Victor Chandler
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| Victor Chandler | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1951 |
| Education | Millfield School |
| Occupation | Bookmaker, Chairman, Victor Chandler International |
| Website | |
| www.victorchandler.com | |
Victor Chandler is chairman of the company that bears his name, Victor Chandler International.
Frequently styled ‘The Gentleman Bookmaker’,[1] in 2006 The Racing Post described Chandler as "arguably the most famous bookmaker in the world. He's the Indiana Jones of bookmaking, the fearless, swashbuckling rails layer who lit up Britain's racecourses for two decades....the gold prospector who excavated rich new revenue seams internationally, the visionary, the dashing pioneer who turned the industry inside out by upping and moving to Gibraltar in 1998."[2] Outside of the business arena, Chandler was described in The Mail on Sunday on 22 April 2007 as '...about as far as you can get from the traditional image of a bookie. Charming, modest and a gracious host, he has the air of an archetypal middle-aged English company chairman, and not a trilby in sight.'[3]
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[edit] Off-shore bookmaking
Victor Chandler is often credited as the first bookmaker to recognise the importance of online gambling, particularly online casinos and poker, as well as being the first to move his gaming business offshore.
In the early 1990s, Victor began to accept football wagers from far-eastern clients and, in doing so, he recognised the potential growth in foreign markets. He opened up an office in Antigua to enable these clients to bet without the need to pay UK tax.
In the UK, punters were required to pay a 9% betting tax but, in 1996, Chandler obtained a betting licence in Gibraltar and in 1999 moved his entire business there. Over the next decade the company grew quickly and he now employs over 30 people and is the largest private employer on the Rock. Victor Chandler has offered free betting from £5, and in 2001 the then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, announced that he was scrapping UK betting tax, a huge victory for punters.[4]
[edit] Horse ownership
Chandler has owned many racehorses over the past three decades in UK, South Africa & US. Following some success over the years Chandler formed a syndicate called "Men In Our Position" which owned the 2009 Cheltenham Triumph Hurdle winner Zaynar, trained by Nicky Henderson. Zaynar re-appeared on 21 November 2009 at Ascot Racecourse where he demolished a top-class field in winning the Coral Ascot Hurdle by 6 lengths as reported by the Racing Post. Zaynar was then aimed at the Champion Hurdle, for which he was one of the Ante-Post favourites for the race. After running a galant race Zaynar finished third in the race.
[edit] Personal wealth
In the 2009 Sunday Times rich list Chandler was ranked 362nd with a fortune estimated at £150 million,[5] falling from the previous year's estimation of £365 million.[6]
[edit] Lucien Freud friendship
In an article in The Observer in June 2008 Victor spoke of his friendship with the artist Lucian Freud,[7] including the portrait of Victor which Freud completed which was sold for £4.5m in 2006.[8]
[edit] Nottingham Forest
In July 2009 Victor Chandler agreed to become the main sponsor of Nottingham Forest Club [9] for a reported "significant six-figure fee". As part of his sponsorship he offered to pay for the following year's season tickets for Forest Fans who opened an online account should Forest win. Unfortunately no forest fans could afford transport to the matches in the upcoming season. At the time of the offer Forest were rated as 80/1 outsiders to win the league, but after an amazing run of 1 games undefeated, Forest were second in The Championship in January 2010 and Chandler claimed Forest winning the league would cost him approximately £6m.[10] After a poor March and April Forest's chances of winning the league receded and they instead qualified for the Football League play-offs where they were eliminated by Blackpool at the semi-final stage.
In March 2010 Victor Chandler announced a two-year extension to the Nottingham Forest sponsorship.
[edit] References
- ^ McDowell, Steve (2007) To the Victor the spoils London: Square Mile Magazine
- ^ http://midas.picdar.co.uk/cgi-bin/RP?MatchIndex=1&urn=718521033&Random=1288392024&FFAC=WM0000022791&searchid=2
- ^ Farmer, Duncan (2007) What's the odds on my £5m estate in Spain selling very quickly?. London: Mail on Sunday
- ^ "UK Will Slash Betting Tax". Tax-news.com. 2000-11-13. http://www.tax-news.com/archive/story/UK_Will_Slash_Betting_Tax_xxxx1200.html. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ^ Minette Marrin. "Search the Sunday Times Rich List 2009 | Times Online". London: Business.timesonline.co.uk. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/specials/rich_list/rich_list_search/?l=27&list_name=Rich+List+2009&advsearch=1&t=1&n=chandler&k=&x=0&y=0&a=&r=&g=&i=&new=#searchtop. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ^ Goodley, Simon (2008-05-17). "Victor Chandler: The man who calls the odds - Telegraph". London: Telegraph<!. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/05/17/ccprofile117.xml. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ^ Will Buckley (2008-06-15). "To Victor the spoils | Sport | The Observer". London: Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/jun/15/horseracing.sportinterviews. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ^ "Entertainment | Freud portrait could sell for £4m". BBC News. 2005-12-16. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4535090.stm. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | N | Nottm Forest | Forest announce sponsorship deal". BBC News. 2009-07-08. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/n/nottm_forest/8140637.stm. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ^ "News | Latest News | Latest News | Victor Chandler's Potential £6m Payout". Nottingham Forest. http://www.nottinghamforest.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10308~1833047,00.html. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
