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Business section of a newspaper. Photo by Annie Spratt- Unsplash

Top 10 Facts about Arpad Busson

Arpad Busson is a French financier and philanthropist living in London. He began his career in the hedge fund business in 1986, working with Dubin Swieca. He also worked as a sales representative for Paul Tudor Jones’ Tudor Investments. Busson, the creator and Chairman of the EIM Group, is an avid philanthropist who supports numerous charitable causes around the world.

He is a trustee and the chairman of the board of directors for the children’s charity Absolute Return for Kids (ARK). In addition, he is a founder of the Theodora Children’s Trust. The French financier also supports the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Busson has assisted a large number of individuals (of all ages) through his charity foundations to date. He is now a motivation to all wealthy people who want to get involved with charitable organisations. Busson is a multi-millionaire with a net worth of €290 million, as reported by the French business journal ‘Challenges.’

1.Arpad’s family background

Arpad’s father was a French Army officer who had served in the Algerian war. He eventually became a financier in France. Florence Harcourt Smith, Arpad’s mother, was a retired English socialite. Arpad’s parents met for the first time in Â鶹APP, France. Joanna Harcourt Smith, his aunt, was a friend of American psychologist Timothy Leary, who had previously married Uma Thurman’s mother.

2.Arpad’s educational background and the start of his career

Arpad received his early education in France and then in Switzerland at the Institut le Rosey. He enrolled to the French Army as a medic after finishing his education. Following his demobilization, there were speculations that he was dating Farrah Fawcett, a notable actress at the time however, the news stories were later declared to be only partly true.

Arpad decided to join Dublin Swieca after resignation from the Army and went into the business of hedge funds in 1986. He eventually joined Tudor Investments as a sales consultant.

Arpad Busson founded the EIM group, a fund-of-funds, in 1991. The firm focused on offering management services to the hedge fund industry. It was disclosed in 2008 that the EIM group had fallen victim to a Pyramid scheme. The team fully cooperated with the FBI in investigating the funds and tracing them back to al-Qaida.

Arpad eventually combinded the EIM group with Gottex Fund Management Holdings, a Swiss company, in 2013.

3.His contribution to charitable causes all around the world

Busson is a strong supporter of “venture philanthropy,” which aims to increase the efficiency of philanthropic causes by implementing business administration methods to them.

He is a pioneer trustee and chairman of the board of directors of the children’s charity ARK (Absolute Return for Kids). Busson has served as Chairman of the charitable organization since its original conception. He left that position in 2009 however, he stays a part of the Board as founding chairman and chairman of ARK US. ARK solicits charity donations from the hedge fund industry for children who have suffered violence, impairment, diseases, or economic hardship.

ARK funds and maintains initiatives with the goal to improve the lives of children in Eastern Europe, South Africa, and the United Kingdom via education and healthcare services.

Busson hosts the annual Ark Dinner, which attracts a slew of well-known guests in order to raise funds for the charitable causes. Bill Clinton (2006), Queen Rania of Jordan (2010) and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took the spotlight in 2011 when Prince William declared a collaboration between the Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry and the Ark charity.

Its actions involve financing AIDS treatment in Africa, removing children from care in Bulgaria and Romania, and enhancing educational opportunities for underprivileged children in India. Through its sister company ARK Academies, it also runs eight academies, six of which are located in London.

4.Arpad’s personal life

One dollar bills. Photo by Alexander Grey- Unsplash

Arpad Busson was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, France, on January 27, 1963, to Florence Harcourt-Smith and Pascal Busson. In terms of his personal life, Busson began dating Australian model Elle Macpherson in 1996. Until 2005, the couple is living with their children, Arpad Flynn Busson and Aurelius Cy Andrea Busson.
Following this, the French financier began dating actress Uma Thurman in 2007.

The couple announced their engagement in 2008 however, the relationship ended a year later. They later resolved their issues and had a daughter, Luna, in 2012. The couple split up once more in 2014. Later that year, Busson and Thurman battled for custody of their daughter. Thurman eventually won key physical custody over Luna.

5.Arpad’s interests and passions

According to his Instagram account, Arpad Flynn Alexander Busson enjoys adventurous activities such as sky diving, ice skating, swimming, polo and horseback riding. He also has a pilot’s license.

6.He hosted an amazing charity event in 2013 for the Royal Family

When the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge required a high-profile event to commemorate their first formal engagement as a married couple in 2011, it was almost unavoidable that they would do so at Ark, the charity ball established by vibrant hedge fund administrator Arpad Busson.

The French financier’s yearly charitable banquets had become legendary by that moment. Busson, recognized as Arki to his friends, helped raise an incredible £27 million in one night for the children’s charity Absolute Return for Kids, or Ark, in 2007.

It was a record-breaking fundraising event, with former US President Bill Clinton delivering the opening speech and Prince performing for the audience. (The opening act was Madonna.)

Busson, the ex-fiancée of Hollywood actress Uma Thurman, had established himself as the man to know in the financial world. Tables at the charity dinner, which Busson established in 2002, were sold for up to £100,000 each, and as per people close to the 56-year-old, Busson would sell up to a third of those tables himself.

7.Busson’s net worth

Lamborghini interior. Photo by Flavien- Unsplash

Arpad Busson’s net worth is thought to be $1 billion. He has a fantastic personality in the finance industry. He also made a lot of money through his firm, EIM Group. It is also one of Egypt’s biggest private organizations. In 2012, he sold Andy Warhol’s portrait of Mao for $12 million. He also accumulates and sells a wide range of expensive items.

8.He always had passion in business since he was young

Some reports say that Busson made early earnings selling toothpicks door-to-door while growing up in France (which he refuses to acknowledge) however, he was educated in France and at the Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland. He then worked in the national service as a medic in the French army, where, according to a friend, “he loved the discipline of the army – it made him.”

9.His giving heart is motivated by different experiences in life

A sense of social obligation motivates him in his charitable work. “With wealth comes obligation,” he says emphatically. “You must make an effort to assist others.” That’s all there is to it. I am frequently astounded by the devotion of our international health workers. However,  they can’t do it unless they have money.”

He also does not believe in the “charity starts at home” reasoning. “Children are the one thing that we hold dear to our hearts all over the world.” We have an obligation as a wealthy nation to assist them. That is our fundamental philosophy. The misuse I’ve witnessed has repulsed me. And ARK’s annual one-time event is one way to change that.”

”He feels no remorse or shame about his wealth.”

“It’s the only way I actually want to help,” he says plainly.

10.Flynn Busson (Arpad’s son) recently graduated from University of Boston

Graduation cap. Photo by Dragos Blaga- Unsplash

When Flynn graduated from Boston University last year after studying finance and real estate, both Elle and Arpad were there for the ceremony. The model shared family photos on Instagram.

‘Where has the time gone?’ ‘You boys are a credit to yourselves, and your father and I are so proud of the men you have grown into,’ she wrote at the time.

Flynn, is also a licensed pilot, splits his time between London, New York and Miami and has a tight bond with his mother.