John David Caudwell was born on 7 October 1952 and is an English billionaire businessman who founded the now defunct mobile phone retailer Phones 4u.
20 Facts About John Caudwell
1.
2.
John Caudwell invests in fashion, property and other industries, and chairs Caudwell Children, a children's charity, and Caudwell LymeCo, promoting chronic Lyme disease beliefs in the UK.
3.
John Caudwell was born in Birmingham but moved with his family as a baby to Stoke-on-Trent and raised in Wellesley Street in Shelton, Staffordshire, and with his brother Brian attended Shelton Church of England School, and then Berry Hill High School.
4.
John Caudwell's father had a stroke when Caudwell was 14 and died four years later.
5.
John Caudwell abandoned his A-levels to become an apprentice at Michelin, and worked for several years there as an engineering foreman while gaining a HNC in mechanical engineering.
6.
John Caudwell made a loss every month for the first two years of operations.
7.
John Caudwell was the owner of the South African F1 Powerboat racing team John Caudwell Racing which competed in the championship between the 2012 and the 2014 seasons.
8.
John Caudwell Racing did not return for the 2015 season, having folded the previous year without completing the season.
9.
In 1999, John Caudwell was appointed as the president of the North Staffordshire branch of the NSPCC, and became the regional representative for the Full Stop campaign.
10.
In October 2012, John Caudwell was one of three principal private donors for the London's Bomber Command Memorial Appeal.
11.
John Caudwell has contributed to the Prince's Regeneration Trust, Marie Curie, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Ark, Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Carers Trust, amongst others.
12.
John Caudwell donates to the NSPCC, and undertakes regular 1,000-mile charity bike rides to raise funds for many children's charities.
13.
John Caudwell gave interviews stating that he and many other wealthy individuals would leave the UK if the Labour Party gained power and increased taxes.
14.
In 2022, in response to the Westminster lockdown parties controversy, Caudwell expressed concerns with the Conservative party under Boris Johnson's leadership.
15.
John Caudwell is reported to be a proud Brexiteer, alongside a number of other British billionaires.
16.
John Caudwell then had a brief relationship with violinist Jane Burgess, with whom he had a daughter.
17.
John Caudwell was then in a long-term relationship with former model Claire Johnson for 15 years, with whom he has a son.
18.
In 2015, John Caudwell claimed that 11 family members including himself, his ex-wife Kate McFarlane, their two daughters and their son had been diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease, a noted pseudoscience belief.
19.
In 2018, John Caudwell pledged to donate more than one million pounds in order to help fund Lyme disease research, on the condition that the NHS would be able to match his investment.
20.
John Caudwell's partner since 2015 is Lithuanian born former Olympic cyclist Modesta Vzesniauskaite.