David Barclay

Sir David Barclay, one half of the British billionaire twins known as the Barclay Brothers, died January 12 2021 after a “short illness” his newspaper The Daily Telegraph has announced. Sir David, 86, and his twin brother Sir Frederick Barclay are best-known in the U.K. as the secretive, and lately estranged, billionaires behind a string of upmarket hotels including—at various times—The Ritz and Claridges, alongside other media, retail, and home delivery interests. The British businessmen known best as owners of the Yodel delivery service, The Daily Telegraph and Spectator magazine, alongside the Very retail group and, until recently, London’s Ritz Hotel, have seen their dirty laundry aired to the world. The identical twins sold their InterContinental Hotel Group shares last year, then bought a 25% stake in the London firm Maybourne, parent company of the luxury Berkeley, Claridge's and Connaught hotels. Started together in the accounts department at General Electric, flipped houses and purchased first hotel in 1975. Their empire also includes the Telegraph Newspaper Group, and U.K.'s largest online retailer, Shop Direct Group. Own private isle of Breqhou; significant investments on neighboring Sark. David offered the Sark's Seigneur, or head, £2 million last year to buy the island but was turned down.