Hedge fund billionaire Sir Christopher Hohn faces defeat in LSE battle
Hedge fund billionaire Sir Christopher Hohn looks set to suffer an embarrassing defeat this week, as shareholders in the London Stock Exchange are expected to vote against his attempts to topple the chairman.
Hohn, who heads up The Children’s Investment Fund (TCI), has forced the LSE to hold a shareholder meeting to vote on whether to oust Donald Brydon this Tuesday.
A number of large shareholders – including BlackRock – have indicated they will support Brydon, making victory for Hohn highly unlikely. He is now planning to crank up the pressure to oust the chairman at the LSE’s annual general meeting next spring.
Set for defeat: Christopher Hohn of The Children's Investment Fund
TCI is also understood to have asked the LSE’s interim chief executive, David Warren, for a meeting either this week or in early January. Hohn wanted to unseat Brydon and to reinstate Xavier Rolet as the Stock Exchange’s chief executive.
Rolet initially announced plans to step down in 2018. Following an intervention by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, he resigned with immediate effect last month.
It would take a 50 per cent vote to force Brydon out. Having previously been confident of achieving this, Hohn is now understood to be hoping for a strong protest vote.
Other shareholders are reluctant to oust the chairman due to the risk it would leave the Stock Exchange rudderless when it has just parted with its chief executive.
The Treasury yesterday said it would speed up a project to tie the London Stock Exchange to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, helping investors access both markets, as part of wider plans to build up economic relations with China.
Most watched Money videos
- German car giant BMW has released the X2 and it has gone electric!
- How to invest to beat tax raids and make more of your money
- Would you retire abroad for cheaper living costs?
- MG unveils new MG3 - Britain's cheapest full-hybrid car
- Iconic Dodge Charger goes electric as company unveils its Daytona
- Aston Martin unveils new Vantage sports car capable of 202mph
- Pair of rare 1980s Ford Sierra RS500 Coswotths head to auction
- Mini unveil an electrified version of their popular Countryman
- The new Volkswagen Passat - a long range PHEV that's only available as an estate
- Steve McQueen featured driving famous stunt car in 'The Hunter'
- BMW's Vision Neue Klasse X unveils its sports activity vehicle future
- Skoda reveals Skoda Epiq as part of an all-electric car portfolio
- No one should expect sympathy when the crypto bubble...
- Cost of Baltimore bridge disaster will run into multi...
- Thames Water shareholders refuse £500m lifeline plea
- My friends say I'm a shopaholic but I'm 34, single and...
- Insurers are STILL stinging drivers by undervaluing...
- Insurance market Lloyd's of London toasts best result 'in...
- Spirent ditches Vivai as Keysight gatecrashes deal with...
- Competition watchdog clears Aviva's £460m acquisition of...
- Dividend hero SAINT's manager on the best shares for...
- BUSINESS LIVE: Crypto fraudster SBF handed 25-year prison...
- EnQuest posts another loss after hit from oil and gas...
- William Hill owner 888 agrees to flog assets as it...
- AO World shares surge as online retailer electronics...
- My blood boils when I hear critics say Waspi women should...
- The turning of the tide for luxury e-commerce? Shoppers...
- Superdry founder Julian Dunkerton ends his pursuit of the...
- Interest rate cuts still 'a long way off' despite falling...
- Disgraced crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25...