managing director of the bank.

Gavyn Davies was promoted to chairman just 10 months later for a five-year term after being recommended by Tessa Jowell.

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Gavyn Davies has in the past donated part of his wealth to the Labour Party, of which he had been a long-term supporter.

Gavyn Davies's appointment as BBC chairman sparked allegations of cronyism from Opposition political parties – Davies' wife Sue Nye was a private secretary of Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the pair are known to be good friends.

Defenders of the appointment pointed out that Gavyn Davies had been selected by a panel independent of Government.

Gavyn Davies wrote a weekly column on mathematics and statistics, Gavyn Davies does the maths, for The Guardian.

Gavyn Davies is a founding partner of Active Private Equity, Anthos Capital, and Prisma Capital Partners, as well as Chairman of Fulcrum Asset Management.