Using the proceeds of the sale of their parent’s department
store in New Zealand, brothers Christopher and Richard Chandler began investing
in the Hong Kong property market in the mid- eighties. With their wealth
increasing, they invested in Latin America and eastern Europe in later years. Through
their investment firm Sovereign Global they became billionaires.
In 2006, the brothers
amicably
split their $3.5 billion company.
Christopher named his new investment firm Legatum Capital (legatum
meaning bequest in Latin) while Richard named his own investment company Orient
Global. Both brothers are low profile
and not well- known even in their native New Zealand.
Christopher
as of late has taken the socially sustainable path of entrepreneurship
investing in such areas as microfinance. He also has a philanthropic bend seeding the
$100 million END fund which aims to eradicate tropical diseases in Sub-Saharan
Africa. In 2008, he established in Boston, the Legatum Centre for Development
and Entrepreneurship in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
The scholars in this centre are not aiming to get well-paid
jobs but to establish businesses that will help the poor in developing
countries. The centre was conceived and is headed by Iqbal Quadir the man who
established a $4 billion company called Grameenphone in Bangladesh which allows
cell phone owners to sell minutes of air time to others.
Christopher Chandler may be reclusive but the way he is
using his wealth speaks volumes of his character and values.
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