Firm’s founder takes a hit
DAVID Hood stands to lose the most from yesterday’s profit warning at Pace, with his 16.5 per cent stake taking a heavy hit in yesterday’s 39 per cent share price collapse.
Hood stepped down from the firm in 1997, having nursed it from a niche modem sales outfit in Shipley in 1982 to a FTSE 250 international TV tech firm.
And while Hood has sold shares worth some £200m since he took a backseat, he still controls a sizeable chunk of the business through his family trust, partner Joanne Haigh and his own personal holding.
Yorkshireman Hood was named the UK’s 287th richest person in last week’s Sunday Times rich list, with a person wealth of £252m. He reportedly owns a Boeing 737 jet.
His interest in private planes extends to Multiflight, a plane hire company based at Leeds-Bradford airport, where he acts as chairman and sole shareholder.
He also holds non-exec posts at commercial property investor Talisman Capital and online directory City Visitor, and co-founded London-based chiropractor Freedom Back Clinics in 2009.
He received an OBE in 1996 for services to business.