How puzzle-obsessed Michael Platt became ‘Britain’s richest man’ worth £14bn after investing £500 birthday gift aged 14

AT school, few of us know what we want to be when we’re older, let alone know how to invest whatever money we may have had.

But even at the tender age of 14, hedge fund tycoon Michael Platt already had his eyes firmly on the prize.

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The savvy mogul first started investing when he was just 14 thanks to a £500 birthday present from his grandmother.

He diligently put the money into the Common Brothers shipping and tripled his investment.

Four years later, Michael enrolled at Imperial College London, where he intended on studying Civil Engineering.

But boredom soon set in, and he decided to make the short trip over to the London School of Economics where he read mathematics and economics.

Platt made up to £30K as an undergraduate investing in the newly-privatised utilities but his stock lost half its value in a single day during the crash of ­October 1987.

MAKING MOVES

After graduating from university, he joined JP Morgan, where he gained a number of promotions before he founded BlueCrest Management.

In 2020, BlueCrest was ordered to pay $170 million (£137 million) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange ­Commission (SEC) to investors, one of the largest penalties imposed on a hedge fund by U.S. authorities.

The SEC investigation ­concluded that the company had “repeatedly failed to act” in their best interests by “transferring its highest-performing traders to a fund that benefited its own personnel to the detriment of its fund investors”.

The questionable tactics occurred more than a decade ago when BlueCrest was in the ­process of converting to a private investment partnership which no longer managed external money.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority made similar allegations, handing out a £40.8 million fine to BlueCrest in 2021 “for ­conflict of interest failings”, which the company denies and is ­challenging legally.

This unconventional strategy has helped propel him to unimaginable wealth.

Platt’s impressive art collection

The businessman spends a lot of his vast wealth on art.

Platt displays his impressive collection in the crypt of a deconsecrated church in Marylebone, London.

The collection includes:

• A depiction of Christ in an electric chair beside skulls.
• A selection of stags’ heads.
• A depiction of a Japanese woman riding a walrus.
• A painting of the levitation of St John the Baptist.

Other pieces in the collection include works by taxidermist Polly Morgan, the Turner prize-winner Keith Tyson and Reece Jones.

The company is now regarded as one of the biggest private investment firms in the world and generated returns as high as 153 per cent in 2022.

Platt also made a brief appearance on the US TV show, Billions, currently showing on Paramount+.

The 56-year-old’s whopping fortune of £14billion surpasses even the likes of prominent figures such as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and James Dyson, who occupy second and third place in the UK wealth league.

UNDER THE RADAR

As of 2024, BlueCrest Capital Management reportedly has 576 employees.

However, there is still an air of mystery surrounding Platt, even amongst his employers.

The tycoon’s fondness for privacy is legendary with his last round of interviews dating back over a decade.

According to the Daily Mail, the businessman is so low-key that even the receptionist at his hedge fund’s London headquarters remains unaware of his identity.

Even the company’s website offers little insight into the tycoon, failing to load for curious visitors.

Emails directed towards Platt go unanswered, which further increase his mysterious vibe.

However, occasional glimpses into the billionaire’s world have surfaced over the years.

In a viral video from 2019, Platt was captured boasting about his wealth during a ride in a New York taxi.

Clad in a jacket and dress shirt, he confidently proclaimed himself as the highest-earning individual in the world of finance when asked what he does for a living.

“You’re the highest what?” asked the cabbie.

Platt replied: “I’m the highest-earning person in the world of finance. In the world.”

When Platt and his BlueCrest co-founder William Reeves, a Yale graduate, were interviewed by the Times ahead of the company’s floatation in 2006, they refused to be photographed under any circumstances.

“They guard their privacy fiercely and detest their regular appearances in newspaper rich lists,” financial editor Patrick Hosking wrote.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk