Zac Goldsmith

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Zac Goldsmith on BBC Breakfast in 2002
Zac Goldsmith on BBC Breakfast in 2002

Frank Zacharias "Zac" Robin Goldsmith (born January 20, 1975), son of billionaire Sir James Goldsmith, is an environmental activist and editor of The Ecologist.

Goldsmith joined the Conservative Party in 2005.[1] He was placed on the party's A-List of prospective parliamentary candidates,[2] and selected as the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Richmond Park in March 2007.[3]

Contents

His father Sir James Goldsmith built a multi-billion pound fortune from a variety of financial activities, including mining, forestry and paper products. To protect his heirs from inheritance tax Goldsmith senior flew by private jet from France to Spain during his last fatal illness. In 1997 Zac inherited an estimated £300 million fortune from his late father's estate, but supports increased taxation on polluting industries he feels are "under-taxed", such as air travel.[4]

During his teens Goldsmith became interested in environmental issues when his father gave him a copy of Helena Norbert-Hodge's book 'Ancient Futures' with a note: "This will change your life.[5] Goldsmith began his career as a researcher[6] with Norbert-Hodge's International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC), which took him to posts in California and Ladakh.[7] In Ladakh, he directed a tourist education program.[8]

In 1997 the ISEC took over The Ecologist and Goldsmith was given a post as letters editor. In 1998 he became editor and director of The Ecologist. He toned down the academic character of the publication in an attempt to make it accessible to a wider audience. He also announced plans to launch a US version of the magazine at some point.[9]

In September 1998, with Goldsmith at the helm, The Ecologist targeted the multinational genetic engineering company Monsanto.[10] in a series of articles that documented the company's environmental track record.[11] The magazine's printing firm Penwells destroyed all 14,000 copies of the issue in an effort to avoid litigation[12] after checking with their barristers and concluding that the article "might have been libelous".[13]

Goldsmith stated: "Not once in 29 years has this printer complained about or expressed the slightest qualms about what we were doing."[14] Goldsmith believed Monsanto had pressured Penwells, saying, "I have no evidence to support this. If they weren't contacted by Monsanto, then that is even more scary. This company, through reputation alone, has managed to bring about what is, as far as we are concerned, de facto censorship."[15]

A Monsanto representative countered, "We are being accused of putting pressure on a printer in an effort to stop publication of his magazine. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense for us to try to pressure a printer into not printing a particular magazine when that magazine has their issue on computer disks and can take it to any printer on earth for production. And what printer would listen to Monsanto on this when the paper has been a client for 27 some years?"[16]

Since the debacle the UK's two leading magazine distributors W H Smith and Menzies Distribution have refused to carry The Ecologist.[17] They informed Goldsmith that they'd made this decision in order to prevent legal problems based on the magazine's content.[18] However the conflict raised both Goldsmith and the magazine's profile and increased sales.[19]

In 2001, Goldsmith announced that he would present The Ecologist magazine's 'Environmental Steward of the Year' award to US President George W. Bush."[20] He reasoned: "It's not because I like Bush - I loathe him and see him as a criminal - but because he has single-handedly put the environment at the top of the global agenda."[21]

In 2001 Goldsmith also slammed members of the British government calling them "cowards" for their approach to environmental issues and he complained "we live in an era of cartoon politics".[22]

In 2002 Goldsmith helped establish FARM, an organization that serves to unite farmers and environmentalists. Goldsmith also participated in founding the Organic Targets Bill Campaign.[23] He is a patron of the Mihai Eminescu Trust,[24] which aims to conserve and maintain villages and communities in Transylvania and the Maramures. He is also a patron of The Manuka Club, his brother Ben's charity.[25] In 2003 he was awarded the Beacon Prize for Young Philanthropist of the Year. In 2004 he received the Global Green Award for International Environmental Leadership.[26]

Goldsmith is a pro-hunting advocate. He is also opposed to nuclear power.[27]

Goldsmith supports the Democracy Movement,established by his brother Robin. He explained his position on anti-globalisation thus:"It is about the erosion of democracy, and the advancement of big corporations. Europe is a decision-making machine that has grown far too big. We have no access to the decision-makers, we don't even know who they are. We do need to work globally to counter major issues like climate change, but the EU is not solving problems. It's about changing the playing field to suit the interests of multinationals."[28]

Goldsmith sits on the board of The European Foundation, which seeks to reform the European Union and renegotiate the treaties of Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice.

Goldsmith is a financier with a broad portfolio of investments, ranging from the gaming industry to the doomed daily sports newspaper The Sportsman.[29] Goldsmith frequently invests with his younger brother Ben. Among their more successful ventures is the member-only Drones Club in London.[30] In 2006, they attempted to purchase Annabel's, the nightclub named after their mother and owned by her first husband Mark Birley. However, Birley refused to sell to them and proclaimed,"No Goldsmith will ever own Annabel's." In August 2006, they attempted to purchase the Clermont Club, the casino above Annabel's, but they were outbid by Malaysian billionaire Quek Leng Chan.[31]

Following in the footsteps of his father who was a member of the Clermont Set, Goldsmith is a fervent gambler and frequent guest at Aspinalls, a members-only club[32] where he often plays with his friend Tom Parker Bowles.[33] Of his gambling, he has said "I could get out of control but I don't lose very much."

In 2004 Goldsmith finished 3rd in the Poker Million Masters II final table.

In May 2006 Goldsmith placed a bet with Ladbrokes that his former brother-in-law Imran Khan will become prime minister of Pakistan. Goldsmith reasoned,"He WILL become prime minister - or he'll be assassinated. One or the other."[34]

Despite his inclusion on the Conservative Party's A-List, Goldsmith insists, "I am very, very cynical, and have never had much affection for politicians."[35]

Prior to becoming a Conservative Party advisor he supported UKIP and the Green Party of England and Wales.

Goldsmith is co-chairman of the Conservative Party's Quality of Life Policy Group.[36] A report published by the committee in October 2006 came out in favor of imposing carbon taxation.[37] Coincidentally, Goldsmith's brother Robin Birley is the owner of Envirotrade, a company which sells 'carbon credits' to large corporations. The carbon credits allow the buyers higher pollution quotas.[38]

Born in Westminster, London, England, Goldsmith is the middle child of the late billionaire Sir James Goldsmith and Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart. His parents had a polyamorous relationship[39] and they were both married to other people at the time of his birth.[40] However they eventually divorced their spouses and were married in 1978. His father maintained simultaneous relationships with his second wife, Zac's mother and his mistresses,[41] among them Zac's own first cousin Lady Cosima Somerset, daughter of Annabel's brother, the 9th Marquess of Londonderry.[42] In 1981, his father moved to New York[43] and was henceforth an occasional presence during his childhood.[44] He was raised at Ormeley Lodge, the family home in Surrey, and in France.[45]

Goldsmith has an older sister, socialite Jemima Goldsmith and a younger brother, Ben. He also has several half-siblings: Isabel from his father's first marriage; Alix and Manes from his father's second marriage; as well as Jetho and Charlotte,[46] Zac's younger half siblings by Laure Boulay, Comtesse de la Meurthe,[47] his father's mistress.[48] From his mother's first marriage to Mark Birley he has two brothers Rupert and Robin and a sister India Jane.[49] In 1986 his brother Rupert Birley drowned whilst working in Togo, West Africa.[50]

Goldsmith has strong family ties to the Conservative Party. His brother Robin Birley makes large financial contributions to the party and both of his grandfathers were conservative members of parliament, Frank Goldsmith for the Tories and the 8th Marquess of Londonderry for Ireland's Unionist party. Goldsmith's politics are green and euro-sceptic, heavily influenced by his father Sir James Goldsmith and his uncle Edward Goldsmith.

Zac enrolled at Eton College but was expelled at the age of 16 when marijuana was discovered in his room. Goldsmith claims it wasn't his.[51] He earned 4 A Levels from a Cambridge sixth-form college[52] before leaving England to travel. Goldsmith is a contributing editor for fellow Old Etonian Ben Elliot's magazine Quintessentially.[53]

In 1999, he married model Sheherazade Ventura. The couple have three children: Uma, Thyra and James. The family share their time between London, and their 300 acre ecological estate in Devon.

In February 2006 Goldsmith and his wife made 'Vanity Fair' magazine's 67th annual International Best-Dressed List.[54] Goldsmith has been known to recycle his father's old clothes and claims to only have purchased two pair of shoes in his life.[55]

In September 2006, the Sunday Mirror reported that Goldsmith had been having an affair with a friend of his wife's, 22 year old heiress Alice Rothschild; whose sister Kate is married to his brother Ben Goldsmith.[56]

Alice Rothschild has since moved to the US.[57]

Goldsmith insists on not discussing his private life in the media.

Goldsmith supports a variety of environmental and agricultural causes. In September 2006 Goldsmith helped organized £10,000-a-head charity poker tournament at Fifty, a private club in London.[58] In November 2006 he co-hosted a £2500 a plate luncheon benefit for the Old Vic.[59] He is a member of The Fortune Forum.[60] Goldsmith is also a trustee of the Royal Parks Foundation.[61]

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