Jeremy John Hosking (born 20 July 1958) is a British businessman and political donor. Ranked number 351 in the ''Sunday Times'' Rich List, with a net worth of £375 million, he is a shareholder in Crystal Palace and a noted

railway enthusiast A railfan, train fan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff, anorak (British English), gunzel (Australian English), trainspotter (British English) or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally in ...

. He has donated heavily to the

Reclaim Party The Reclaim Party is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was launched in 2020 by English political activist and actor Laurence Fox, with all of its funding from a single donor, Jeremy Hosking. It does not solicit d ...

Education and career

Hosking was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

and

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The colle ...

, where he studied geography. After graduating in 1979, he was a director and portfolio manager with GT Capital Management, dealing in southeast Asian investments. Hosking was a founding shareholder in

Marathon Asset Management Marathon Asset Management, LP is a hedge fund focused on opportunistic investing in credit and fixed income markets globally. Marathon manages a investments principally focused on hedge funds, managed accounts, single-client funds and collateral ...

, established in 1986. In 2012, Hosking set up

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

-listed asset manager Hosking & Co. Marathon Asset Management accused Hosking of breaching contractual and fiduciary duties while working there because he discussed plans for a new business with other employees. In 2015, Hosking was ordered to pay £1.38 million in damages, and a further £10.4 million; half of the profits Hosking received for the period between July and December 2012. Hosking unsuccessfully appealed, arguing profit shares could not be forfeited.

Private investments

In March 2011, Hosking bought Gravetye Manor, a

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

country house hotel, out of administration. In August 2010, Hosking was part of a four-man consortium that bought Crystal Palace out of

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

. On 18 December 2015, it was announced that American investors Josh Harris and

David Blitzer David Scott Blitzer (born September 7, 1969) is an American investor and sports team owner. Blitzer is the chairman of the private equity firm Blackstone's tactical opportunities division and managing partner of the New Jersey Devils ice hocke ...

had bought a major share holding in the club. Whilst Steve Parish continued as chairman alongside Harris and Blitzer, fellow CPFC 2010 investors Browett, Long and Hosking each retained a reduced 8% investment. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' reported that Hosking held over £100 million in investments in fossil fuels in 2024. Hosking was ranked number 351 in the ''Sunday Times'' Rich List, with a net worth of £375 million.

Railways

Hosking is a noted

, having purchased a number of main-line steam locomotives including 4464 ''Bittern'', 6024 ''King Edward I'', 6100 ''Royal Scot'', 60532 ''Blue Peter'' and 70000 ''Britannia'' and founded the

Royal Scot Locomotive and General Trust The Royal Scot Locomotive and General Trust (RSL>) is a charitable trust set up in 2009, to enable ownership and restoration to mainline running condition of the London Midland and Scottish Railway Royal Scot Class locomotive No. 6100 ''Royal ...

. In 2014, Hosking purchased the London & North Western Railway Heritage business from

Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, and television personality. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterman production and songwriting team, he co-wrote and co-produced many UK hit singles. An av ...

and took out a lease on Crewe Diesel TMD that became the base for heritage train operation Locomotive Services Limited in 2017. In 2016, Hosking purchased a 30% shareholding in the Dartmouth Steam Railway and in 2017 purchased the former

Hornby Railways Hornby Hobbies Limited is a British-owned scale model manufacturing company which has been focused on rail transport modelling, model railways. Its roots date back to 1901 in Liverpool, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccan ...

factory in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

to establish the One:One Collection museum.

Political activity

A long time Conservative Party donor, Hosking donated £1.7 million to

Vote Leave Vote Leave was a campaigning organisation that supported a "Leave" vote in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. On 13 April 2016 it was designated by the Electoral Commission as the official campaign in favour of leavi ...

in 2016 and supported pro-

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

candidates in the 2017 general election. In February 2019, Hosking submitted the paperwork to found a new party called Brexit Express, which would welcome Conservative Party MPs unhappy with

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

's Brexit plans. At the same time, he launched a public campaign in favour of a

no-deal Brexit A no-deal Brexit (also called a clean-break Brexit) was the potential Brexit, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) without a withdrawal agreement. Under Withdrawal from the European Union, Article 50 o ...

. Hosking has made major donations to the

Brexit Party Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has been Leader of Reform UK and Richard Tice deputy leader since 2024. It has five members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons and one membe ...

led by

Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage ( ; born 3 April 1964) is a British politician and broadcaster who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton (UK Parliament constituency), Clacton and Leader of Reform UK since 20 ...

. He became the founding donor to the

led by

Laurence Fox Laurence Paul Fox (born 26 May 1978) is an English actor and right-wing political activist. A member of the British entertainment industry's Fox family, he graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and debuted in the film '' The Hole'' ...

. In the first quarter of 2021, he gave the Reclaim Party more than £1,000,000 in cash and services. In December 2021, newspapers reported he would continue to fund the Reclaim Party. Hosking is listed in the Parliamentary

register of interests A Register of Interests is a record kept, usually by a government body, of financial interests of its members. The register documents interests which may potentially unethically or unlawfully influence members' official duties. The term is in us ...

as having donated legal services to

Andrew Bridgen Andrew James Bridgen (born 28 October 1964) is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Leicestershire (UK Parliament constituency), North West Leicestershire from ...

to the value of £4,470,576.42 in December 2023, "the costs of which will be repaid to the donor on an interest-free basis."

Personal life

Hosking has been married to Elizabeth since 1993; they co-own Gravetye Manor after spending their wedding night there and becoming long-standing guests.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hosking, Jeremy 1958 births Living people Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge British businesspeople British Eurosceptics British people associated with Heritage Railways Conservative Party (UK) donors Private equity and venture capital investors Reclaim Party Right-wing populists in the United Kingdom Reform UK donors People educated at Rugby School