Chris Hohn’s life story is a classic one of rags to riches. His father was a car mechanic while his mother was a secretary. His brilliant mind ensured that he sailed through Harvard Business School.
Chris Hohn’s stock picking skills were honed, first at Apax Partners, and then at Perry Capital. He started his own fund, The Children’s Investment Fund, in 2003. Within a short period of time, Chris Hohn had amassed huge wealth.
Chris met Jamie Cooper at Harvard. They married in 1995 and went on to have four children. The marriage broke apart in 2003, when Chris filed for divorce.
In the divorce court, Chris raised an ingenious argument to deny Jamie Cooper’s claim to half his wealth. He claimed that he is endowed with special skills and that he is an “unbelievable money maker”. He argued that as Jamie Cooper had not contributed to the wealth, she could only claim a fourth of it under UK law.
However, unfortunately for Chris Hohn, the Court awarded Jamie Cooper a record breaking settlement of $530M (INR 3200 Cr). The bigger worry for him is that Jamie Cooper has indicated that she will appeal for a larger settlement.
In the Indian context, Chris Hohn’s activist instincts were aroused and he got Children Investment Management Fund to wage war with the behemoth Coal India on the ground that the Government was “illegally interfering” with the functioning of the company. However, the suit filed by the Fund was misconceived because the government interference in the functioning of Coal India was listed as a “risk factor” in the IPO prospectus. The Fund soon realized its folly and sold off its holding its Coal India after four years of holding.
The Children Investment Management Fund does not appear to be very active in the Indian stock market. Its only notable investment is in Rain Industries where it holds stock worth Rs. 24 crore.
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