Paul Taylor
From Taighde
| Paul Taylor | |
|---|---|
| Company: | Three Delta |
| Current Position: | Manager and CEO
|
| Current Government Position: | None
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| Last Company: | Rotch Property Group
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| Nationality: | English
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| Date of Birth: | 19/10/1962
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Paul Taylor is CEO of Three Delta.
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Biographical Information
Paul Vincent Taylor was born on 19/10/1962, and grew up in a rough part of South London. While young, he was placed in a low-achieving class in school from which the headmaster said nothing good would ever come; it is believed that the name "Three Delta" comes from the nickname of this class. Now a very successful man, his rise out of disadvantage to become a millionaire is a source of personal pride.
Taylor went to work as a bricklayer at age 16; after a couple of years he decided to try his hand at banking and got a job as a cashier at NatWest in its East Sheen branch. He showed an immediate talent with money, and over the course of the next 17 years he worked his way up the ladder, eventually earning the position of Head of Structured Finance.
Taylor is described as "not humble" and it is said that "he can be quite arrogant." A former colleague said he is "strong-willed, a hard City dealer, pushy and aggressive." He has a penchant for Bentleys, and at the annual property conference in the south of France, Taylor displays his wealth by renting a large yacht and hosting lavish parties. He also is known to bid on items at charity auctions, including a dealing jacket that once belonged to disgraced trader Nick Leeson, for which Taylor reportedly paid £21,000.
Paul Taylor is married to Earleen, a former Concorde stewardess. Despite his flashiness in the south of France, Taylor is regarded as a private man, and is rarely even photographed. Before forming Three Delta and making waves with the Sainsbury deal, his name was not widely known.
Business History
Today Taylor is the manager of Three Delta. Previously, Taylor spent six years at Rotch Property Group Limited as Chief Executive, where he was considered the right-hand man of Robert Tchenguiz and Vincent Tchenguiz. When the Tchenguiz brothers split Rotch in 2001, Taylor went with Vincent to the Consensus Business Group, where he served as chief executive for six years. He left Consensus, reportedly on amicable terms, in March 2006 to form Three Delta. Before taking the position at Rotch in 2000, he was the head of UK Structured Finance at NatWest.
Three Delta
When Taylor formed Three Delta in March 2006, he brought a handful of people over with him from Consensus. He hired 16 people at the outset, and rounded up a small group of notable non-executive directors (Sir Peter Middleton, Sir Christopher Howes, and Nick Land). He commenced working full-time with initial capital from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani, the Prime Minister of Qatar, and the Qatar Investment Authority he controls.
In the company's early months it made noise by acquiring for £1.4 billion the Four Seasons health care group, and then by acquiring for £150 million the Senad Group.
In February 2007, Three Delta subsidiary Delta Two bought a one-percent stake in Sainsbury's, drawing some measure of attention. At the same time, Robert Tchenguiz was building up a 10% stake of his own in the company. Rumors of a takeover began circulating, and Taylor and Delta Two continued to increase their stake.
For details of the takeover bid and collapse, please see the main Sainsbury page.
Relationship with Qatar
Taylor essentially works full-time for the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) through his Three Delta company, advising them on their investments in the UK and on the continent. He is good friends with the Prime Minister, Sheik Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani; they speak with each other every day. Their business is structured so that the QIA invests in Delta Commercial, which is "advised" by Three Delta. Everything is controlled by Sheikh Hamad and Taylor.
