As I keep saying, the incessant coverage of Pippa Middleton’s weekend wedding is coming across as one giant hustle. Pippa is selling this wedding and she’s selling herself as this year’s society bride. It comes across as rather… desperate and thirsty, frankly. I hoped that she would just do a simple country wedding and that, at most, she would sell some photos to Hello Magazine. But I’m really starting to feel like Pippa is using the wedding to angle herself back into some kind of business. The business of Being Pippa, a lifestyle venture, perhaps.
What makes this hustle so strange is that Pippa and her family went on and on about how James Matthews is so terribly rich and Pippa will get a luxury life like Kate without any of the hassle of actually working for the British people. Which is why I found it interesting, several weeks ago, to learn that Terribly Rich James Matthews might not be as epically rich as we were led to believe. I also find it interesting that their honeymoon sounds like it’s being done on a budget. So isn’t it interesting that E! News has published a story about Terribly Moderately Wealthy James could be a billionaire (on paper) sometime soon?
Pippa Middleton may not be marrying into the royal family, but in a matter of just a few days, she’ll have wealthy and respected new relatives all her own. Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton’s younger sister is set to walk down the aisle on Saturday to her fiancé James Matthews, a former race car champion-turned-hedge fund manager.
It’s no question that Middleton can certainly support herself—she’s authored cookbooks, written as a columnist, benefitted from trust funds handed down by her great-grandmother and worked in the family party-planning business, Party Pieces, which is reportedly worth millions of its own. However, when she becomes Mrs. Matthews, she’ll also come into contact with her husband’s self-made fortune.
After achieving a level of success in the racing world, Matthews entered the finance world as a trader in 1995 and soon assumed major status as co-founder of Eden Rock Capital Management in 2001, where he remains CEO today. The firm reportedly managed over £1 billion worth of investments by 2007.
“His stake in Eden Capital and the money he potentially has taken out over the last 16 years could make him a demi-billionaire or close to a billionaire on his own merits,” David Friedman, co-founder at WealthQuotient, told E! News. However, that estimation is also reliant on other factors like the market and his fees. While the company has come under fire as of late for alleged association with some scandals overseas, Matthews is also linked to a tremendous family fortune. As Friedman said, “To characterize James wealth, one must look at two core areas: family wealth and Eden Capital.”
Just my opinion but… men who are on the verge of becoming billionaires probably don’t want to marry someone like Pippa, you know? I’m sure Pippa has many nice qualities and I actually think she’s the smarter, more self-sufficient sister (she’s more like her mother) and her connection to the royal family should not be underestimated. But from what I’ve seen…men who are truly worth high nine figures (??) generally want to marry young underwear models or beautiful actresses. Men who are truly worth this kind of money probably don’t want their weddings splashed across the tabloids either. So… what’s up with Terribly Moderately Wealthy James Matthews? Is this true love or something else?
Photos courtesy of WENN, PCN.
Like I’ve already said, I don’t believe he is THAT rich.
Totally agree. If he was ACTUALLY ‘rich’, his wife to be would not be peddling stories all over the tabloids. If there was an enormous family wealth, his brother would not be on I’m a Celebrity get me Out of Here. Come on!
This! I think marrying her helps his business a bit. Opens a door to meeting different people.
But I think they are mortgage to the hilt. It seems he bought the townhouse not long before they got together “officially”. With that though I hope they actually like each other and it works out.
Is it that hard to believe that extremely rich people can also be thirsty too?
@Oxy True, its possible, but it’s not really the British way. Wealthy posh people tend to look down on this shit – the only posh folk doing it are the ones who have a name, possible a title, but not much money. I mean, I could of course be wrong, but I very much doubt she’d be hustling this hard, if husband-to-be has 9 figures in the ‘bank’.
I agree, Clare. It is incredibly gauche to speak about where one’s money comes from. I think they may be trying to appeal to new clients for his firm, but that’s not the way to do it.
James Matthews is certainly richer than I’ll ever be. God speed to him and Pippa.
Just a thought…maybe she’s signing a prenup because he really is rich and the sale of the pics are the wedding present/$$$ he lets her solely keep. Didn’t zeta-jones do the same when she married Douglas?
Oxy, yes,, people who are actually that rich are not that thirsty for several reasons – they already have the attention of whomever they choose; they don’t want their private life splashed about in tabloids to attract theft, ransom kidnappers and the like, and finally they certainly eschew selling their stories for paltry (to them) amounts or hawking spas and other crap.
I happen to know several billionaires. The real kind, with multiple lavish residences, fleet of private jets and too many businesses to count. Someone in my family married the daughter if one billionaire and while the wedding was at the most luxurious hotel in the country and eventually a few pics made it into society pages, there was nothing released to gossip pages in adjacent (despite a 600 guest list). That’s how it’s done. the next day they jetted off from Europe to Tahiti in the most private villa they could book where no one knew them. That’s what money buys you.
These two… are the opposite of how billionaires act.
And for the record Kaiser, only “new money” like that Snapchat twit, look for underwear models. The old money families look for aristocracy or other moneyed families, at best someone extraordinarily bright and accomplished in their own right, in which case they accept lack of a fortune. Whatever Pippa is up to is because he is not nearly as rich as she’d like us to believe – please, hosting your wedding at your parents’ place… and vacationing at an out of season resort in Europe, blah. Not to mention all the shilling and gossip she’s releasing via “sources”. She is trying to relaunch the failed PippaTips / book writer career, and it will be as successful as the first time. Not. (I know, I know. I am a bi**h today. The whole Russian drama with the orange buffoon has made me so mad…)
I’m glad someone else pointed out how tacky the Spiegel-Kerr matchup is. She’s notoriously dim, he’s notoriously fratty. Granted, it does kind of make those two a match.
The Matthews family isn’t old money, and there’s already some tacky in the family – the reality tv bro. But I am as well a little worried that this is the beginning of another run at Pippa Tips. I just want to shake some sense into her there, because there’s a reason why it didn’t work the first time.
@ Bridget
I beg to differ. Kerr isn’t that dim. She is doing golddigger marriage for the second time. She can’t be that dim. Stupid golddiggers are unsuccessfull golddiggers.
Perhaps her marriage to Orlando Bloom didn’t result in a giant paycheck. But it did make her famous and she got contacts to a lot of rich people. She had a thing going with James Packer. Not bad for a golddigger.
Let’s see if Kerr can do better second time around.
As for Spiegel: he seems to have himself covered with a prenup. Good for him. Although if Kerr stays with him for a significant amount of time or sunset clause then the judge might just rip the prenup.
I don’t defend golddiggers. I find them somewhat repellent. But amusing to watch their moves.
Compare these two golddiggers: Pippa and Miranda Kerr. I think Kerr looks more dignified in this kind of game. And likely more successfull.
@vauvert Mark Zuckerberg, Alexia Ohanian, and Steve Jobs make me question your knowledge of billionaires in general and self-made billionaire in particular.
@Zaratustra: she’s famously not the sharpest crayon in the box. And I’m a little worried that you think snagging a wealthy/famous husband makes someone smart.
I know 1 billionaire through a very good friend. The rest in the mid to high 9 digits if not just “millionaires”. It’s more common than you’d think in the right areas. For all the wealth they splash about they tmk do not publish it like this! Sure, its flaunted about in company, but details are not leaked or sold or shared. Because, yes. The risk of theft or unwanted attention is real.
Why pippa now, and Kate, midds before always seemed odd to have so many stories of wealth come out without their protest.
@ Bridget
Smart as in clever.
Maybe wuv, twue wove, is the weason we are gathered here today
LMFAO!! Thank you for this. 🙂
OMG, too funny!
oh, well done, Shambles! LOL
Inconceivable!
A laugh much needed!
Love Princess Bride! Thanks for the reference.
She looks like a sunburnt Alicia Vikander
Just like the comparison with Meghan Markle, Pippa wishes.
He looks like Blakey from On The Buses
She reminds me of the Duchess of Windsor, that kind of mannish look.
We shouldn’t side-eye James for marrying Pippa rather than a lingerie model…
Yeah, this.
Honestly? I think she’s quite pretty. She needs to lay off the tanning and eyeliner – but she’s an attractive woman. And she’s fit, is active, and has decent connections. If he’s the SMART kind of almost-billionaire he’s not going to just go get a lingerie model and call it a day – how often do we see that turning into divorce? She’s pretty, she’s a household name, has connections, and I mean – I assume that they at least LIKE each other, and share interests.
Being on the verge of Billionaire-ness is also on the verge of not being a Billionaire, ya know? The finance world isn’t a sure thing.
Agree!
Right?! What if he really has a true connection with her? They seem to have a lot in common and do a lot of things together while they look like they’re enjoying themselves and to me that is huge. Why marry a high maintenance gold digging bimbo that will dump you and pump you after popping a kid?! I know a lot of rich or regular joes think with their winies and go for the looks rather than a true connection, but i doubt all men are like that. I may be wrong but they seem well matched and he strikes me as the kind of guy who values a true connection with his lady.
Isn’t it true that he has liked her for a long time, and pursued her? That in itself is appealing. For me it would be a deal breaker if a guy thought he was doing you a big favor by marrying you (William.) No thanks!
Seriously! I’m not the biggest Middleton fan ever, but that was a bit much. I think they seem well matched too.
Just because a man is rich he’s supposed to only marry a model? Wtf?
Right? If it is a “strategic” match … well, she’s connected to the Royal Family. That opens doors in Britain. More so than a page three boobs and butt model.
No matter what we think of it, lingerie modelling is an actual job and a hard one at that. Something Pippa Longstockings never had.
Actually, I do think it is true love and I don’t find that hard to believe. They have a lot of common interests and Pippa has ambition, even if she doesn’t know how to channel it. She is way more interesting that an underwear model and James is clearly looking for a partner, not arm candy.
She has a great figure and she’s aunt to the future king. Surely she has some value to other nouveau riche social climbers? IDK. Mr Richpants doesn’t seem like much of a romeo himself. He’s no great looker and the photos don’t scream personality.
Didn’t he pine for her for ten years? I think James is rather handsome, and at least he has a job that he must have to work hard for. And he has hair.
I think a hedge fund is different in that an owner or operator’s own money is tied up in it.
Also, and financial people can correct me if I’m wrong, I believe the borrowing limits are higher than for other mutual funds. So his wealth is most likely tied up in the fund, which could be high now, but a correction in the market could change everything. Hedge funds are very risky. He and Pippa seem happy together and I wish them well. I guess I’m a romantic.
I read the same thing Maria, that he’s been crazy about her for years. While I’m not a fan of the Middletons, I’ve always rather liked Pippa and I say “Good for them, I hope that they will be happy for many years to come”.
And he has hair LOL !
Uh I think the pining for her all these years is a pr spin. He was dating her friend for awhile before they got together sooooo.
Not really – they dated briefly with him ending it as he didn’t want to deal with her fame hungry ways with the constant hustling for the press. As someone else says he was dating her friend before he starting seeing her again. After things ended with Nico she was papped several times having lunches and/or leaving the homes of her ex’s, James took the bait and here we are.
Don’t know about pining, but they were very clearly spending a lot of time together once she and Nico Whatshisface were at the end – he was a part of the group that did multiple endurance races with her and her brother. Is it some big love story of him waiting for years? Probably not, because it rarely is. But do they likely share interests and hobbies and are compatible and got together once they were both ready to settle down and get married? I’m guessing so.
And considering that her being “papped leaving his house” was her leaving in the morning, I don’t think I would call it a set up, as they were pretty clearly together at that point. It was kind of a thing because she hadn’t announced her breakup with the previous boyfriend at the time.
I’m not sure if Pippa necessarily was hunting down someone filthy wealthy … Nico was nowhere near being rich and they went out and lived together for years! Alex or whatever his name was I don’t count – you can say they were both very young and wouldn’t think of marriage. But Nico, pretty sure she would’ve married if he proposed.
I’m sure just like any sensible woman Pippa was looking for a successful guy but when people accuse her of gold (or title) digging, I want to go “hmmmm…”
Whatever her relationship is, Pippa seems to be getting the better deal of the sisters. William is a spoiled dud.
You are right Minx. At least Pippa and James seem to share common interests and do things together as a couple while they seem to enjoy it. That’s more than what Catherine and Charles have. Geez, they can’t even hold hands! They seem so oblivious of each other. And can we stop making it sound like James is settling for Mama June pre make over? Pippa may not be the most beautiful lady but she is attractive and pretty in her own way. She is physically active, takes care of herself and i’m sure she has plenty of other good qualities. They both are getting into an advantageous marriage but they make a good looking couple and it seems to benefit both, win-win with the added benefit that they seem to be well suited for each other. I wish them the best.
I feel the same way, Snap. I wish these two attractive looking people well, and if they want babies I hope they have lots. I also hope they refuse to participate in hunts.
I agree too, Snap. They seem to have things in common. Not impossible there is love and affection there.
My question…..is a Demi billionaire like a Demi bra?
James Matthews isn’t spoiled. But let’s wait and see if he is going to spoil his wife.
Just my guess…. it’s social climbing on his part. Whatever Pippa may be, she’s the sister-in-law to one heir and aunt to another heir to the British throne.
Should the monarchy last that long
Yes, it’s the connection to the throne.
Yup, remember on Downton Abbey when Mary was set to marry the newspaper magnate?
Agreed. This seems fairly obvious to me. She is a reasonably attractive woman with some media attention (good for him for future business ventures) and aristocratic connections.
Also, as someone who is NR, he probably appreciates Pippa’s hustle. Just because you have enough to live very comfortably doesn’t mean you couldn’t have *more.* It’s the same reason why celebrities name check the designers they wear. Why pay for the clothes when you can get them for free?
Exactly. This will work wonders for his hedge fund.
Why does Eden Rock always sound like a ponzi scheme wrapped in a brothel to me??? And how come Blake Cupcake Glitter MyLittlePony Lively managed to sell her wedding in a classier way than these terribly boring two? It’s all so tacky.
Eden Rock does sound shady, and Ma Carole has never been subtle with her PR campaigns. The wedding and reception have turned into a PR circus, with a big-top glass tent right in her back yard to seat as many high society folks as she can afford (or get sponsorship) to entertain. I know this is just gossip, but I even read that she and Pips aren’t inviting anyone from her family except Uncle G and company.
I read that Uncle Gary was invited but his wife of 5 years was excluded. Ouch.
His wife isn’t invited? That’s cold!
Isn’t Eden Rock some super expensive hotel that the rich and famous stay at in the Caribbean?
Yes it is. His family owns it.
It’s incorporated into a hotel group that also owns the Hotel du Cap in the South of France, but his family still owns a big share in it.
@LAK I see, then maybe he really is terribly rich
D: nevermind James. His parents are wealthy enough to live permanently in Monaco. Any discussion about his wealth rarely brings up the self-made uber wealth of his parents.
Ditto his older sister whose husband runs a company that is worth a demi-billion pounds and lives on Jersey, a tax haven off the coast of England.
The Middletons are practically paupers compared to the money swilling around the Matthews family at large.
All this PR generated for the wedding, possibly in exchange for freebies, must seem ridiculous to the Matthews because the estimated £250k cost of the wedding is chump change to all of them, barring Spencer.
Monaco is some sort of a tax-haven as well and residents do not pay taxes in their respective countries. Which would amount to yuge amounts.
@ LAK: The Hôtel du Cap/Eden Roc in Cannes and the Eden Rock Hotel in St Barths are part of a group of luxury hotels – Oetker Collection – that is owned by the Oetker family of Germany.
Terribly Moderately Wealthy James Matthew’s family has nothing to do with running that group, and doesn’t own any shares.
Nanea: i thought my comment made it clear that the Matthews shares were Eden Rock only, BUT Eden Rock was also part of a larger hotel group that included the Hotel du Cap. Was that not clear? Apologies. You are correct of course. I didn’t mean to imply that the Matthews had shares in the larger group.
@Nanea – Oetker is part owner of Eden Rock. The Matthews family are still well invested in that venture.
It sounds like somewhere the Flintstones would go.
LOL! The Flintstones! I love it!
Kaiser is right, look at the two guys natalia vodyanova married, or salma hayek and uma thurman and etc. those guys are actual billionaires with real business-backed assets, not fudgey valuations on an excel sheet.
You have no idea what’s on Eden’s balance sheet. It isn’t a public company.
I am sure you could get a somewhat reliable estimate by comparing it to similar hotels in similar locations and price levels.
Anybody got any clues of hotels?
I mean, people can disagree, but this relationship is a come up for him and his family. Pippa has close proximity to the future King & Queen + she’s the aunt to the other future King. That ain’t nothing.
It is kinda nothing. Kings and Queens can’t (or at least shouldn’t) influence public policy. It’s not like it was back in the day when they had actual political power. It’s all soft power, and business-oriented people don’t need that except to throw other people’s names around as PR.
For people who have money and care about status it is Everything to be in those circles.
The problem is that nobody really knows what kind of power the BRF wields. For example nobody knows if the Queen has shares in certain companies and if she influences politics to gain a profit. Delaying regulations is one such way.
But you don’t really know about the BRF. It is totally intransparent.
She marries him for money and he marries her for her royal connections. Jmo
A good enough exchange.
This guy is a social climber, his bride has strong royal connection. It make sense to me.
His bank account seems to change by the day.
Hehehe, that’s true. There might be some CB watchers who then change the PR. LOL.
Did anyone else see the picture of the marquee in the Middletons’ backyard? Was on the front page of one of the UK papers. It’s enormous!
Anyone selling this story of the middle class Middletons who are just like us needs a reality check!
Hi Jen, yeah that marquee is at least 3 times bigger than my house! I’m confused as why it’s made of glass though, as I imagine the paps will be lining the roads to get shots through the sides.
Were they ever sold as middle-class. I’m American and it was always; Catherine is non-aristo but comes from a wealthy family and went to the best schools.
Anyway I thought the marquee was beautiful and it looks like a few that were set up at the White House for State Dinners.
Yeah, I’m American too, and the Middletons were always talked about here as being wealthy, but not aristocratic. The idea that they were somehow middle-class was something that was never sold on this side of the pond.
Maybe because, in the American sense of the word “middle class,” it would have made zero sense, and the British just have a different meaning to the word middle-class.
Yes! I was cracking up when I saw it. It looks like they installed a mini Louvre on their property. This is hilarious.
Cracked me up too until I realized it’s basically a yuge greenhouse. I hope it’s cool in Bucklebury this weekend.
Yes, they’re all about a private country wedding. They’re all about privacy. Paps better stay away! -rolls eyes-
I saw it and, for some reason, it made me think of the Crystal Palace that Prince Albert had done for the Great Exhibition in the 1850s. Not the same size as the original one of course, but the same idea. IS it the same idea? I’ve seen people up up tents and things in their yards for weddings but not glass greenhouse enclosures.
Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition?
Ma Middleton had tried to get that one but failed so she booked 2nd best. 😉
Phew! I was so worried when James was down-graded to Terribly Moderately Wealthy James Matthews! How will he and Pippa make it in the world on only a Terribly Moderately Wealthy income? But now he is back where he belongs, as Terribly Rich James Matthews, and all is right with the world!!
I cannot believe the size of the glass structure they set up for her wedding on their property. Spending $100,000 dollars just on a outdoor structure for a wedding?
This all sounds so ridiculous.
You yourself said
Her connection with Royal Family cannot be ignored
As long as she has that connection well maintained
She is quite a catch
Even if we don’t like it, the BRF does have a huge influence
What annoys me is that the influence of the BRF is completely intransparent and democratically uncontrollable.
“Trust handed down by her great-grandmother”? Since when? That’s the first time I read about it. So it makes her look like she has some kind of a pedigree.
Oh yeah. Carole and Mike don’t like to talk about it because they like it to be thought that they are self-made and all of their money comes from Party Pieces, but a lot of it is from this trust fund. The children’s education, the flats bought in London, all of that was financed by the trust fund, allegedly.
That doesn’t give her a “pedigree” though, not in the UK. Lots of wealthy self-made men set up trust funds for their descendants which, if structured correctly, passed wealth down for several generations.
“Great-Grandmother’s trust” is an euphemism for a simple savings bank book 😉 But that doesn’t sound grand enough for Carole Middleton.
Supposedly Pippa is cute and fun in person – have you seen some of her exes? The girl likes her some handsome guys (I’m guessing Matthews is just terribly styled in the photos we see). I get that some folks detest the Middleton family, but disliking them doesn’t make her a hunchback who’s so unappealing that the only way she could get a husband is because he’s a sham himself.
I hope that all of this PR is just wedding induced insanity. Pippa seemed to have found herself a sweet spot up until then – no more blatant spotlight chasing.
Ignore the clothes and look at his face. He looks like a junkie to me. Blech.
Looks like a Pirate to me…just cannot unsee it. His face belongs in one of those movies.
right? I was just thinking along those lines!!
I looked at him and thought he looked like a drug addict too. He has the Marc Anthony problem.
It’s that drawn look drug addicts have. He’d look better clean shaven carrying a few extra pounds. Pippa must close her eyes and think of England (or pound signs) LOL.
There is a big difference between paper wealth and actual liquid cash/sellable assets. James may be a multimillionaire based on his share of his hedge fund and the fees he earns from it, but just because the hedge fund is valued at over a billion dollars does not make him a billionaire. And since it Eden Rock is not a public company, there is no way of knowing exactly how much his share is really worth or how much he earns.
Considering he has a mortgage on his home I would say he doesn’t earn that much else he would have paid everything off already. For some time mortgages have been actually the more expensive way of buying. 😉
I thought the same thing about his mortgage too, but in the U.S. there are some tax advantages. My guess is that he has some family money and may earn a little bit more from Eden Rock, but his “wealth” is more paper (and speculative) rather than tangible (and secure from creditors). Tbh, he might be better off that way – keeps the rest of the Midds from being able to use him like an ATM.
There is information out there that suggests James has already sunk $100K into Boompf.
Here in the US there are tax benefits to holding a mortgage. And his money may work more for him invested and offset what he’s paying in interest. You’d have to put down several million in cash just as the down payment on something like that.
Do I think he has $500 million sitting in his bank account? No, of course not. I’m guessing it’s like Jessica Simpson and her “billion dollar empire”. Makes good money, but it’s not like they take home everything that the company makes as their personal fortune.
The UK doesn’t have the mortgage interest deduction like the US does (sadly). I think he and his family are well off, but no one is at all close to being a billionaire.
Riiiight. *Major eyeroll* I KNEW there’d be Middleton pushback once he was revealed to maybe not be so Terribly Wealthy. Oh the horror!
Do almost billionaire’s have mortgages on their 17 million pound houses?
Do almost maybe could-be billionaire’s have tiny planes, or do they have gulf streams?
Do could-possibly-be billionaire’s NOT have yachts Or do they have yachts? (TMW James does not have a yacht).
There are houses in London that sell for 100 million! Forget him and his tiny little mortgage.
Look, I ain’t snobby. I walk around with my charity shop handbag (Michael Kors!) and I shop at Zara and I love it. But if you’re gonna play the game of who’s-the-richest and who-has-the-most-toys, then you’re gonna win or you’re gonna lose based on assets alone.
Its not a nice game. Its not for warm and fuzzy evenings, cozy by the fire with bunny slippers. Its cruel and its cut throat and it makes “Heathers” and “Cruel Intentions” look like the freakin’ Pollyanna show.
Pippa is competing with her sister -who married the KING.
Pippa is competing with people who actually married aristocrats, wearing authentic diamond heirloom tiaras.
She’s competing with the super-models, actresses and yoga teachers, who married ACTUAL Billionaire’s.
At this game she will always lose. And the truth (money or otherwise) will always come out.
Why not play the game of who-loves-their-husband-the-most? That’s a game we can all win 🙂 (Thanks Supreme Court / UK Parliament!)
There is a glasshouse wedding about to take place so all the peasants can see how newly wealthy at play.😉
It’s simply not their fault that they were not included in the Sunday Times Rich list – minimum £110M to be included.
An omission @Lak! A misprint! They’re richer than the Queen! Billionaires, I tell you! Billionaires!! *cough cough on paper cough*
That’s gonna be my new thing.
Me: But I’m a billionaire on paper!
Courtier: I’m sorry Miss, but you can’t buy Buckingham Palace. And waving around a report from ‘E’ news is not going to change that.
That’s actually incredibly wise! Some things will always be relative… there will always be someone higher up and someone a little lower on the scale. No need to sweat over it.
I guess that’s just a bad photo, but he looks ill to me. Little skinny men always do
While there is clearly affection between them I can’t but feel there is an unspoken business arrangement. Willy will inherit the Duchy Estate and will need ‘financial’ advice – the Middletons are rubbing their hands together at that thought as you can bet your last dollar that they will be on the gravy chain shilling their cheap party tat in Waitrose right next to the Duchy Organic brand, with fancy overpriced ‘royal’ marshmallows thrown into for good measure. The whole lot of them are in it for what they can get out of their RF connections, obvious or otherwise.
If he was a billionaire on paper then he’d be dating someone like Amber Heard or Miranda Kerr – not a Z list celebrity wannabe.
So James Matthews can provide financial “advice” and charge for that? Royal hangers-on who drain royal resources!
William did apparently skip out of that agricultural management course which was custom-tailored to his needs as future Prince of Wales / head of the Duchy of Cornwall. I can well imagine that Will is neither capable nor does want to do that and would hand over the management of that Duchy to the Matthew family. As Will isn’t capable he couldn’t controll the management of the Duchy. Oh dear. The boss who doesn’t bother with the accounting books and balance sheets and similar will be frauded by his management.
Because I don’t see Pips as much of a catch, James seems to be fairly parochial in his choice of a mate and not that well connected in comparison to a billionaire who would know tons of people.
I don’t see either of them as really interesting or attractive. Pips must have found him lacking too because she ditched him once that we know of for Nico, who said publicly that he wasn’t rich enough for Pips’ expensive tastes. By the time Nico bailed, there was no one left except James, who comforted her after the breakup. I think the story is a silly plant to improve Pips’ ever thirsty desire for importance.
Plus there was a famous comment from Guy Pelly on the stories that they could be a thing, he said he wasn’t rich or titled enough for Pippa. That says it all about her and her family.
Betti: Pippa and Guy dated for a hot minute before he made that comment. And yes, it says everything about her and about the family.
Indiana Joanne: i remember all those articles saying Nico had gone to Switzerland to make money to keep Pippa in exepensive style.
As much as we make jokes about gold diggers, nevermind the title chasers, i wonder about the men who are happy to keep these very expensive women because if the money stream dries up, they are gone!!!
@ LAK
It also says a lot about the Middleton’s lack of foresight. Guy Pelly is tight with aristos and with the Royal Family because he provides fun for them. He does have some considerable money and in a slightly louche way he has status.
Pippa is from a family of social climbers who are ridiculed by the whole upper-class and by the aristocracy. She has ambition but neither talents nor stamina nor the will to create something as social climbing and social partying is always more important to her than anything else. You can blame the mother on a lot of these issues, though.
Socially this isn’t a good deal for James Matthew because a lot of his business friends as well as the business competition are going to mock him for marrying into the epitome of a family of no-talent social climbing.
I doubt that such a woman would be a worthy companion to any businessman. The Matthew family seems to be more self-made millionaire than the Middleton family. Middletons seem to rely on Uncle Gary’s money while Party Pieces might contribute some bread and butter at best.
So financially it isn’t a good deal for James Matthews.
I doubt that Pippa is in any way inspiring. Also I doubt she would be a brilliant hostess nor will she be a brilliant art /charity committee member because that would have shown by now.
Businessmen might be terribly in love but I don’t get that from Matthews. Did he just “settle”? Girl with similar sporty interests from “similar” circles still young enough to breed and financially inferiority resulting in obedience?
Word has it that he’s been obsessed with her for a long time, but her attempts to snare real aristos failed, and as she was getting a tad long in the tooth for the ingenue circuit, she finally said Yes.
I believe it was George Percy’s mother who discouraged him from pursuing the match with Pippa any further. Her Grace the Duchess of Northumberland, I heard, referred to Pippa as “not quite wife material” – I would have loved to be a fly on the Middleton’s walls when Carole heard THAT!
So when it became clear that Pippa was never going to be able to follow her sister into quite the same pedigreed circle, Pippa finally settled for wealth and enough of a social position to ensure her of a similar lifetime vacation.
Honestly – it’s as if nothing has changed since “Pride and Prejudice”!
Meh! Uninteresting yet unattractive couple. Nothing to see here.
Yeah, he’s potentially a billionaire like Katie Keen is potentially a working duchess.
So thirsty. That aside, I think they’ve known each other for years.
WTF is a demi billionaire? He’s nowhere near being a billionaire if he’s a demi billionaire? That puts him at around 250 million.
Demi as a measurement is half. A demi-Billionaire is therefore worth 500M.
The reaching by some is strong. Surely no one actually believes all this is directly coming from the Middletons? Of course they’ll be intended leaks with them, but the press will happily talk by themselves to sell or get clicks.
I’d love to know why these two stopped dating the first go around. Supposedly it was that Pippa liked Nico better but I think there’s more to it than that.
Why do I always feel as if I need a bath after reading about these people?
Likely because the speculation about this woman, her family and the ‘reasons’ behind her upcoming marriage are so filthy?
What’s the saying again…’Money talks and wealth whispers.’ I think he has money because his parents do very well for themselves. Unlike his brother Spencer, he actually put that expensive education to use and got a career to make money. But I do not believe he is so wealthy. Still, the guy seems decent. Hope his parents safeguard the family money.
The article is hilarious Midd spin citing that Pips can support herself. She was reported to make $50,000 last year.
+1,000 – every one of her ventures failed, her books didn’t sell, her columns weren’t read . . . she probably could have never worked a real job and not starved, but “not starving” isn’t exactly what the Middletons are about, is it?
Doing what?
Entertainment books, a column for Vanity Fair, and for Waitrose, as well, I believe. the party/entertainment book tanked mercilessly, although I believe she got a huge six-figure advance for it as the publishers thought everyone would just rush to buy Kate’s younger sister’s party and entertainment ideas book . . .
She is also a paid ambassador for British Heart Foundation. She has had short term marketing gigs for a handbag company, Kate Spade, Carolina Herrera and a bike company in the UK. For those she basically did or does pap works wearing/using the products. CH job was to wear an outfit to Wimbledon a few years ago. She still must be working for the bicycle company because the bike was conspicuously parked outside her property when paps photographed her at her townhome right after her engagement a few days in a row. And she has been papped riding the same bike since then.
I’d love to know for example what Carolina Herrera paid Pippa to wear her clothes to Wimbledon versus how much Gigi Hadid gets paid to to get papped in a pair of Doc Martins.
I think Pips should be happy to get freebies at all.
Judging by her “style” she doesn’t get famous brands and she doesn’t get to chose. I doubt that either Kate or Pips would even boost sales. They even might have a detrimental effect. Which well-off upper class person or which well-off aristo would want to buy what social climbers like Kate and Pippa wear?
He is rich. Anyone over 1 million is considered rich in my view. Now about a billionaire. I don’t know about that BUT sure as hell this girls wouldn’t have married a poor guy. She chased rich tittled guys and when that failed she settled for the rich only. He lives in a 17 million house mortgage or not (he has to pay that mortgage and he wouldn’t even get one IF he hadn’t assets and power to pay) and he gave her a 250000$ worth ring so he has some money to spend it seems
As for their behavior with the press I think half is their doing in releasing tidbits here and there just to stay relevant, in the end they have a business to shill for, and half is the tabloids doing. They want to sell the papers in the end no?
This wedding is expensive and they are gong to pay for part of it in the only way they know, with someone else’ s money. Rich people become and stay rich by not paying for everything themselves and by avoiding taxes (see his parents and the Monaco thing). For closure I think that even the Mids have some kind of money, considering that they kept three adult children out of work for years and gave them some kind of luxury. How much I can’t say but still…
How much is that mortgage per month?
He is not poor. But he isn’t rich as in “his own airplane” or “his own yacht”.
Do you think William will use James for money?
Why when he got millions from his mother?
He doesn’t spend.
You rotten lot!
What is wrong with self-made? There is enough moaning about silver spooner’s! Perhaps they just happen to love one another, they seem to have plenty of interests in common. 😀
I am not sure if you can attribute “self-made” to a hedge fund manager. These guys usually get rich by selling other self-made men/women’s companies.
The idea of hedge fund managers is that they buy companies and get rid of useless assets that are a burden. Imagine a family company that sells bathroom installations (water taps) and has a shop in a prime location inner-city in the shopping streets. That prime location is wasted on a shop for bathroom installations because you don’t go into a bathroom installations shop when you go shopping on a saturday afternoon. You might go and buy a t-shirt but you don’t go buy new water taps. So the hedge fund manager takes over that family company and relocates it to a more industrial sales area where you find other shops for home improvement and such. And that prime location in the shopping mall gets taken over by a clothes shop. The clothes shop will make more money in that prime location. The bathroom installations shop in the industrial area will make equally much money as it made before in the city prime location.
That is the theory.
In practical reality hedge funders buy any company they can get their hands on and bleed it dry by cutting wages and selling all assets that they can sell.
Why is her wedding even remotely important anyway? He’s unremarkable as is she. A hedge fund manager is a typical gig for a youngish man with a measure of affluence and connections. They are a dime a dozen on Wall Street and other financial capitals of the world. Both families are desperate social climbers that are cringe worthy and obvious with this gaudy PR blitz as if Pippa were someone of importance. You can’t tell me the mediocre Party Pieces is a source of considerable wealth. You will not convince me he has considerable personal wealth. The hedge in this couple is him hedging his bets that being close to the BRF will eventually lead to actual wealth.
But William and Kate are lazy dullards that aren’t pulling in the crowds. They tried mightily to make Kate happen but she didn’t so I don’t see her being able to influence much.
The British class system can induce some people to behave in the most ludicrous ways in order to appear aristocratic. It never works. There are always tells. Something is always slightly off. For these two the list is long and the PR spin is ridiculous.
He is not from one of the old historical families nor does he have a prestigious title or a long list of personal accomplishments. It was well known Pips wanted a moneyed title but there were no takers. All of these attention grabs aren’t attractive and I remember reading she had been rejected by the aristocratic families of men she had her eye on
Every single time I read about the Middletons I find them a little more insufferable.
Maybe these two will have an epiphany and stop the posturing but I doubt it.
How was it well known that she wanted a title? Or did the press say so?
Actually, Steve Jobs’ wife was a Stanford MBA student when they met and had already had a stint on Wall Street. Melinda Gates helped develop Expedia before she became Mrs. Bill. Priscilla Chan is a doctor. I think Mrs Sergey Brin and his mistress were both programmers for Google.
At least the tech billionaires want a little substance