Daniel David Fiszman (9 January 1945 – 13 April 2011) was an English diamond dealer, best known as a shareholder in and director of Arsenal Football Club, and played a leading role in the club's move from Highbury to Ashburton Grove, now known as Emirates Stadium.

Early life

Fiszman was born in Willesden, North London and was the son of a Belgian Jewish couple who fled the Nazis during World War II.

Career

Fiszman made his fortune in diamonds, building Star Diamonds Group which traded in rough diamonds.[1] Star Diamonds Group also owns 16% of Abbeycrest, whose major clients include Argos and Asda. He sold the group in 2007 for £150M, to concentrate on his role in completing Arsenal's new stadium.[2]

Other shareholdings took his total worth to around £236m, ranking him 348th on the 2008 Sunday Times Rich List[3] (351st in 2007, 273rd in 2006, 305th in 2005 and 207th in 2004).

Arsenal Football Club

Fiszman bought into Arsenal Football Club and became a board member through his purchase of an 8% stake from his friend David Dein, starting with 10,000 shares in 1991.

In March 2007 Fiszman sold a block of 659 shares for over £3.9m to Stan Kroenke Sports Enterprises (KSE).[4] This was a significant sale as reducing his stake to less than 25% resulted in a loss of veto rights over any future changes to the company statutes. Speculation linked this with a move abroad where he would substantially reduce any Capital Gains Tax liability that would come with a sale of his stake in the club.[5] Fiszman stated his desire not sell any more of his shares for the foreseeable future,[6] after the sale of 5,000 ordinary shares to Kroenke takes the American's stake in Arsenal Holdings plc to 12,756 Shares (representing 20.5%). On 27 March 2009 Fiszman sold 5,000 ordinary shares of £1 each in Arsenal Holdings plc to KSE, UK, Inc, at a price of £8,500 per share.[7] On 11 April 2011, two days before his death, he sold his Arsenal shares amounting to 16.11% of club's stake to KSE, due to his declining health.[8]

Personal life

Fiszman and his wife Sally lived in St Prex near Geneva, Switzerland. His hobbies included running and flying – he was a fully qualified commercial jet pilot. Fiszman had been undergoing treatment for throat cancer at the time of his death. He died on 13 April 2011 aged 66.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Graff ranked as 36th richest in Britain". DIB Online. 12 June 2006. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  2. ↑ David Bond (20 April 2007). "Fiszman the power behind throne". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  3. ↑ http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/specials/rich_list/article3768855.ece. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ "Arsenal Holdings plc – Director's Shareholding". Plus Markets Group. Archived from the original on 3 March 2008. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  5. ↑ Matt Scott (20 March 2007). "Digger: major shareholder reduces stake in Arsenal". The Guardian.
  6. ↑ Rippleffect Ltd. "Fiszman – My position is absolutely clear". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
  7. ↑ Rippleffect Ltd. "Club Statement: Arsenal Holdings plc". Archived from the original on 2 April 2009.
  8. ↑ "Arsenal investor Fiszman 'sell shares'". Plus-sx. 11 April 2011. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012.
  9. ↑ "Danny Fiszman 1945–2011". Arsenal F.C. 13 April 2011. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
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