Rupert Hambro

Rupert Hambro was born on 27 June 1943.[1] His father, Jocelyn Hambro, was chair of Hambros Bank from 1965 to 1972.[2] His mother was Ann Silvia Muir.[2] His paternal great-grandfather, Carl Joachim Hambro, was a Danish emigrant to England who founded the Hambros Bank.[2]

He was educated at Eton College.[1] He studied at the University of Aix-en-Provence in Aix-en-Provence, France.[1][2]

Hambro started his career at Peat Marwick Mitchell Co., which later merged with KPMG, from 1962 to 1964.[1]

He joined the family business, Hambros Bank, in 1964.[1] He served on its board of directors from 1969 to 1986, and as its chairman from 1983 to 1986.[1][3][4][5] In 1986, he co-founded J.O. Hambro Capital Management, a mergers and acquisitions investment firm, with his father and two brothers.[3][5] He was also the owner of the private equity firm, Hambro & Partners.[3][5]

He was Chairman of Woburn Enterprises, which includes the Woburn Safari Park, the Woburn Abbey, golf courses and hotels.[3] He also served on the Boards of Directors of Anglo American plc, the Telegraph Group and the Sedgwick Group.[4] In 1976, he served on the board of directors of the White Pass and Yukon Corporation Ltd., which owns a railway on the White Pass and Yukon Route in Canada.[6]

He was Chairman of Cazenove & Loyd, a luxury travel agency, from 2003.[3] Additionally, he was Chairman of Theo Fennell PLC and Chairman of Sipsmith from 2009.[3] He served on the Supervisory Board of Bank Gutmann.[3][7] He also served as the Chairman of Robinson Hambro, a recruitment agency for corporate directors, since 2010.[3]

On 4 November 2013, Hambro incorporated Hambro Perks Ltd. with Dominic Perks and was a director of the company.[8]

He wrote in The Spectator.[9]

According to The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020 his net worth was estimated at £151 million.[10]

He died on 19 February 2021 at the age of 77 after a long illness.[11]

Hambro was the Treasurer of the National Art Collections Fund from 1991 to 2003.[3] He was the Chairman of the Museum of London Docklands from 1995 to 2008.[3]

He served as the Chairman of The Silver Trust from 1988 and Vice Patron of the Royal British Society of Sculptors from 1997.[3][12] He served on the Council of the Royal College of Art from 2010,[3] and he was an Honorary Fellow of the University of Bath.[5] Additionally, he served as the Chairman of the Development & Strategy Board of the Zoological Society of London since 2011.[3] He served on the board of trustees of the Wallace Collection.[3]

He served on the advisory board of Open Europe, a think tank which promotes reform within the European Union, from 2006.[3] He was a Knight of the Order of the Falcon of Iceland.[3]

He was appointed CBE in the 2014 Birthday Honours for charitable services.

Hambro married Mary Boyer (Robin) in 1970.[2] Robin Hambro is an American-born philanthropist, former London Editor of American Vogue who is on the International Best Dressed List.[13] They have a son, Jonathan, and a daughter, Flora.[2]

He was a member of White's, the Groucho Club and The Walbrook Club in the City of London as well as the Jupiter Island Club in Hobe Sound, Florida.[1]