carl
Today Prolific London will be doing one of our deep-dives on one of the United Kingdom’s biggest media moguls Richard Desmond. Desmond’s career hasn’t been without controversy so this one should be quite an interesting read, and as usual, we have gathered all the information on the man who used to run the U.K. edition of Penthouse so you can digest it all in one place.
Desmond was born in Hampstead, London, and was raised in Edgware, North West London. He was the youngest of three children in a Jewish family with Latvian and Ukrainian roots. His father, Cyril, was a managing director of a cinema advertising company, but after losing his hearing and significant family money to gambling. His early life was challenging due to these issues, but it is said these challenges in his early life are what drove him to succeed and are also the bedrock of his trademark resilience in the world of business and publishing.
Early Career
Desmond left school at 15 and began his career in the classified advertisements section of the Thomson Group. Simultaneously, he played drums at gigs. His passion for music and advertising led him to found International Musician and Recording World magazine with Ray Hammond in the mid-1970s. By 21, Desmond owned two record shops. He later launched Home Organist magazine and eventually started Northern & Shell, which published OK! Magazine. OK! is a huge brand in the U.K. now and even has international recognition as the British tabloids are popular overseas, probably due to their harsh nature and love for gossip.
Involvement In Pornography
In one of his more controversial business moves (we did say he had some contrary in his career in the introduction) in 1982, Northern & Shell published the UK edition of Penthouse magazine, later moving on to publish a variety of pornographic magazines, including Asian Babes and Readers Wives. Desmond also ran a premium rate phone sex company until 1988 and launched The Fantasy Channel, which became Television X, one of the first pornographic channels available on UK satellite television. Desmond has since stepped away from this industry though as he sold his pornographic magazine business in 2004 to Remnant Media and ended his involvement in the pornographic television business in 2016, so it has almost been a decade now since he has had any involvement in the industry, but it is fair to say he made a large chunk of money from these businesses.
Express Newspapers And Other Ventures
In November 2000 Desmond made one of his biggest acquisitions when his company Northern & Shell acquired the Express Newspapers, which included the Daily Express and Sunday Express titles, among others. Desmond also bought Channel 5 in 2010 but he did not hold onto this asset for long and soon sold it to Viacom in 2014.
Controversies
Desmond has been involved in several controversies, including a scandal in 2020 when he pressured Robert Jenrick to approve a housing development, saving his company £40 million, although this decision was later overturned. He has also been linked to the New York mafia through business deals in the early 1990s, although he denies any wrongdoing in any of the accusations brought forward these links have never seemed to truly go away, although none of the links have been 100% proven either.
Charity Work & Politics
As well as his controversies Desmond does like to give back a bit and has been active in charity work for several years, forming the RD Crusaders with Roger Daltrey to raise money for various causes. He has served as president of the UK Jewish charity Norwood and has donated significantly to other charitable projects.
Desmond has supported various political causes and parties, including substantial donations to the UK Independence Party in the lead-up to the 2015 general election.
Present Day
As of the 2021 Sunday Times Rich List, Desmond was the 107th richest person in the UK, with significant wealth accumulated through his diverse business ventures. Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell group also returned to profitability in 2023 after posting significant losses in 2022. The group’s pre-tax profit in 2023 was £15.8 million, a notable turnaround from the previous year’s pre-tax loss of £101.5 million.
