Financier who got Northern Rock rolling
The deal structure and turnround timetable for the lossmaking bank over the coming years are typical of Wilbur Ross’s investment approach
ARCHIVED
Northern Rock
Resources
Sir Richard Branson is taking nationalised bank Northern Rock back into private hands four years after its collapse triggered widespread panic across financial markets
More in this section
Branson makes pledge over ‘free’ banking
Virgin Money promises end to hidden costs as Sir Richard visits Newcastle branch of Northern Rock to celebrate £747m acquisition of the lender
Northern Rock delivers profit to taxpayer
Debt restructuring profits taxpayers
Minister sidesteps criticism of Virgin deal
Mark Hoban defends Northern Rock sale
Rock deal set to test Branson’s image
The entrepreneur claims to have sided with the underdogs from the start
Northern Rock cash used to fund deal
Virgin to extract up to £250m from the bank
Related content and features
Comment and Analysis
Oft-nude tycoon risks Northern exposure
The £747m extracted from nudity-loving Sir Richard Branson for Northern Rock by the decorously besuited Robin Budenberg is a reasonable one
Darling sees way out of venture saga
The chancellor’s main problem now is how to handle the disposal of the ‘good’ bank, with its branch network, depositors, secure mortgages and loyal base in the north-east
Overview casts cloud on chancellorship
Gordon Brown is spared a name-check in the national auditor’s scathing account of the nationalisation of Northern Rock, but the report will nevertheless deal a heavy blow to his legacy as chancellor
Chilling plausibility of bank’s ‘war game’
The holes in the UK’s strategy for dealing with the potential collapse of a big financial institution became glaringly apparent in late 2003
The Rock is a dangerous laboratory for bank policy
Having spent the best part of the past year reversing at high speed, the nationalised lender is now driving back into the mortgage market – but with Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown at the controls
More stories
