John Charman
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John R Charman (born 1953) is an English businessman, who has made his career in insurance. He is currently CEO and chairman at
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based Endurance Specialty Insurance Ltd, which has been bought by Sompo Holding (Japan ) in March 2017. He is currently the Executive Chairman of the Sompo Board of Directors. Nicknamed "King of the London Insurance Market", Charman was described as "famously strong-willed and opinionated" by the
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.Charman speech – OneLimeStreet
Charman is ranked in the top 100 people in the global finance industry; inside the top ten richest people in the
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; and 321st overall in the 2004
Sunday Times Rich List The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and has been published as a magazine supplement by British national ...
. In August 2006 in what is believed to be the largest sum awarded to an English wife in a contested case, Charman was ordered to pay his ex-wife by the
High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...
a sum of £48 million. It beat the £30 million awarded to WPP Group chief executive
Martin Sorrell Sir Martin Stuart Sorrell (born 14 February 1945) is a British businessman and the founder of WPP plc, the world's largest advertising and PR group, both by revenue and the number of staff. Sorrell was the longest-serving chief executive of a ...
's ex-wife in 2005 after their 32-year marriage ended in divorce.LawFuel – The Law News Network


Career

Charman made his fortune in the 1990, during the 1991
Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
, offering war risk insurance on a 24-hour basis. Charman was the chief executive officer of Tarquin plc (a joint venture company among Insurance Partners,
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and the Charman Group), the parent company of the Charman Underwriting Agencies at
Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is a insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gover ...
. He was also a deputy chairman of the Council of Lloyd's and a member of the Lloyd's Core Management Group and Lloyd's Market Board between 1995 and 1997. Nicknamed "King of the London Insurance market", Charman earned the loathing of employees by banning entertainment of clients in company time, and refusing to indulge in long business lunches himself. One critic claimed Charman was so intimidating that colleagues ''"half-expect the theme from
The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
to greet him as he arrives at his office."'' In 2002 Axis settled out of court with a woman who claimed Charman barred her from a meeting, saying: ''"We are discussing something we decided when you were having babies."'' Charman made more money when he sold Tarquin/Charman Underwriting Agencies for £350 million in 1998 to the Bermuda-based ACE International Group, receiving £70.6 million in ACE shares. Charman was made chief executive officer at ACE Global Markets (the merger of Charman Underwriting and assets of ACE), and in January 2001 was named group president and chief executive officer of
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based ACE International Group, but left the company in March 2001 due to personal differences. He was paid £3,597,241 in lieu of notice, and £500,000 in a one-off pension contribution. Charman immediately set up
AXIS Capital AXIS Capital Holdings Limited is the holding company for AXIS group of companies. It offers various risk transfer products and services through subsidiaries and branch networks in Bermuda, the United States, Canada, Europe and Singapore. The c ...
, a
Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...
-based reinsurance and insurance business with offices in London,
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, Zurich and New York that is listed on the
NYSE The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
. The company aimed to cash in on the surge in insurance premiums after the 11 September terrorist attacks. In the financial year 2005 he was paid $7,741,762, and had stock options of $42,027,204 in Axis. Charman has informed the company that he will retire at the end of December 2008, he finally left Axis in 2012. In May 2013 he became CEO and Chairman of Endurance Specialty Holdings, another NYSE-listed, Bermuda-based reinsurance and insurance business with offices in Bermuda, London, Singapore, Zurich, New York and other locations. He invested $30'000'000 of his private fortune in Endurance at the beginning of his tenure.


Divorce

Charman met his ex-wife Beverly in 1969 at school. When they married in 1976, neither had significant resources and the couple lived initially in her parents' home, and then in his mother's home in
Strood Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in Kent, South East England. Strood forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Kent, Chatham, Rochester, Kent, Rochester, Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham and Rainham, Kent, Rainham. It ...
near Rochester, Kent. The couple eventually moved to
Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...
, where they bought a home now worth £2.75 million. The couple have two children: Nicholas (born 1981) and Michael (born 1986). As Charman's wealth built, the couple created the Bermuda-based Dragon Trust in 1987, which by 2006 had grown to a value of £65 million. The aim of the trust was according to Charman in his court papers agreed by the couple to preserve wealth for future generations. After failing to secure a new house in England, in November 2003 Charman told his
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wife that he was taking up permanent residence in
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and that their marriage was over. He has since set up home in a £2.1 million home in Bermuda, and has started a relationship with another woman, and American by the name of Lorraine Stapleton, to whom he is now married. Charman initially offered his ex-wife their home in Sevenoaks plus £6 million cash, but Mrs Charman, who was represented by Helen Ward, of Manches, argued that the length of the marriage together with her substantial contributions did not justify such a significant departure from equality. Charman eventually offered his wife a package valued at £20 million. However, his wife still believed that the sum was not enough, and appealed the sum through the UK legal process, declaring the assets of the couple in her legal papers as: * £52.8 million in her husband's sole name * £5.4 million in her sole name * £2.1 million in their joint names * £64.6 million in the Dragon Trust Mrs Charman also declared that a separate £25 million trust catered for the needs of their sons, and so therefore Dragon Trust was an asset under the control of Charman. On 2 August 2006, Mr Justice Coleridge decreed in the
High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...
that a fair settlement would involve Charman giving his wife around 37 per cent of his assets, which would involve not only agreeing transfer of assets worth £8 million already under his wife's control, but also an additional one-off lump sum of £40 million. In his written judgement, Mr Justice Coleridge said: ''"The husband is genuinely bemused that the wife should regard his £20 million offer as anything other than reasonable, even generous. Her refusal to compromise on his terms has led him to deploy every available point to protect what he regards as his wealth generated entirely by his efforts. In the narrow, old-fashioned sense, that perspective is understandable, if somewhat anachronistic. Nowadays it must attract little sympathy."'' Charman said: "This judgement is poor and blatantly discriminatory. By any reasonable standards this is an extraordinary decision. I made a fair and open offer to my wife of £20 million, which would be impossible for any reasonable person to spend in their lifetime." Charman later commented that he would be launching an immediate appeal, calling the High Court award "grotesque and unfair". In review, the amount of 37% was slightly less than the wife received in White v White, the House of Lords case in 2000. That case established the principle that for long marriages the courts should begin their deliberations on how to divide marital assets from the standpoint of a 50:50 split between husband and wife, regardless of who earned the money. Charman began selling shares in Axis on the NYSE to meet the interim legal arrangements, prior to his appeal. If required to complete full payment, then it is calculated that he will need to sell off his shares in Axis. Charman and his representatives, Withers, mounted a high-profile media campaign, arguing that White and subsequent decisions are discriminatory towards wealthy husbands. Charman and his legal team have been widely quoted in the British press. On 9 March 2007, Mrs Charman was tied up and robbed of jewellery worth £300,000 at her home, in an incident police believe could have been motivated by the press coverage the case has attracted.


Court of Appeal

In a judgment handed down on 24 May 2007, the Court of Appeal dismissed John Charman's appeal against the award of £48 million made to his wife Beverley. The Court reviewed the law as it stood at the end of May 2006 following the judgment of the House of Lords in the combined cases of Miller and McFarlane, interpreting and refining the guidance provided by the judgments in those cases. The Court has provided clarity in a number of areas connected with the distribution of assets on divorce, particularly in three aspects: * The treatment of trust assets * Guidance on the principles which apply when redistributing wealth between parties, particularly that property should be shared in equal proportions unless there is a good reason to depart from equality * Guidance on the concept of a special contribution which either party can be found to have made to a marriage and how that should be quantified when redistributing assets on divorce The Court has also called for a far-reaching review and reform of the law in this area in England and Wales. Helen Ward of Manches, who has represented Mrs Charman throughout these proceedings, said, "This is a significant judgment and brings welcome clarity to a number of important aspects of the law relating to the distribution of assets on divorce." "The Solicitors profession will positively embrace the Court's suggestion for a broad review and reform in this area to create modern law reflecting today's modern society."


Statement from Beverley Charman in response to Court of Appeal judgment

"I acknowledge that the sum awarded to me is huge by any standards but the Court of Appeal has decided that it fairly reflects the contributions made by John and me during our twenty eight-year marriage. The breakdown of our marriage has been a painful experience for all concerned. Our divorce proceedings started nearly three years ago. It has been a difficult time, not just for me but for our family. I have been particularly concerned for our sons who have had to bear the discussion in public of our lives, our marriage and our divorce. I am relieved that the appeal is over and I hope that John and I can now concentrate on building our new lives."BBC
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References


External links


Bio of John Charman
at
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.com
Guardian report on High Court settlementBloomberg.com report on High Court settlement
plus information on other significant UK divorce cases

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charman, John 1953 births Living people People from Strood British businesspeople British people of the Gulf War