| Intro | South African-born businesswoman | ||||
| A.K.A. | Christina Green, Lady Green | ||||
| Is |
Businessperson |
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| From |
South Africa |
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| Type |
Business |
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| Gender | female | ||||
| Birth | South Africa | ||||
| Residence | Monaco | ||||
| Family |
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Christina “Tina” Green, Lady Green (b. 1948 or 1949), is an English billionaire businesswoman, who is based in Monaco.
Early life
She was born in England (not South Africa as is sometimes suggested), to a father who “worked in the wine trade”, and travelled widely when young.
Career
Married to British retail businessman Sir Philip Green, her second husband, Tina Green owns all the family shares in Jersey-registered Taveta Investments. As a result, she has been referred to as the wealthiest and second wealthiest woman in the UK.
Taveta Investments
Via Jersey-registered Taveta Investments and its subsidiaries, Green owns 2,300 shops in the United Kingdom. Taveta’s assets include:
- 92% of Arcadia Group, parent of Topshop, Burton and Dorothy Perkins
- Sears ‘Shoe Express’ chain
- 53% owner of Owen Owen Holdings
- In September 1999, Green became a shareholder in the parent of Mark One
- A £23m-plus shareholding in Marks & Spencer during an attempt to purchase the company at the beginning of 2000
As a result, Taveta (and hence Green) controls 12% of the UK clothing retail market, making Taveta the second-largest operator in the sector. The leader, Marks & Spencer, has been the target of three unsuccessful takeover bids from Taveta.
Criticism
Green’s wealth stems from her relationship with her second husband, British retail magnate Sir Philip Green. The arrangement between the married couple (with working-week London resident Sir Philip as the CEO or Chairman of all companies, while Tina Green remains the sole shareholder via Jersey-based Taveta Investments, but resident in Monaco) means that the couple minimise their UK taxation liability.
As a result, Sir Philip has become the target of activist group UK Uncut, initially in November 2010, for his history of corporate tax avoidance. The group targeted Sir Philip specifically as a UK Government advisor. He became the focus of anger over the programme of government cuts that campaigners said could be avoided if tax dodging was stamped out, bringing in some £25bn a year to the public purse and reducing the national debt.
On 4 December 2010, campaigners staged a sit-in at Arcadia’s flagship London Topshop store in Oxford Street. In Brighton, a few campaigners glued themselves to the branch’s windows. Other high streets in towns and cities across Britain saw similar protests in a day of action against the tax arrangements of rich individuals and big businesses.
Since Taveta Investments is owned by Tina Green, who resides in Monaco, protestors claim that the couple avoid paying £285 million in UK personal income tax, that would be payable if a UK resident owned the company. In November 2005, Sir Philip approved a dividend payout that benefitted his family via Taveta/Tina Green by £1.2bn, paid for by a loan taken out by Arcadia, cutting Arcadia’s corporation tax as interest charges on the loan were offset against profits. The payout was the biggest annual dividend payout to an individual by a British company.
Personal life
Green has been married twice.
She met her first husband, Robert “Bobby” Palos, a South African jazz drummer, in Hong Kong when she was 17 and he was 31. They married a year later. He later became a retailer, and the marriage ended in divorce. They had two children: artist and author Stasha Palos, and private equity investor Brett Palos.
She is currently married to Sir Philip Green. They have two children: Chloe, who released her own line of designer shoes under the Topshop brand in 2012, and Brandon.