87. James Matthews

james_matthews
Age 45
Occupation CEO, Eden Rock Group
Nationality British
Position Last Year New

James Matthews, a former racing driver and brother-in-law of Britain’s Prince William, was appointed to the board of the Williams Formula One team following the sale to U.S.-based Dorilton Capital.

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Matthews, chief executive of London-headquartered investment advisory firm Eden Rock Group, is married to Kate Middleton’s younger sister Pippa.

Williams Grand Prix Engineering said in a statement that Dorilton chairman Matthew Savage, Dorilton CEO and co-founder Darren Fultz and James Matthews will make up the company’s new Board of Directors.

Matthews is the eldest son of David Matthews, the son of a coal miner who made a fortune as a car dealer before going into the luxury hotel business. James’ father also owns the resort Eden Rock, St Barths and is also laird of a 10,000-acre Scottish estate, Glen Affric. James’ mother is a Zimbabwean born artist Jane Matthews (née Jane Spencer Parker), whose father was architect Robert Spencer ‘Spenny’ Parker. Jane Matthews was educated at London’s Slade School of Art. James is the older brother of Spencer Matthews, an actor on the scripted reality TV show Made in Chelsea.

The childhood of Matthews and his two brothers, Spencer and Michael, was split between Caunton Manor, the 18th-century manor house on his family’s 30-acre estate in Nottinghamshire, and Eden Rock, St Barths, the family’s luxury hotel on the French Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy. Another privately-owned home enjoyed by his family is the “castle-like” hunting lodge on their 10,000-acre Glen Affric Estate in Scotland. Matthews’ brother, Michael, died in 1999 in a mountaineering accident on Mount Everest, hours after becoming the youngest Briton to conquer the peak.

James Matthews and his brother Michael both boarded at Uppingham School, in Rutland, whereas Spencer boarded at Eton. James, however, skipped higher education to train as a securities trader at Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, now part of Goldman Sachs. In 1997 James Matthews moved to a finance house called Nordic Options Ltd, which de-merged from Spear, where he became a senior equity options trader.

As a racing driver, James Matthews has competed in such series as the British Formula 3 Championship. He won a record number of 11 rounds on his way to the British Formula Renault Championship title in 1994 for Manor Motorsport. Dominating both home and abroad, he added to that by winning the Eurocup Formula Renault in the same year.

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