{"id":508481,"date":"2026-04-02T06:29:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T06:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/508481\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T06:29:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T06:29:07","slug":"chris-rokos-the-camera-shy-billionaire-behind-the-biggest-uk-university-donation-in-modern-times-university-of-cambridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/508481\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Rokos: the camera-shy billionaire behind the biggest UK university donation in modern times | University of Cambridge"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Chris Rokos decided to donate a record \u00a3190m<\/a> to the University of Cambridge to set up a \u201cschool of government\u201d this week, it became the latest mega project carried out in the hedge fund billionaire\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

The publicity-shy tycoon has spent much of the last decade presiding over one of England\u2019s most expensive home renovations ever, of the 200-room Tottenham House mansion near Marlborough in Wiltshire, adding a tennis pavilion and private cinema in the \u00a3175m revamp<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, a new challenge begins. After making the single biggest donation to any UK university in modern times<\/a>, the Oxford University graduate will lend his name to the project at its Boat Race rival.<\/p>\n

The donation comes after he amassed an estimated \u00a32.6bn fortune, largely from Rokos Capital Management (RCM), which he launched in 2015.<\/p>\n

He said the school would focus on the crossovers in policy, science and emerging technologies, with academics from all backgrounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this school were populated only by people with centrist, socially liberal views like me, then the school will have failed,\u201d said Rokos in a video released by the university. \u201cWe need a broad diversity of thought and intellectual viewpoints.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rokos, 55, went to a state primary school before being offered a scholarship to Eton college and achieved a first at Oxford. He credits the \u201copportunity of education\u201d for setting him on the path to become one of the UK\u2019s richest individuals.<\/p>\n

After university, he entered banking, joining UBS before moving to Goldman Sachs, working on complex financial instruments \u2013 first derivative structuring, then swap market making and eventually proprietary trading.<\/p>\n

However, it was a move to Credit Suisse that would set him on the path to star trader status.<\/p>\n

Hired by Alan Howard, he was among a group of traders who left to set up their own asset management business, called Brevan Howard, in 2002.<\/p>\n

Over the next decade he reportedly made $4bn (\u00a33bn) in profits for investors and around \u00a3600m for himself by the time he left in 2012.<\/p>\n

Rokos, a former Tory party donor who is one of the UK\u2019s biggest taxpayers<\/a>, set up a family office in Mayfair, but the desire to return to trading resulted in a legal dispute with his former employer over a five-year non-compete clause.<\/p>\n

An out-of-court settlement allowed him to launch RCM 11 years ago, and it has become one of the most successful so-called macro firms, making bets on macroeconomic trends.<\/p>\n

RCM manages more than \u00a322bn and employs 350 people, with offices in London, New York, Singapore and Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

Rokos \u2013 one of the most successful hedge fund managers of his generation \u2013 paid himself almost \u00a3500m<\/a> in the year to the end of March, according to Companies House filings, as RCM performed strongly amid volatile markets.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, it emerged RCM was in talks to hire Peter Mandelson in an advisory role.<\/a> The recent revelations regarding the extent of the former UK business secretary\u2019s ties to the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein put paid to the talks.<\/p>\n

While Rokos has studiously attempted to stay out of the limelight \u2013 when he launched a new \u00a3500m fund in 2007 he even refused to release a photo of himself to accompany promotional literature \u2013 his divorce court battle lifted the lid on the lifestyle of the uber-wealthy.<\/p>\n

His marriage to Veronica Antonio ended following a separation agreement in 2009 but was not finalised until 2016 in a court action that made headlines<\/a> for the annual budget<\/a> submitted by Antonio.<\/p>\n

It included a claim of \u00a310,555 for wine, costing of an average of \u00a350 per bottle, and \u00a320,000 per year on clothing and toys for the couple\u2019s child.<\/p>\n

More recently, Rokos has crossed swords with the local council over the extensive work on Tottenham House, the historic Grade I-listed mansion formerly owned by Lord Cardigan.<\/p>\n

As well as a basement squash court and picture gallery, the plans proposed a \u201csubterranean family link\u201d between the main house, stables and a planned pool house.<\/p>\n

The grandiose renovation at the property in the Savernake Forest, which at times had 500 tradespeople on site, will serve as a lasting reminder of Rokos\u2019s vast wealth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Chris Rokos decided to donate a record \u00a3190m to the University of Cambridge to set up a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-508481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}