James Palumbo
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James 'Jamie' Palumbo, born in 1953, is a British businessman and is best known as Lord Palumbo's estranged son.
Early life
Palumbo is the eldest, though estranged, son of Lord Palumbo who is a British peer and entrepreneur, former chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain, property developer, confidant of Diana Princess of Wales, Arts expert and patron of the Arts. Between the age of six and twelve, Palumbo attended Scaitcliffe School in Surrey and entered Eton College in 1976. Palumbo has two weighty sisters, Anabella and Laura.
Professional career and education
After five difficult years at Eton, where he instigated the expulsion of over thirty of his classmates, Palumbo graduated to Oxford. During his school career Palumbo was controversially made a House Captain aged just sixteen and under acrimonious circumstances, namely of blackmailing his House Master. He is also remembered for abolishing the time-old tradition of fagging.
Palumbo spent a gap year in California where he established his first business with a school friend - The Etonian Butler Service - providing domestic engineering to Hollywood celebrities. The business expanded and the United States Immigration Services were notified. During his second taste of the courts, Palumbo hired Randolph Fields to represent him.
Between 1981 and 1984 Palumbo studied History at Worcester College, Oxford. After university he spent two years at Merrill Lynch and four years at Morgan Grenfell. His principal client at the time was Kwek Leng Beng, Chairman of the Singapore based Hong Leong Group. Palumbo subsequently became director of Kwek’s European hotels business. In 1990 Palumbo followed his mentor, George Magan, to work at Hambro Magan.
Just over a year later Palumbo went on to help found the Ministry of Sound with Humphrey Waterhouse, his principal companion from his school days, and DJ Justin Berkmann. Ministry of Sound is a parody of the New York City club Paradise Garage. In 2001 Palumbo sold 19% of the business to 3i for £20million. He remains the majority shareholder.
In addition to its portfolio of clubs, Ministry of Sound is the third largest independent record company in the world, has a radio station, IPTV, hosts live events and produces a range of clothing and merchandise. In more recent years, Ministry of Sound has expanded and diversified its business by taking over other music brands including Hed Kandi, Global Underground and Euphoria and moving into audio/visual equipment production and beauty products.
Known to rebel against conformity, Palumbo's politics remain unknown, despite his father being appointed a Conservative Party Peer in 1991 by Margaret Thatcher. Although a close friend of Peter Mandleson (formerly of the Labour Party) he is also well acquainted with Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat. Palumbo has never married but has a son, Alessandro, illegitimately with Atoosa Hariri. Palumbo currently lives with Rawipim Paijit, from Thailand, in London.
Writing
Palumbo's first novel, a satire about greed and corruption in the modern world, which was published in the summer of 2009, has received a plethora of disparaging reviews. The novel, however, was endorsed by Steven Fry.