Mirror-Express deal: How colourful mogul Richard Desmond became an unlikely housewives’ choice
Even in a media world rife with clashing egos, Richard Desmond has always stood out as colourful.
Leaving school at 15, he started work as a classified advertising salesman.
He bought Express Newspapers from United News & Media in 2000 for £125 million. A bid for the Telegraph Group in 2004 saw him mock a rival bid from a German group using Nazi gestures and describe then Telegraph chief executive Jeremy Deedes as a “miserable little piece of shit”.
His adult titles, which included Asian Babes, Horny Housewives and Big Ones, were sold to Remnant Media in 2004 for £10 million.
The Sunday Times Rich list of 2016 put his wealth at £2.25 billion, making him the 48th richest person in Britain. He bought Channel 5 in 2010 and sold it to Viacom in 2014 for £463 million.
On the Channel 5 deal, journalist Tom Bower wrote at the time: “Never before has a government regulator (Ofcom) lowered the threshold for the suitability of the prospective owner of a TV channel enough for someone like Desmond to control a potentially lucrative franchise.”
