Rich List 2012: =No.27 - Lord Glendonbrook (£230m)
Lord Glendonbrook, formerly Sir Michael Bishop, took up his seat in the House of Lords as a Conservative peer in March 2011.
Former chairman of Channel 4, Lord Glendonbrook sold his share of Castle Donnington-based Bmi to Lufthansa in the autumn of 2008.
Lord Glendonbrook, aged 69, owned 50 per cent and one share of the airline. He sold to Lufthansa for an estimated £223 million, turning the German airline into the second biggest carrier at Heathrow behind British Airways. It already owned 30 per cent of Bmi.
The high value of Bmi’s slots at Heathrow was one of the reasons why takeover fever was so intense for more than a year before the sale. It came at a good time for Bmi which was having a tough time of things, with declining profits.
In September, Lufthansa announced its intention to dispose of Bmi and in November it was acquired by British Airways parent International Airlines Group, while Bmi Regional was hived off to a group of Scottish investors.
