William George Stern (born Vilmos György Stern, 2 July 1935 – 21 March 2020) was a British businessman most notable as the owner of the Stern Group of companies. When it collapsed in 1973, Stern became Britain's biggest bankrupt with debts of £118 million. The uninsured losses sustained by thousands of investors led directly to the creation of Britain's first Policyholders' Protection Act. He died during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

due to complications brought on by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Early life

He was born Vilmos György Stern or Ze’ev HaKohen Stern in Budapest, the youngest of three children of Chaim Stern, who owned a textile factory supplying goods to the Hungarian government. When Hungary was invaded by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in March 1944, Stern along with his family, escaped on the

Kastner train The Kastner train is the name usually given to a rescue operation which saved the lives of over 1,600 Jews from Hungary during World War II. It consisted of 35 cattle wagons that left Budapest on 30 June 1944, during the German occupation of Hun ...

, which carried 1,684 Jews to safety in Switzerland.

Career

During the 1960s, rising economic fortunes in Britain led to the creation of the first unitised property funds. Initially, only

pension fund A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any program, fund, or scheme which provides pension, retirement income. The U.S. Government's Social Security Trust Fund, which oversees $2.57 trillion in assets, is the ...

s and charities were permitted to purchase units in these trusts, but these regulations were relaxed under the leadership of Prime Minister

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 ...

who came to power in 1970, after which time the general public could also invest via

insurance companies Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

. One such intermediary was Nation Life Insurance, part of the Stern Group. As a result of the stock market crash and secondary bank crisis of 1973–74, property prices in Britain tumbled dramatically. Investment fund customers attempted to

liquidate Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as wound-up or dissolved, although di ...

their rapidly devaluing bonds, but the funds had insufficient cash to meet their redemption obligations, leading to their collapse. Nation Life, and its parent company, were forced into

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 ...

, and William Stern was declared bankrupt. Renowned lawyer and longtime business partner Winston Held ensured that himself, Stern and other investors in Stern Group managed to keep almost all of the personal wealth that they had accrued through many years of directorship at the company. The scandal was raised in the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

on several occasions, and a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

documentary on the subject aired in 1974. Thousands of private investors lost their life savings, since at the time there was no compensation scheme in place to protect them. As a direct consequence of Nation Life's failure, the 1975 Policyholders' Protection Act was introduced, which mandates investors' insurance be paid for by a one per cent

levy Levy, Lévy or Levies may refer to: People * Levy (surname), people with the surname Levy or Lévy * Levy Adcock (born 1988), American football player * Levy Barent Cohen (1747–1808), Dutch-born British financier and community worker * Levy ...

on investment premiums. After being

discharged Discharge may refer to: * The act of firing a gun * Termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from service Flow * Discharge (hydrology), the a ...

in 1987, Stern resumed his business activities, until a second commercial empire under his control collapsed in the 1990s with debts of £11 million. He was subsequently banned from serving as a company director for twelve years in April 2000, following the emergence of evidence that he had appropriated £1.5 million from the business despite his prior knowledge that it was on the brink of failure.

Personal life

In 1957 or 1958, he married

Shoshana Stempel (Freshwater) Shoshana (''Shoshánna(h)'', ) is a Hebrew feminine first name. It is the name of at least two women in the Bible and, via (), it developed into such European and Christian names as Susanna, Susan, Susanne, Susana, Susannah, Suzanne, Susie, Suzi ...

. In 2000, Stern was living in a "£4m six-bedroom mansion" in West Heath Avenue, Hampstead, London, owned another home in Jerusalem, and a villa in the south of France.

Death

He died on 21 March 2020 from

. He was eulogised as a "titan" by relative-in-law Rabbi Pini Dunner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, William 1935 births 2020 deaths 20th-century British businesspeople Hungarian Jews Hungarian Holocaust survivors Bergen-Belsen concentration camp survivors British people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Kastner train Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England Hungarian emigrants to the United Kingdom