Scandals, drama and public layoffs are commonplace for some of the world’s most well-known entrepreneurs and CEOs.
Their daring, risk-taking personality enables them to start and grow businesses.
The roller coaster ride often ends in tears, but many of them can’t be held back for long. Meet the comeback kings and queens.
Back on his feet: Nat Rothschild (pictured with wife Loretta Basey) was considered the enfant terrible of business after a foray into Indonesia’s energy market backfired
Ray Kelvin
Age: 66
Company: Ted Baker
Once a darling of the fashion world, Kelvin was thrown off guard when the #MeToo movement took off in 2017.
Ted Baker’s Ray Kelvin resigned after more than 200 employees accused him of unwanted touching and inappropriate comments
He was forced to leave the company he founded, Ted Baker, in 2019 after more than 200 employees accused him of unwanted touching and inappropriate comments, although he denied the allegations.
The company, in which Kelvin holds an 11 percent stake, is about to be acquired by private equity firm Sycamore.
Kelvin told the Daily Mail last month that he supports the deal, adding: “As hard as it was leaving Ted, to this day I feel the same passion for design and products to do it all again.”
The comments have tongues wagging as Kelvin expects to announce his plans for a new venture once the deal closes. If he succeeds, he will join a legion of entrepreneurs who have weathered boardroom heists and corporate collapses to fight their way back to the top.
Mr. Martin Sorrell
Comeback: Sir Martin Sorrell was the longest serving chief executive of a FTSE 100 company before being sacked by WPP
Age: 77
Company: S4Capital
One of Britain’s most successful businessmen, Sorrell brushed aside a scandal and sacking from advertising giant WPP to pursue a new venture, S4 Capital.
He was the longest-serving boss of a FTSE 100 company until he was sacked by WPP in 2018 after he faced allegations of personal misconduct and misappropriation of company assets, which he has denied.
His marriage didn’t survive the scandal, but he returned with a bang.
Nathaniel Rothschild
Age: 51
Company: Volex
Rothschild was considered the enfant terrible of business after a foray into Indonesia’s energy market backfired spectacularly.
Bumi collapsed in 2012 amid financial irregularities, scandals and allegations. But Rothschild is flying high again after investing in Volex, an energy products company, in 2008.
Layoffs: WeWork founder Adam Neumann resigned as chief executive in 2019
Adam Neuman
Age: 43
Company: Flow
The WeWork founder went from hero to zero when his alcohol and drug-fueled escapades, along with the workspace provider’s high ratings, led to his resignation as CEO in 2019.
But now Neumann is back with another Mega Bucks deal.
The Israeli-American businessman has convinced Silicon Valley’s venture capital king Marc Andreessen to invest £295m in his company Flow, which is already valued at £850m.
Little is known about Flow, which purports to disrupt the rental housing market. But one fund manager called his comeback “disgusting.”
Ousted: Superdry founder Julian Dunkerton was ousted in 2015
Julian Dunkerton
Age: 57
Company: Super dry
The founder of fashion label Superdry resigned as boss in 2015 and left the company entirely in April 2018.
As a result, Superdry faltered.
The stock plummeted and in 2020 Dunkerton was reinstated and reinstated as managing director.
The split-cap scandal of the early 2000s nearly cost Aberdeen Asset Management co-founder Martin Gilbert his career
Martin Gilbert
Age: 67
Company: revolution
Gilbert had a winning streak after co-founding Aberdeen Asset Management in 1983, but the split-cap scandal of the early 2000s nearly cost him his career.
Tens of thousands of investors lost around £700m. Gilbert battled lawsuits and a regulatory investigation — but he persevered.
And Gilbert’s reputation recovered.
In 2005, he was ranked 22nd out of 900 in the Harvard Business Review list of the world’s top performers. He retired in 2020 after more than 30 years with Aberdeen. He is chairman of fintech Revolut.
Big steps: Jimmy Choo co-founder Tamara Mellon left the shoe brand in 2011
Tamara Mellon
Age: 55
Festivals: Tamara Mellon
Tamara Mellon – who co-founded Jimmy Choo and left in 2011 with a reported payout of £117million – has been open about her struggles.
“Whether it was the Vogue layoff, the rehab, the equity deal with Jimmy Choo,” she once said, brushing off setbacks, “people can sympathize with you, if you’re being honest.”
She founded the Tamara Mellon brand in 2013.
Frozen out: But Sir Malcolm Walker returned to Iceland after his release in 2001
Mr Malcolm Walker
Age: 76
Company: Iceland
The Yorkshire businessman and founder of Iceland was sacked in 2001 after a multi-million pound stock trading scandal first reported in The Financial Mail on Sunday.
But when the frozen food retailer was acquired, Walker made his comeback as CEO and regained control of the 1970-founded company in 2020.
Real estate magnate Gerald Ronson was implicated in the Guinness stock trading scam of the 1980s
Gerald Ronson
Age: 83
Festivals: Heron International
The real estate tycoon was involved in the Guinness stock trading scam of the 1980s. He was fined £5million and served six months in Ford Open Prison.
But he wasted no time rebuilding his empire, and his holdings dot the West End, the City and other commercial centers around the world.
His comeback culminated in the construction of Heron Tower and The Heron in the City of London.
He said: “Did I get a black eye? Yes. did i take it Yes. And did I come back better than everyone else in the Guinness case? Yes.’
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