Robert Maxwell

Media tycoon

Ian Robert Maxwell MC (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster.

Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from Nazi occupation in his native country, joined the Czechoslovak Army in exile during World War II and was decorated after active service in the British Army.

In subsequent years he worked in publishing, building up Pergamon Press to a major academic publisher.After six years as a Labour MP during the 1960s, Maxwell again put all his energy into business, successively buying the British Printing Corporation, Mirror Group Newspapers and Macmillan Publishers, among other publishing companies.

Maxwell led a flamboyant lifestyle, living in Headington Hill Hall in Oxford, from which he often flew in his helicopter, or sailing in his luxury yacht, the Lady Ghislaine.

He was litigious and often embroiled in controversy.In 1989, Maxwell had to sell successful businesses, including Pergamon Press, to cover some of his debts.

In 1991, his body was discovered floating in the Atlantic Ocean, having apparently fallen overboard from his yacht.He was buried in Jerusalem.

Maxwell's death triggered the collapse of his publishing empire as banks called in loans.His sons briefly attempted to keep the business together, but failed as the news emerged that the elder Maxwell had stolen hundreds of millions of pounds from his own companies' pension funds.

The Maxwell companies applied for bankruptcy protection in 1992.After his death, huge discrepancies in his companies' finances were revealed, including his fraudulent misappropriation of the Mirror Group pension fund.