Vere Harmsworth, 3rd Viscount Rothermere

Vere Harold Esmond Harmsworth, 3rd Viscount Rothermere (27 April 1925 – 1 September 1998), known as Vere Harmsworth until 1978, was a British newspaper magnate. He controlled large media interests in the United Kingdom and United States.

The Right Honourable

The Viscount Rothermere
Born(1925-04-27)27 April 1925
Died1 September 1998(1998-09-01) (aged 73)
NationalityBritish
EducationEton College, Eton, Berkshire, England
Kent School, Kent, Connecticut, United States
OccupationPublisher
TitleThe 3rd Viscount Rothermere
Spouse(s)Patricia Evelyn Beverley Matthews (1957–1992)
Maiko Jeong Shun Lee (1993–1998)
ChildrenGeraldine Theodora Gabriel Harmsworth
Camilla Patricia Caroline Harmsworth
Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere
Parent(s)The 2nd Viscount Rothermere & Margaret Hunam Redhead

Business life

Rothermere became the Chairman of Associated Newspapers in 1970, taking over from his father Esmond Cecil Harmsworth, 2nd Viscount Rothermere, who had Alzheimer's disease. He was responsible for the relaunch of the Daily Mail as a tabloid, after which its circulation increased greatly under editor Sir David English. He may also be considered the founder of The Mail on Sunday.[1][2] After the death of his father in 1978, he also became chairman of parent company Daily Mail and General Trust plc (DMGT).[1] He attempted to combine the companies in a manner calculated to avoid taxation. An artefact of this plan was the ownership of Associated Newspapers being vested in Associated Newspapers Holdings (ANH), ownership of which was split 50.2%-49.8% between DMGT and its wholly owned subsidiary Daily Mail & General Holdings (DMGH). (Since that time DMGH's name has been transferred to ANH, and the old DMGH has become Derry Street Properties)..

English succeeded him as chairman of Associated Newspapers (but not of ANH or of the parent companies) in 1992. When English died in mid-1998, Rothermere resumed the chairmanship of Associated Newspapers and replaced his protégé as president of the Commonwealth Press Union, only to die himself some months later, still chairman of DMGT, after being fatally stricken with a heart attack while dining with his son (and successor) Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere.

Harmsworth was a member of the Founding Council of the Rothermere American Institute, which he helped establish alongside his sister Lady Cromer and Vyvyan Harmsworth.

Harmsworth's newspapers supported the Thatcher government, but following Tony Blair's landslide general election victory he defected to the Labour Party.[3]

Family life

On 21 March 1957 Rothermere married actress Patricia Brooks.[4] They had three children:

Following the death of his first wife on 12 August 1992, Rothermere married his longtime girlfriend, Maiko Jeong Shun Lee, in 1993.[5]

References
  1. Leapman, Michael (3 September 1998). "Obituary: Viscount Rothermere". The Independent.
  2. Lyall, Sarah (3 September 1998). "Lord Rothermere, Press Giant, Is Dead at 73". The New York Times.
  3. "Lord Rothermere". BBC News. 2 September 1998. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  4. "Obituary: Viscount Rothermere". The Independent. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  5. Lyall, Sarah (3 September 1998). "Lord Rothermere, Press Giant, Is Dead at 73". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 January 2010.

Further reading
  • Coleridge, Nicholas (March 1994). Paper Tigers: The Latest, Greatest Newspaper Tycoons. Secaucus, NJ: Birch Lane Press. ISBN 9781559722155.
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Esmond Harmsworth		 Viscount Rothermere
1978–1998		 Succeeded by
Jonathan Harmsworth

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