Richard Livingstone (businessman)

Richard John Livingstone was born in November 1964[2] in the UK, the son of a dentist in Ealing, London. He was educated at St Paul's School, a leading private school.[3]

He trained as a chartered surveyor.[3] Together with his brother Ian, a former optometrist, they acquired the David Clulow opticians chain in 1992. They sold it in 2011 and are now primarily property developers.[4]

Many of their early developments were financed by Jacob Rothschild's merchant bank Dawnay Day, who Ian said "proved very supportive".[3]

Through their company London & Regional Properties, they own David Lloyd Leisure and luxury hotels including Cliveden House in Berkshire, Hilton Hotels in London's Green Park and Park Lane. They redeveloped Marks & Spencer's former headquarters at 55 Baker Street, which now houses the offices of Knight Frank, the accountant BDO Stoy Hayward, and London & Regional itself.[5]

As of 2015, together with Jaime Gilinski Bacal, they are developing the $700 million Panama Pacifico project in Panama City, Panama on the former Howard Air Force Base.[3] They are also reveloping the former Elizabeth House hotel near London's Waterloo station in a $930 million project.

In the 2014 Sunday Times Rich List, together with his brother Ian, they have an estimated net worth of £2.6 billion.[4]

In 1997, he married Claire Burns, the daughter of John Burns, who founded the Derwent London property group. They are now divorced.[3] He is Jewish.[3]

The Evening Standard notes that they are eager to avoid publicity and seek to lead a normal life for the sake of their children, and calls them "arguably the lowest-profile billionaire siblings in London" and "these most secretive of brothers".[3]