Richard Desmond

Richard Desmond

 

About Richard Desmond

According to Forbes Magazine, British publisher and businessman Richard Desmond has an estimated net worth of $1.9 billion as of March 2013. He is #792 in the World Billionaires List (#804 in 2012), and #25 in the United Kingdom. Born Richard Clive Desmond on December 8, 1954 in London, England, he was the son of the one time managing director of Pearl & Dean, a cinema advertising company.

Desmond began his business career when he dropped out of school at the age of 15 when he worked in the classified advertisements section of the Thomson Group. In 1974, he founded Northern & Shell which obtained a license in 1983 to publish Penthouse in the UK. With combined interest in music and advertising, he started his first magazine International Musician wherein he built a stable of titles. In 2000, he bought the British newspaper group Express that included the Daily and Sunday Express titles, the Daily Star and Daily Star Sunday, and the Irish Daily Star.

 In 1993, it had started publishing the celebrity weekly magazine Ok! He also owned more than 40 adult entertainment publications that he later sold in 2004. He still plans to buy more titles in the coming years.

Considered a British media magnate, Richard Desmond also bought Channel5, a UK terrestrial-television channel, on July 23, 2010. It airs Dallas, American Idol and Celebrity Big Brother. He also plans to add more children’s programming. He has also ventured in lottery with The Health Lottery.