";s:4:"text";s:18438:"project, Defendant and Mel Morris used the proceeds to advance large sums of money to other companies owned by them and make preferential payments for their own benefit. Money raised amounted to a few million rather than tens or even hundreds of millions that the founders might have expected at the height of the dotcom boom. His big break came when he landed a job as a trainee computer operator at a firm in City Road, which was involved in producing brake shoes for cars. 12 CVS 977 at ¶ 10. Mel Morris is estimated to be worth £550m according to the Sunday Times and here we are paying for the years of financial mismanagement. According to the Daily Mail, Mel blew her millions on everything from £200,000 armoured cars to private jets, diamond rings, designer handbags and renting huge villas with private butlers. It also funded Prevx, an internet security company, developing software that could detect viruses and protect computers from malware, which is malicious software designed to specifically damage or disrupt a system. Although his bank balance has changed immeasurably over the past four decades or so, it is clear that one thing has not – and that is his passion for all things Derby County. [5], 2014 Football League Championship play-off Final, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, "Find out how rich Derby County owner Mel Morris is now", "Rams owner Mel Morris tops rich list as fortune is revealed", "Derby chairman Mel Morris becomes club's sole owner after finalising takeover | Football", "Derby owner Mel Morris leading rebellion against Football League in bid to increase TV cash - Mirror Online", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mel_Morris_(businessman)&oldid=1008968741, Commanders of the Order of the British Empire, Pages containing London Gazette template with parameter supp set to y, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 26 February 2021, at 01:03. . But being an employee was never part of his plan and by the mid to late 1990s, it was the worldwide web in which he saw potential. However, in the case of Mr Morris, here is one Rams fan who has been living the dream. During that interview, he revealed plans to invest some of his fortune in local businesses, helping them to expand and create jobs – effectively becoming a one-man Dragons’ Den. Rochester sports entrepreneur Andy Appleby and his co-investors in British professional soccer club Derby County F.C. He then helped to set up King, which he chaired from 2003 onwards until stepping down in 2014. It was a hit with those big firms who like to keep an eye on what their employees are doing so as to increase efficiency. He left school with a vague idea of working with computers. Now tell us all why did u sack Keogh but not Lawrence and Bennett, another 2 million out of Derby's bank for that decision. But Derby County are now well and truly his biggest investment - in August 2018, he revealed he had invested more than £100m in the club. Back in April 2015, he was placed in the top 300 richest people in Britain in the annual Sunday Times Rich List, with an estimated personal fortune of £400m on paper. (Compl. WHEN Mel Schneeberger and Christopher Robbins married on Aug. 24, 1996, they were living a perfect Manhattan life. Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyce formed an immediate bond when they met as students at Cambridge University 32 years ago. He was born and raised in the Littleover area of Derby. There are many Rams fans out there who can only dream about having enough money to buy the club, and still have enough left over to make investments that will bring success. In January 2019, has was nominated as the City of Derby’s first ever Ambassador for Business and Innovation. Morris made his fortune, estimated at more than £500m, via investments in internet ventures including King, the game developer responsible for Candy Crush. As a result, Mr Morris and the rest of the board stepped down, although Mr Gadsby and Mr Amott were re-appointed as non-executive directors. Everyone knows the story of UK entrepreneur Mel Morris who invested £140,000 ($170,000) in King Digital Entertainment, makers of Candy Crush, in … He sold it to one of his companies but having to sell your stadium can start to cast doubts in the minds of fans. Even a £100 million-plus lottery windfall might not be enough. The Mel Morris business formula tends to involve developing innovative ideas and technology then matching them with the sales and marketing muscle of a third party. He was born and raised in the Littleover area of Derby. So what of King, the small games company that Mr Morris had also invested in? It would recognise the information that a user needed most often and make it readily available. After leaving the flooring firm, he returned to the UK to develop a dating website called uDate, which he went on to sell for £100 million. He tops the Gaming Rich List for those who have made their money from the computer gaming industry. In January, 2008, halfway through the 2007/08 season, US-based General Sports and Entertainment bought the club, with Andy Appleby becoming chairman and a new-look board introduced. Current owner Mel Morris bought Derby in 2015 but The Athletic understands he has been trying to sell at least a significant chunk of the club since last season. This is from the WestLibertyIndex.com:d " Morris was hard to miss in his blue and white polka-dotted No. When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Devices dreamed up in Hollywood and beamed to the Morris family home in Littleover proved to be the spark that began a career at the cutting edge of technology. Now Mel is trying to get an investor to help and looks to have found billionaire Henry Gabay. 39, but it was while piloting Bud Kile’s No. Mr Morris also built the Mickleover Court Hotel but the property crash of the early 1990s wiped many millions off its value. Co, No. "I worked for a producer who wore a chicken fat-stained homburg and a black alpaca coat. [3] He has been involved in a league-wide push to increase TV revenue for non-Premier League clubs. Mel Morris, was born in Derbyshire and attended the John Port secondary school in Etwall, between 1967 and 1973. Melvyn Morris CBE is an English businessman, who currently owns Championship football club, Derby County F.C. According to Mel, he was named as a joint owner of the BoA accounts for the decedent’s convenience. American Mechanical, No. Owner (or majority shareholder): Mel Morris. Mr Morris wrote a piece of software that enabled computers to access information more quickly. Founded in 1999, at its height, uDate, based on Derby’s Pride Park, had 15 million users in more than 100 countries, making it the second largest dating site in the world at the time. He first bought into the club in May 2014 for a 22% stake, shortly after the club's 2014 Football League Championship play-off Final defeat to the Queens Park Rangers. Developing computer software and timely investments in the right technology has put him in a similar league to tycoons such as Sir Alan Sugar and Peter Jones. By the end of April, the takeover was completed with Mr Gadsby installed as chairman, along with directors Mr Morris, Mike Horton, John Kirkland, Don Amott and Jill Marples, wife of associate director Peter Marples. Never have I seen so much money spent with very little in return. Despite the dotcom crash, uDate floated on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2000. A childhood fascination with the sci-fi world of shows such as Star Trek, Lost in Space and Stingray fired his imagination. In the summer leading up to the 2014 school year, Robert Morris University Illinois (RMU), a small private college in Chicago, sent shockwaves through the education and sports worlds when it offered the first ever gaming scholarship. A large dollop of luck plays its part in business but, over the years, Mr Morris has developed a habit of having the right idea in the right place at the right time and with the right backing. So, where does Derby County fit into all this? At that point, he could have retired to the country and taken it easy. Then one investor gave Midasplayer a lifeline: Zacconi’s former boss Mel Morris, the founder of uDate. Mr Morris was a project manager at the company, which made word processors, minicomputers and micro computers Wang folded in 1992 but that was long after he had left – in 1985 – to return to Derby to set up his own company, called Minitech. 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