A BILLIONAIRE who owns Britain's most expensive home says he hates spending money and gets his jeans for £29 from Zara. John Caudwell , 71, came from humble beginnings to build a successful business empire and is now reportedly worth £1.5billion.
But the mobile phone mogul has now revealed he scrimps and saves where he can, including buying high street jeans. In an interview with the iPaper , Caudwell revealed he describes himself as "flashy" and "frugal". He said: "Out of the public eye you won’t see me in one of the glitzy jackets I’m known for.
They’re just for the charity dinners. At home I’ll be in £29 Zara jeans and a shirt." The billionaire also revealed how his greatest extravagance was a £1.
8m helicopter he bought in 2009. He said: "That sounds a lot, but when you’re a billionaire it’s not really. At the time I needed it to travel around the country quickly, but I don’t need it anymore, so now it is an indulgence.
" But that's a long way from moving into the first home he owned which had no furniture or gas. He said: "We sat on orange boxes, borrowed a stove from my mother’s caravan and cooked bean on toast on that until we eventually got out of the poverty trap. But I didn’t see it as a struggle.
It was just where we were at that point." He now lives in a lavish £250million mansion in Mayfair which is a billionaire's paradise with its own bar and cinema. Being able to afford that kind of property came after some savvy business skills.
Caudwell .
