When families fall out it’s never a particularly edifying spectacle, especially when it’s the family of Wolves life president Sir Jack Hayward.
Sir Jack, aged 87, is being sued by his son Rick, his daughter Susan Heath, and eight grandchildren who allege he illegally struck them out of trusts linked to his multi-million fortune. Sir Jack contests that since he put his children into the trusts he can also take them out.
The family feud seems to have begun in 2007 when Sir Jack decided to sell Wolves for £10 on condition that owner Steve Morgan invest £30 million in the club.
However, there were father and son spats before then, and now it seems the family’s affairs will be further aired in a Caribbean courtroom in May when the lawsuit will be heard.
In November Sir Jack, who lives mainly in The Bahamas, announced that he had sold his 50 per cent stake in the Grand Bahama Port Authority – of which he is honorary chairman – for an undisclosed sum, believed to be around £80 million
The legal costs of the family dispute may make some inroads into Sir Jack’s fortune, which includes homes in London and New York and an estate in the Highlands, as well as his Bahamas mansion which he shares with his American wife and a dozen or so rescue dogs.
Sir Jack first arrived in Grand Bahama in 1956. He took over his father’s interests and took a major interest in the development of Freeport. The Sir Jack Hayward High School which opened in 1998 is named after him and his wife organises an annual exchange with pupils from Boys Harbour School in New York.
Although he lives in the Bahamas, he enthusiastically follows his other passion in life – Wolverhampton Wanderers. Sir Jack ended his 17 years ownership of the club when he sold control to Steve Morgan. He bought Wolves in 1991 for £2.1 million.
It is estimated he put more than £50 million of his personal fortune into developing the Molinuex ground.
Jack Hayward was born in Wolverhampton in 1923, the only child of Sir Charles and Hilda Hayward, a leading industrialist. Sir Jack served in the RAF during the war, training as a pilot and flying missions over India and Burma.
Knighted in 1986, Sir Jack has always been fiercely patriotic and is often known as “Union Jack” Hayward.
He has been a prolific giver to charity, helping the National Trust buy Lundy Island and the SS Great Britain, and paying for repairs to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital on the Falklands after the Falklands War.
