A billionaire with a private jet and homes in London, Hertfordshire, the South of France and Monaco, he was – at least at first glance – an inspired choice by David Cameron to be the Tories’ new joint treasurer.
But many senior Tories warned when he was appointed last June that it would end in tears.
There is no doubt he has the Midas touch, having transformed his internet-based financial services company CMC Markets, which he launched in 1989 with only £10,000, into an international success story. It employs hundreds of people as far afield as Australia, Canada and China.
But the no-nonsense, straight-talking style of Mr Cruddas, 58, is not for the faint-hearted. He prides himself on his Del Boy-style ‘cockney geezer’ background. His favourite catchphrase is: ‘I am just a plain meat-two-veg-and-gravy sort of man.’
His lifestyle, however, is far from plain. He wears designer suits, buys identical pairs of fine Italian shoes so that he can put them in all his houses, and always wears a £250,000 limited edition platinum Zenith watch – just one of 15 similar watches that he boasts he owns.
There are Bentleys and Porsche Cayenne turbos on his various driveways. His main home, a £10million apartment on Monaco’s Avenue de Spélugues, enjoys one of Monte Carlo’s swankiest addresses close to the legendary casino. Read on and comment » | Andrew Pierce | Sunday, March 25, 2012
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