For the ice hockey player, see Richard Desmond (ice hockey).
Richard Desmond
Richard Desmond in 2010
Born
Richard Clive Desmond
(1951-12-08) 8 December 1951 (age 72)[1]
Hampstead, London, England
Occupation(s)
Publisher, businessman, former pornographer
Television
Television X (1995–2016)[2] Red Hot TV (2000–2016)[2] Channel 5 (2010–2014)
Spouses
Janet Robertson
(m. 1983; div. 2010)
Joy Canfield
(m. 2012)
Children
3
Website
northernandshell.co.uk
Richard Clive Desmond (born 8 December 1951) is a British publisher, businessman, and former pornographer.[3][4][5][6][7] According to the 2021 Sunday Times Rich List, Desmond was the 107th richest person in the United Kingdom.[8] He is the founder of Northern & Shell, a publisher known for running The Health Lottery and for having owned a variety of pornographic titles and of celebrity magazines (including OK! and New!), Britain's Channel 5,[9] pornographic television network Portland,[2] and Express Newspapers.[10]
In 2020, Desmond was involved in controversy after pressuring Robert Jenrick, the then Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to overrule the Planning Inspectorate and approve a housing development for Desmond's company.[8] The timing of the decision saved the company £40 million but was later overturned.
^Davidson, Andrew (18 September 2011). "Desmond gives himself a clean bill of health". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
^ abcPlunkett, John (1 April 2016). "Richard Desmond sells his adult TV channels". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
^"Richard Desmond: the former porn baron caught in a Tory scandal". The Guardian. 25 June 2020. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
^"Richard Desmond: the porn king's coup | Tom Bower". The Guardian. 24 July 2010. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
^"Desmond, the maverick pornographer, gives two fingers to the rest of Fleet Street". The Guardian. 10 December 2007. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
^Cookson, Robert (1 April 2016). "Richard Desmond strips porn from his portfolio". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021. The deal marks the end of an era for the media mogul, who was once one of the UK's porn kings with an empire ranging from adult magazines to telephone sex lines.
^"JK Rowling tweet blasts Express owner Richard Desmond over pornography links". www.thedrum.com. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
^ abCite error: The named reference Waterson2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Sweney, Mark (1 May 2014). "Viacom confirms purchase of Channel 5 from Richard Desmond for £450m". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 20 January 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
^Cite error: The named reference reachsale was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Richard Clive Desmond (born 8 December 1951) is a British publisher, businessman, and former pornographer. According to the 2021 Sunday Times Rich List...
Maxwell, Mohamed Al-Fayed, Conrad Black, Richard Branson, Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson. A book about RichardDesmond remains unpublished. His book, Broken...
million in the 1930s to 4 million in the 1940s. It was acquired by RichardDesmond's company Northern & Shell in 2000. Hugh Whittow was the editor from...
a newspaper and magazine publishing group owned by the businessman RichardDesmond. In 2004 Northern & Shell sold the magazine to Remnant Media, as part...
European Parliament. In December 2014, RichardDesmond, proprietor of Express Newspapers, donated £300,000 to UKIP. Desmond had previously made the UKIP peer...
Foundation, Inc. moved to dismiss with prejudice its own complaint. RichardDesmond is the former owner of Asian Babes and Readers' Wives. In November...
Desmond Thomas Doss (February 7, 1919 – March 23, 2006) was an American United States Army corporal who served as a combat medic with an infantry company...
fruition. Five was taken over by RichardDesmond's publishing group Northern & Shell on 23 July 2010 for £103.5 million. Desmond pledged to top up the broadcaster's...
winning the licence, the Health Lottery was sold in February 2011 to RichardDesmond's Northern & Shell group. The Health Lottery launched in September 2011...
2014). "RichardDesmond is not a naive investor, says GLG". Telegraph. Retrieved 15 April 2015. Gideon Spanner (18 December 2014). "RichardDesmond wins...
Until 2020, it was owned by Portland TV which was a subsidiary of RichardDesmond's publishing company Northern & Shell until 2016. All of the programmes...
Chandra Assis Chateaubriand Gustavo Cisneros Victor Civita Sean Combs RichardDesmond Hans Dichand Walt Disney Aydın Doğan Jack Dorsey Iris Fontbona Steve...
for RichardDesmond as he sells adult entertainment network Portland TV for less than £1m". City A.M. John Plunkett (1 April 2016). "RichardDesmond sells...
General Sir Geoffrey RichardDesmond Fitzpatrick, GCB, GCVO, DSO, MBE, MC (14 December 1912 – 12 October 2002) was a senior British Army officer who served...
phone calls and meetings with Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation and RichardDesmond of Northern and Shell Media. The response includes contacts "clearly...
bicentenary in 2005. The new RichardDesmond Children's Eye Centre (RDCEC), was endowed by the publisher, RichardDesmond, and was opened by Queen Elizabeth...
development of 1,500 homes on Westferry Road, Isle of Dogs, proposed by RichardDesmond, a Conservative Party donor and owner of Northern & Shell. A Government...
23 August 2013. "Leveson report roundup: naked royals, Page 3 and RichardDesmond". The Guardian. 30 November 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2021. "Clare Short:...
RichardDesmond – President of the Norwood Charity; raised around £14m for charitable causes with the RD Crusaders; helped build the RichardDesmond Children's...
changing their name. Townshend suggested "the Hair" and Townshend's room-mate Richard Barnes suggested "The Who". The next morning, Daltrey made the decision...
compositions. A new television series of The Wombles was announced in 2013. RichardDesmond snapped up the rights to the new TV series which would have consisted...
had a role in the Jim Carrey film Bruce Almighty. In 2004, he played RichardDesmond in the film Rancid. He played Grant on Mystery Woman in 2005. Satterfield...
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