J. P. McManus

J. P. McManus
Born	(1951-03-10) 10 March 1951 Limerick
Residence	Ireland, Switzerland, Barbados
Net worth	€775 million[1]
Spouse(s)	Noreen McManus
Children	3[2]

John Patrick "J. P." McManus (born 10 March 1951) is an Irish businessman and racehorse owner.

Early life

Born in Limerick,but at a early age McManus moved to Tipperary where he was very good at the Irish game hurling where he got to represent Tipperary at county level McManus began his business career at his family's construction plant hire firm, and then became an on-course bookmaker at Limerick's greyhound track, the Market's Field, before moving into horse ownership and punting and laying horses on the advice of his associate Jimmy Hayes.

In 1982, he and his wife, Noreen, a former mental health nurse, bought Martinstown Stud on over 400 acres (1.6 km²) in County Limerick from the McCalmont family. McManus's first horse was Cill Dara, which had been owned by the late Edenderry solicitor and gambler, Tim O'Toole. McManus is now National Hunt racing's largest owner, with over 100 horses in training. In 2006, he built a €20 million residence next to Martinstown Stud.^[3] In 2013, he completed a €150 million home in Barbados.^[4]

Career

McManus's first big win was a horse called Mister Donovan at Cheltenham. Mister Donovan was the second favourite and won the race after the favourite, Angelo Salvini, whipped around at the start. His distinctive green-and-gold-hooped racing colours are those of the South Liberties GAA Club, in Co Limerick.

The most famous of his horses is Istabraq, a three-time winner of the Champion Hurdle. Twenty time champion jockey Tony McCoy was retained as his stable jockey for a large part of his career, a role that Barry Geraghty has taken over since McCoy's retirement.^[5] Former champion jockey Jonjo O'Neill trains some of his horses at the Jackdaws Castle facility which McManus owns. He has often appeared at race meetings in recent years with the British actor Clive Owen.

McManus's horse Don't Push It, ridden by McCoy and trained by O'Neill, won the 2010 Grand National Steeplechase.^[6]

In 2012, McManus's horse Synchronised won the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Synchronised went on to run in the 2012 John Smiths Grand National with champion jockey Tony McCoy on 14 April 2012. Synchronised threw McCoy on the way to the starting area; after being caught and veterinary checks were performed, Synchronised was re-entered. However, he fell at Becher's Brook and broke two legs and had to be put down.^[7]

Currency exchange and business

A significant part of McManus' wealth, though not all, appears to have been derived as a private foreign exchange trader, which he oversees from a small office in Geneva, Switzerland, his city of official residence. McManus also has a permanent suite at London's Dorchester Hotel and he returns to Ireland regularly. Currencies are apparently his speciality, always working on the advice of his good friends Dermot Desmond and Joe Lewis. He now has a wide portfolio of investments from leisure centres and betting shops to pubs and nursing homes. He is a large shareholder in Ladbrokes.

Sporting interests

Together with business associate John Magnier, McManus built up a 28.89 per cent shareholding in Manchester United, which they sold on to businessman Malcolm Glazer after falling out with manager Alex Ferguson. In 2004, McManus began sponsoring the Limerick GAA teams, choosing to use the non-commercial Sporting Limerick promotional brand on the jerseys.

He is also a keen golfer and a close friend of Tiger Woods, who married at the Sandy Lane Hotel in Barbados, which McManus co-owns. The wedding at Sandy Lane was a gift from the owners of Sandy Lane to Woods.

McManus routinely competes in Pro-Am golf events. He is a two-time winner of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship pro-am pairs competition, partnering with Pádraig Harrington on both occasions.

Glackin Report

In 1991, an Irish company law inspector, solicitor John Glackin, was appointed by the Irish Government to investigate complicated dealings involving Dermot Desmond and the purchase and sale of the former Johnston Mooney and O’Brien site in Ballsbridge, Dublin, to Telecom Éireann. While Desmond represented himself as an intermediary in the sale, Glackin’s report said Mr Desmond, businessman JP McManus and John Magnier were beneficiaries of the sale. Mr Desmond strenuously disputed Glackin’s findings.^[8]

According to the Glackin Report,^[9] Hoddle Investments (the vehicle through which the deal was handled) executed two contracts with Telecom Éireann for the sale of the Johnston Mooney & O'Brien site for an aggregate price of £9.4 million, on 7 May 1990. Glackin concluded that McManus had loaned £1.5 million to Chestvale to purchase the site from the liquidator in August 1989. McManus made the investment through an AIB account in Jersey in the name of J&N McMahon.^[10]

The report concluded that McManus was a beneficiary of the sale of the site to Telecom Éireann, and received £500,000 cash from the transaction, which Dermot Desmond had stored in a tennis holdall in his safe. At paragraph 5.4.4 of the report, Glackin concludes that:

"I am satisfied, on a basis that I believe is reasonable, that Mr. McManus was promised by Mr. Desmond as his consideration for the advance a share of the profits and that this was either agreed in advance or during the period between 29th June 1990 when the money was received from Telecom, and 19th July 1990 when the request was made to Ansbacher for the first cash withdrawal of £100,000. I can find no evidence that any other person received any of the cash of £500,000 and find accordingly that it was received by Mr. McManus."

No criminal charges were made against the principals resulting from the Glackin Report.

Wealth

McManus's personal fortune is estimated at €4 billion. McManus is reputed to have been affected by the economic downturn.^[11]

Charitable contributions

In 1996, McManus established the J. P. McManus Scholarship Award which provides €6,750 each year for third level education to eight selected students at his former secondary school C.B.S. Sexton Street in Limerick. Every five years, he organises the J. P. McManus Invitation Pro-Am golf tournament in Limerick to raise funds for Limerick charities. He has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Limerick and has funded the new Kemmy Business School at the University. Jim Kemmy was a close friend of McManus's. Kemmy introduced the famous Irish tax amnesty onto the floor of Dáil Éireann. In July 2012, McManus donated over €1 million to the Daughters of Charity foundation.^[12]

Gambling

McManus won millions from gamblers Terry Ramsden and the late Robert Sangster by laying horses. He says he "rarely bets" these days and when he does he usually describes them as "little bets". He says betting is "not an obsession". In 2012 he won $17.4m gambling in the United States, of which $5.2m was retained as income tax by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).^[13] In 2016, The Irish Times reported that he was seeking a refund of the tax on the basis of the US double taxation treaty with Ireland; the IRS disputed that McManus was a legal resident of Ireland in 2012.^[13]

Health

McManus was diagnosed with cancer in late 2008 and after receiving treatment in the United States, he is said to be recovering.^[14]

References

External links

• Interview by Jimmy Woulfe, Limerick Leader, 24 June 2000 at the Wayback Machine (archived 14 September 2003)