WEBVTT 00:00:03.682 --> 00:00:04.620 align:middle line:90% Greed. 00:00:04.620 --> 00:00:06.715 align:middle line:90% A culture of secrecy. 00:00:06.715 --> 00:00:08.720 align:middle line:90% Abuse. 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:12.980 align:middle line:84% Crispin Odey was one of Britain's wealthiest men 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:17.120 align:middle line:84% and one of its most successful hedge fund managers. 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:20.900 align:middle line:84% He was this bygone figure from a bygone era. 00:00:20.900 --> 00:00:23.090 align:middle line:84% He started to stroke my leg under the desk. 00:00:23.090 --> 00:00:26.285 align:middle line:84% I did not want to be alone with this man. 00:00:26.285 --> 00:00:30.510 align:middle line:84% He has continued to behave like this. 00:00:30.510 --> 00:00:32.220 align:middle line:90% He has been protected. 00:00:32.220 --> 00:00:35.220 align:middle line:84% It's been one of the quickest and most decisive unravelings 00:00:35.220 --> 00:00:38.915 align:middle line:84% of a hedge fund that I can remember. 00:00:38.915 --> 00:00:41.930 align:middle line:84% It wasn't the company that assaulted the women. 00:00:41.930 --> 00:00:44.315 align:middle line:84% He is the one who needs to be held to account. 00:00:56.007 --> 00:01:00.830 align:middle line:84% Crispin Odey is or was a very high profile financier, 00:01:00.830 --> 00:01:02.480 align:middle line:90% the hedge fund maverick. 00:01:02.480 --> 00:01:07.490 align:middle line:84% One of Britain's wealthiest men and one of its most successful 00:01:07.490 --> 00:01:09.080 align:middle line:90% hedge fund managers. 00:01:09.080 --> 00:01:11.720 align:middle line:84% He harks back to a time when the hedge fund world was a cottage 00:01:11.720 --> 00:01:14.330 align:middle line:84% industry, predominantly running money for high net worth 00:01:14.330 --> 00:01:15.110 align:middle line:90% individuals. 00:01:15.110 --> 00:01:18.710 align:middle line:84% You typically had these intense, charismatic, larger-than-life 00:01:18.710 --> 00:01:20.630 align:middle line:84% characters who had their name on the door. 00:01:20.630 --> 00:01:22.040 align:middle line:84% Odey Asset Management is the firm 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:26.150 align:middle line:84% that Crispin Odey founded in 1991. 00:01:26.150 --> 00:01:28.250 align:middle line:84% It's one of the UK's oldest hedge funds. 00:01:28.250 --> 00:01:31.550 align:middle line:84% The last bastion of that 1980s world 00:01:31.550 --> 00:01:36.410 align:middle line:84% of finance, the really, red blooded, unapologetic money 00:01:36.410 --> 00:01:37.433 align:middle line:90% making. 00:01:37.433 --> 00:01:39.350 align:middle line:84% So he's known for making some very clever bets 00:01:39.350 --> 00:01:41.558 align:middle line:84% on markets over the years, as well as some poor ones. 00:01:41.558 --> 00:01:44.150 align:middle line:84% He would take these hugely risky punts on the world 00:01:44.150 --> 00:01:46.845 align:middle line:84% based on how he saw it and where he saw it was going. 00:01:46.845 --> 00:01:48.470 align:middle line:84% Some people have said that he's blended 00:01:48.470 --> 00:01:53.105 align:middle line:84% his financial and his political interests a little too closely. 00:01:53.105 --> 00:01:55.680 align:middle line:84% It's the financial crisis that really cemented Odey's 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:57.180 align:middle line:90% reputation as an investor. 00:01:57.180 --> 00:02:01.440 align:middle line:84% He started shorting the UK banks in 2007, which is betting 00:02:01.440 --> 00:02:02.910 align:middle line:90% that their prices would fall. 00:02:02.910 --> 00:02:04.840 align:middle line:84% This would prove to be extremely prescient, 00:02:04.840 --> 00:02:06.780 align:middle line:84% and he made a killing during 2008, 00:02:06.780 --> 00:02:08.894 align:middle line:84% when the world was in financial collapse. 00:02:08.894 --> 00:02:11.820 align:middle line:84% One of our sources told us about this meeting 00:02:11.820 --> 00:02:15.360 align:middle line:84% where Crispin walks in and tells them all to short the banks. 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:17.240 align:middle line:84% And they're sitting there flabbergasted. 00:02:17.240 --> 00:02:18.697 align:middle line:84% That was part of the process that 00:02:18.697 --> 00:02:19.905 align:middle line:90% should have been carried out. 00:02:19.905 --> 00:02:22.740 align:middle line:84% But also completely captivated by this maverick kind 00:02:22.740 --> 00:02:23.640 align:middle line:90% of brilliance. 00:02:27.780 --> 00:02:29.730 align:middle line:84% Odey's also been a prominent political donor, 00:02:29.730 --> 00:02:31.660 align:middle line:84% both to his friend Boris Johnson's leadership 00:02:31.660 --> 00:02:32.160 align:middle line:90% campaign... 00:02:33.537 --> 00:02:34.620 align:middle line:90% Good afternoon, everybody. 00:02:34.620 --> 00:02:37.020 align:middle line:84% And to several pro-Brexit campaigns. 00:02:37.020 --> 00:02:39.780 align:middle line:84% After Brexit he shorted the pound, 00:02:39.780 --> 00:02:42.270 align:middle line:84% at least for a little while, so an enormous gain, 00:02:42.270 --> 00:02:44.160 align:middle line:84% like hundreds of millions of pounds. 00:02:44.160 --> 00:02:47.580 align:middle line:84% He would go for lunch in the creme de la creme 00:02:47.580 --> 00:02:50.640 align:middle line:84% of Mayfair's restaurants - Scott's, the Gavroche, 00:02:50.640 --> 00:02:54.565 align:middle line:84% the Connaught Hotel, Harry's Bar, Corrigan's. 00:02:54.565 --> 00:02:56.820 align:middle line:84% And he sort of represents this era 00:02:56.820 --> 00:02:59.760 align:middle line:84% where you go for these long, boozy lunches, come 00:02:59.760 --> 00:03:00.858 align:middle line:90% back slightly sozzled. 00:03:00.858 --> 00:03:01.650 align:middle line:90% You're still at it. 00:03:01.650 --> 00:03:02.525 align:middle line:90% You're still trading. 00:03:02.525 --> 00:03:04.110 align:middle line:84% And some days that makes you millions, 00:03:04.110 --> 00:03:05.325 align:middle line:90% and some days it doesn't. 00:03:05.325 --> 00:03:07.530 align:middle line:84% The staff there were effectively nobility. 00:03:07.530 --> 00:03:11.820 align:middle line:84% You had dukes, marquesses, viscounts, earls. 00:03:11.820 --> 00:03:15.750 align:middle line:84% Odey Asset Management feels like a sort of boy's public school, 00:03:15.750 --> 00:03:18.690 align:middle line:84% a gun cabinet to store your gun before the shooting weekend. 00:03:18.690 --> 00:03:21.330 align:middle line:84% But the world has moved on, and he hasn't. 00:03:21.330 --> 00:03:24.450 align:middle line:84% He's enormously influential, but he's also massively 00:03:24.450 --> 00:03:25.800 align:middle line:90% abused the power that he's had. 00:03:28.750 --> 00:03:32.440 align:middle line:84% In 2020, Crispin Odey was charged with one count 00:03:32.440 --> 00:03:35.350 align:middle line:84% of indecent assault. The trial was held 00:03:35.350 --> 00:03:37.450 align:middle line:84% in a magistrate's court, which was a big win 00:03:37.450 --> 00:03:41.290 align:middle line:84% for Odey's defence and decided by a judge rather than a jury. 00:03:41.290 --> 00:03:44.680 align:middle line:84% He was cleared, and the judge told 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:46.660 align:middle line:84% Odey that he could walk out of the courtroom 00:03:46.660 --> 00:03:49.060 align:middle line:90% with his good character intact. 00:03:49.060 --> 00:03:52.090 align:middle line:84% And the judge also heavily criticised the complainant. 00:03:52.090 --> 00:03:54.820 align:middle line:84% So he said that she had a vivid imagination 00:03:54.820 --> 00:03:56.890 align:middle line:84% and suggested that she was influenced 00:03:56.890 --> 00:03:58.570 align:middle line:90% by her desire for publicity. 00:03:58.570 --> 00:04:01.330 align:middle line:84% Shortly after Odey was acquitted in court, 00:04:01.330 --> 00:04:02.950 align:middle line:84% The Sunday Times ran a piece saying 00:04:02.950 --> 00:04:06.610 align:middle line:84% that a woman said he had groped her in a restaurant in 2008. 00:04:06.610 --> 00:04:09.248 align:middle line:84% A few weeks after The Sunday Times article came out, 00:04:09.248 --> 00:04:11.290 align:middle line:84% Bloomberg ran a piece saying that he had sexually 00:04:11.290 --> 00:04:14.800 align:middle line:84% harassed two women, including an employee. 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:17.920 align:middle line:84% Odey Asset Management opened an investigation into him. 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:20.860 align:middle line:84% They kept the financial watchdog, the financial conduct 00:04:20.860 --> 00:04:23.080 align:middle line:84% authority, abreast of what was going on. 00:04:23.080 --> 00:04:25.510 align:middle line:84% They found that he had violated a final written 00:04:25.510 --> 00:04:26.500 align:middle line:90% warning they gave him. 00:04:26.500 --> 00:04:29.320 align:middle line:84% They wanted to begin a disciplinary proceeding 00:04:29.320 --> 00:04:30.760 align:middle line:90% against him because of it. 00:04:30.760 --> 00:04:33.880 align:middle line:84% And instead Odey sacked his executive committee, 00:04:33.880 --> 00:04:34.960 align:middle line:90% brought in another. 00:04:34.960 --> 00:04:37.165 align:middle line:84% When that other executive committee also 00:04:37.165 --> 00:04:39.040 align:middle line:84% refused to drop the disciplinary proceedings, 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:40.180 align:middle line:90% he sacked them too. 00:04:40.180 --> 00:04:42.850 align:middle line:84% So the current executive committee at Odey Asset 00:04:42.850 --> 00:04:44.110 align:middle line:90% Management are the third. 00:04:44.110 --> 00:04:46.720 align:middle line:84% And they told the FCA that he was... 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:48.310 align:middle line:84% they thought he was fit and proper. 00:04:48.310 --> 00:04:49.908 align:middle line:84% And the FCA has been aware of this. 00:04:49.908 --> 00:04:51.700 align:middle line:84% It all just seemed to kind of wash off him. 00:04:51.700 --> 00:04:54.970 align:middle line:84% So for the next 18 months there wasn't any more negative press. 00:04:54.970 --> 00:05:00.490 align:middle line:84% Until December 2022, Tortoise Media published a podcast. 00:05:03.992 --> 00:05:06.880 align:middle line:84% According to her evidence, he lunged at her 00:05:06.880 --> 00:05:11.020 align:middle line:84% and was all over her like an octopus. 00:05:11.020 --> 00:05:13.930 align:middle line:84% She said that she was then forced to wrestle him 00:05:13.930 --> 00:05:16.450 align:middle line:90% off and run out the door. 00:05:16.450 --> 00:05:21.190 align:middle line:84% For me, the story started in October 2022, 00:05:21.190 --> 00:05:24.910 align:middle line:84% around the time of Liz Truss's mini-budget. 00:05:24.910 --> 00:05:26.800 align:middle line:84% Her chancellor was Kwasi Kwarteng. 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:29.230 align:middle line:84% Soon before Kwarteng was made chancellor, 00:05:29.230 --> 00:05:31.420 align:middle line:84% he went to Crispin Odey's private house 00:05:31.420 --> 00:05:33.580 align:middle line:90% in Chelsea for a private lunch. 00:05:33.580 --> 00:05:37.240 align:middle line:84% My editor saw this and thought, there's a real problem here. 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:39.910 align:middle line:84% A really big hedge fund manager courting the business 00:05:39.910 --> 00:05:42.040 align:middle line:84% secretary, who everyone expected to be 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:45.220 align:middle line:84% the chancellor and radically change the economic policy 00:05:45.220 --> 00:05:46.150 align:middle line:90% of the UK. 00:05:46.150 --> 00:05:49.210 align:middle line:84% He told me, there's one woman who I know 00:05:49.210 --> 00:05:52.090 align:middle line:90% had an issue with Crispin Odey. 00:05:52.090 --> 00:05:53.260 align:middle line:90% I met this woman. 00:05:53.260 --> 00:05:57.910 align:middle line:84% She told me Crispin Odey assaulted her at a restaurant 00:05:57.910 --> 00:05:59.740 align:middle line:90% about 13 years ago. 00:05:59.740 --> 00:06:02.770 align:middle line:84% Quite quickly, that one woman became five. 00:06:02.770 --> 00:06:05.570 align:middle line:84% Someone who's lunched with him for many years 00:06:05.570 --> 00:06:10.280 align:middle line:84% says that Crispin Odey is a man who, whatever the temperature, 00:06:10.280 --> 00:06:11.177 align:middle line:90% sweats. 00:06:11.177 --> 00:06:12.260 align:middle line:90% I listened to the podcast. 00:06:12.260 --> 00:06:12.950 align:middle line:90% I thought it was brilliant. 00:06:12.950 --> 00:06:15.020 align:middle line:84% It was excellently reported, really thorough. 00:06:15.020 --> 00:06:17.105 align:middle line:90% They had loads of evidence. 00:06:17.105 --> 00:06:20.180 align:middle line:84% You would hear these accounts from different women who never 00:06:20.180 --> 00:06:22.970 align:middle line:84% spoke, didn't know each other, worked in different fields, 00:06:22.970 --> 00:06:25.220 align:middle line:84% lived in different countries some of them. 00:06:25.220 --> 00:06:29.540 align:middle line:84% Yet the way they made their allegations of assault, 00:06:29.540 --> 00:06:32.270 align:middle line:84% it was like looking at a fingerprint. 00:06:32.270 --> 00:06:36.760 align:middle line:84% It was the same - the lunging, the tongue, the groping. 00:06:36.760 --> 00:06:39.550 align:middle line:84% It didn't have the impact, certainly 00:06:39.550 --> 00:06:42.790 align:middle line:84% the women who gave us interviews for this podcast 00:06:42.790 --> 00:06:44.080 align:middle line:90% were expecting. 00:06:44.080 --> 00:06:46.990 align:middle line:84% So there was no regulatory intervention. 00:06:46.990 --> 00:06:49.255 align:middle line:90% It was like nothing happened. 00:06:49.255 --> 00:06:51.520 align:middle line:84% It all just seemed to bounce off Crispin yet again. 00:06:51.520 --> 00:06:52.390 align:middle line:90% None of it hit home. 00:06:52.390 --> 00:06:54.550 align:middle line:84% Just two months later his firm was 00:06:54.550 --> 00:06:56.290 align:middle line:84% awarded management firm of the year 00:06:56.290 --> 00:06:58.570 align:middle line:84% at these very glitzy hedge fund awards. 00:06:58.570 --> 00:07:01.630 align:middle line:84% By December 2022, eight women had come forward 00:07:01.630 --> 00:07:04.090 align:middle line:84% with allegations about Crispin Odey, either to the police 00:07:04.090 --> 00:07:06.850 align:middle line:90% or to other media groups. 00:07:06.850 --> 00:07:08.710 align:middle line:84% In the meantime, myself and Antonia 00:07:08.710 --> 00:07:10.840 align:middle line:84% started trying to find new sources ourselves. 00:07:10.840 --> 00:07:14.350 align:middle line:84% You just feel like there is likely to be a huge amount more 00:07:14.350 --> 00:07:17.807 align:middle line:84% out there, so we just decided that we would do it deeper. 00:07:17.807 --> 00:07:19.390 align:middle line:84% But we wanted Paul's help because Paul 00:07:19.390 --> 00:07:22.000 align:middle line:84% had had new sources come to him post podcast. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:27.235 align:middle line:84% We got the FT to agree to let us team up with him. 00:07:27.235 --> 00:07:31.150 align:middle line:84% I started working at Odey Asset Management in March 2003. 00:07:31.150 --> 00:07:34.210 align:middle line:84% I had just moved to London from Australia. 00:07:34.210 --> 00:07:37.580 align:middle line:84% He was extremely inappropriate in many ways. 00:07:37.580 --> 00:07:41.210 align:middle line:84% The physical attention with how he looked at you. 00:07:41.210 --> 00:07:43.700 align:middle line:84% Unfortunately, being on that reception desk 00:07:43.700 --> 00:07:45.230 align:middle line:90% you are often on your own. 00:07:45.230 --> 00:07:48.530 align:middle line:84% And so that was a great opportunity for him 00:07:48.530 --> 00:07:50.150 align:middle line:90% to do whatever he wanted to do. 00:07:50.150 --> 00:07:54.170 align:middle line:84% And that's where the majority of the massages occurred. 00:07:54.170 --> 00:07:55.400 align:middle line:90% They were quite forceful. 00:07:55.400 --> 00:07:56.870 align:middle line:84% They would start on your shoulders 00:07:56.870 --> 00:08:02.300 align:middle line:84% and move down your ribs to try to touch your breasts. 00:08:02.300 --> 00:08:06.350 align:middle line:84% I remember vividly having to pin my arms to my side 00:08:06.350 --> 00:08:09.740 align:middle line:84% and cover my chest so that couldn't happen. 00:08:09.740 --> 00:08:14.540 align:middle line:84% It wasn't always possible to avoid being in his presence. 00:08:14.540 --> 00:08:18.320 align:middle line:84% I was asked to sit next to him to open the mail. 00:08:18.320 --> 00:08:20.480 align:middle line:84% And when I declined I was told I had 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:23.060 align:middle line:84% to sit there by another fund manager at the time. 00:08:23.060 --> 00:08:27.470 align:middle line:84% And that happened in a full floor of traders. 00:08:27.470 --> 00:08:30.890 align:middle line:84% He started to stroke my leg under the desk. 00:08:30.890 --> 00:08:34.130 align:middle line:84% When I moved away he laughed and said 00:08:34.130 --> 00:08:37.940 align:middle line:84% I need to start enjoying things like this. 00:08:37.940 --> 00:08:40.580 align:middle line:84% And I didn't know what to do in that moment. 00:08:40.580 --> 00:08:43.909 align:middle line:84% Because if everybody condoned his behaviour and allowed that 00:08:43.909 --> 00:08:47.615 align:middle line:90% to happen, what could I do? 00:08:47.615 --> 00:08:50.390 align:middle line:84% By February, we realised we would potentially have enough 00:08:50.390 --> 00:08:52.670 align:middle line:84% to do a full-blown investigation. 00:08:52.670 --> 00:08:53.930 align:middle line:90% We spoke to 13 women. 00:08:53.930 --> 00:08:56.180 align:middle line:84% Of the 13 women, eight said that they were sexually 00:08:56.180 --> 00:08:58.890 align:middle line:90% assaulted by Crispin Odey. 00:08:58.890 --> 00:09:02.490 align:middle line:84% I was introduced to Mr Odey through mutual friends 00:09:02.490 --> 00:09:06.150 align:middle line:90% in November 2021. 00:09:06.150 --> 00:09:09.930 align:middle line:84% I was being represented by a lawyer for a legal dispute, 00:09:09.930 --> 00:09:12.900 align:middle line:84% and it turned out it was the same lawyer that Mr Odey had 00:09:12.900 --> 00:09:14.310 align:middle line:90% been represented by. 00:09:14.310 --> 00:09:16.860 align:middle line:84% He asked me if I liked shooting pheasants. 00:09:16.860 --> 00:09:17.580 align:middle line:90% I said I did. 00:09:17.580 --> 00:09:21.600 align:middle line:84% And he said I must invite you to come to one of my shoots. 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:23.640 align:middle line:84% It was a normal shooting weekend, 00:09:23.640 --> 00:09:26.040 align:middle line:90% of which I've been to many. 00:09:26.040 --> 00:09:27.690 align:middle line:84% At the end of the dinner everyone 00:09:27.690 --> 00:09:29.820 align:middle line:90% is still sitting at the table. 00:09:29.820 --> 00:09:31.285 align:middle line:84% Odey said to me across the table, 00:09:31.285 --> 00:09:33.660 align:middle line:84% let's go and sit next door, and I want you to bring me up 00:09:33.660 --> 00:09:35.760 align:middle line:90% to speed on the court case. 00:09:35.760 --> 00:09:38.580 align:middle line:84% I picked up my glass of wine, and we went to a small room 00:09:38.580 --> 00:09:41.280 align:middle line:84% just next door to the dining room. 00:09:41.280 --> 00:09:44.610 align:middle line:84% We discussed where we were with my legal situation. 00:09:44.610 --> 00:09:46.890 align:middle line:84% We were in two chairs opposite the fire, 00:09:46.890 --> 00:09:50.540 align:middle line:84% and I got up to leave to go back. 00:09:50.540 --> 00:09:55.700 align:middle line:84% He grabbed me, and he pulled me onto his knee. 00:09:55.700 --> 00:09:57.800 align:middle line:90% He groped my breasts. 00:09:57.800 --> 00:10:01.860 align:middle line:84% He forced his tongue into my mouth. 00:10:01.860 --> 00:10:06.030 align:middle line:84% I pushed him off and said, what on earth are you doing? 00:10:06.030 --> 00:10:08.640 align:middle line:84% And then he took my hand by the wrist, 00:10:08.640 --> 00:10:11.040 align:middle line:84% and he forced it between his legs 00:10:11.040 --> 00:10:14.730 align:middle line:84% and clamped it onto his erect penis. 00:10:14.730 --> 00:10:17.490 align:middle line:84% Whilst my hand was being forced onto him, 00:10:17.490 --> 00:10:22.050 align:middle line:84% he said, this is how excited you make me feel. 00:10:22.050 --> 00:10:23.670 align:middle line:90% He did it by force. 00:10:23.670 --> 00:10:25.560 align:middle line:84% I hadn't done anything to give him 00:10:25.560 --> 00:10:28.755 align:middle line:84% any reason to think it was OK to do what he was doing. 00:10:28.755 --> 00:10:31.320 align:middle line:84% A number of allegations were incredibly violent. 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:35.700 align:middle line:84% One woman, he assaulted her by penetration with his fingers 00:10:35.700 --> 00:10:37.455 align:middle line:90% whilst masturbating over her. 00:10:37.455 --> 00:10:39.450 align:middle line:84% One incident was so traumatic that I've 00:10:39.450 --> 00:10:42.600 align:middle line:84% blocked the majority of it from my mind. 00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:46.230 align:middle line:84% I don't remember much, but I remember that at times he 00:10:46.230 --> 00:10:47.640 align:middle line:90% was on his knees. 00:10:47.640 --> 00:10:50.490 align:middle line:84% He put his hand up my shirt, that he 00:10:50.490 --> 00:10:54.660 align:middle line:84% was trying to touch my breasts, that my make-up was 00:10:54.660 --> 00:10:57.180 align:middle line:90% all over his shirt. 00:10:57.180 --> 00:11:05.600 align:middle line:84% And I think there's a reason that I've 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:08.175 align:middle line:90% blocked it from my mind. 00:11:08.175 --> 00:11:10.710 align:middle line:84% Within the walls of his firm it was an open secret, 00:11:10.710 --> 00:11:12.995 align:middle line:84% and so much so that we've had plenty of women tell us 00:11:12.995 --> 00:11:14.370 align:middle line:84% that within the first week or two 00:11:14.370 --> 00:11:17.520 align:middle line:84% of joining that they were warned don't get in the office lift 00:11:17.520 --> 00:11:19.610 align:middle line:90% with Crispin Odey. 00:11:19.610 --> 00:11:24.620 align:middle line:84% His arrogance is just extraordinary. 00:11:24.620 --> 00:11:28.940 align:middle line:84% How he has in such strange situations, environments, 00:11:28.940 --> 00:11:32.540 align:middle line:84% not just in the workplace, but in restaurants, for me 00:11:32.540 --> 00:11:36.395 align:middle line:84% at a dinner party, he has continued to behave like this. 00:11:41.810 --> 00:11:44.390 align:middle line:84% A woman who is referred to in the article as Emily 00:11:44.390 --> 00:11:46.580 align:middle line:84% alleged that the first time he assaulted her he 00:11:46.580 --> 00:11:48.680 align:middle line:84% just wants to put his hand inside her shirt. 00:11:48.680 --> 00:11:49.700 align:middle line:90% And so he does. 00:11:49.700 --> 00:11:51.600 align:middle line:84% So the second time when he assaults her, 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:52.850 align:middle line:90% she's sort of prepared for it. 00:11:52.850 --> 00:11:53.900 align:middle line:90% She screams. 00:11:53.900 --> 00:11:56.360 align:middle line:84% So she's trying to leave a meeting room 00:11:56.360 --> 00:11:58.970 align:middle line:84% that she's been having a conversation with Odey in, 00:11:58.970 --> 00:12:02.120 align:middle line:84% and as she's trying to leave he grabs her, put 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:04.760 align:middle line:84% his hands on her hips, and tries to drag 00:12:04.760 --> 00:12:06.590 align:middle line:90% her back into the meeting room. 00:12:06.590 --> 00:12:08.960 align:middle line:90% She shouts, Crispin, no! 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:11.150 align:middle line:84% And when she emerges into the hallway, 00:12:11.150 --> 00:12:15.560 align:middle line:84% she bumps into a senior male employee. 00:12:15.560 --> 00:12:18.920 align:middle line:84% And she's convinced he was within earshot. 00:12:18.920 --> 00:12:20.630 align:middle line:90% And he says absolutely nothing. 00:12:20.630 --> 00:12:22.130 align:middle line:84% There are definitely questions to be 00:12:22.130 --> 00:12:25.850 align:middle line:84% asked about what senior figures at Odey Asset Management 00:12:25.850 --> 00:12:27.500 align:middle line:90% knew or didn't know. 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:29.570 align:middle line:84% They probably had a financial interest 00:12:29.570 --> 00:12:31.737 align:middle line:90% in maintaining the status quo. 00:12:31.737 --> 00:12:34.160 align:middle line:84% Everybody knew what was happening. 00:12:34.160 --> 00:12:36.290 align:middle line:84% Everybody knew about his behaviour. 00:12:36.290 --> 00:12:38.330 align:middle line:84% One day, I was forced to go to lunch 00:12:38.330 --> 00:12:39.770 align:middle line:90% at The Gavroche with Odey. 00:12:39.770 --> 00:12:43.230 align:middle line:84% I was told that I had to go and that I didn't have a choice. 00:12:43.230 --> 00:12:45.990 align:middle line:84% It had been in the calendar for some time. 00:12:45.990 --> 00:12:48.300 align:middle line:90% And I couldn't say no to him. 00:12:48.300 --> 00:12:51.060 align:middle line:84% When I realised that I had no choice, 00:12:51.060 --> 00:12:55.410 align:middle line:84% I asked if I could bring along the other receptionist 00:12:55.410 --> 00:12:56.730 align:middle line:90% to accompany me. 00:12:56.730 --> 00:12:57.780 align:middle line:90% I didn't feel safe. 00:12:57.780 --> 00:13:00.660 align:middle line:84% And I did not want to be alone with this man. 00:13:00.660 --> 00:13:04.380 align:middle line:84% Odey was not happy with me for inviting 00:13:04.380 --> 00:13:06.540 align:middle line:90% this other receptionist along. 00:13:06.540 --> 00:13:09.660 align:middle line:84% He said that I should direct any conversation to him 00:13:09.660 --> 00:13:13.380 align:middle line:84% and that I had no social skills, because I spoke 00:13:13.380 --> 00:13:15.000 align:middle line:90% to somebody other than him. 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:19.590 align:middle line:84% He continued to say things like I would never 00:13:19.590 --> 00:13:21.630 align:middle line:84% be able to eat at a restaurant like that 00:13:21.630 --> 00:13:24.930 align:middle line:84% if I wasn't with him, that he has 00:13:24.930 --> 00:13:29.190 align:middle line:84% all the money and the power, that he is the boss. 00:13:29.190 --> 00:13:33.420 align:middle line:84% And my poor social skills were why I was just a receptionist. 00:13:33.420 --> 00:13:37.410 align:middle line:84% So going to the restaurant was the final straw 00:13:37.410 --> 00:13:40.880 align:middle line:84% because it added another level for me 00:13:40.880 --> 00:13:45.920 align:middle line:84% to be told that because of money and power and status 00:13:45.920 --> 00:13:51.510 align:middle line:84% that I could be treated however he liked. 00:13:51.510 --> 00:13:56.730 align:middle line:84% When we returned from lunch, I remember being in such shock 00:13:56.730 --> 00:13:58.020 align:middle line:90% that I sat at my desk. 00:13:58.020 --> 00:14:02.730 align:middle line:84% And every person that came down from that trading floor 00:14:02.730 --> 00:14:08.390 align:middle line:84% would make some jibe or joke about my lunch 00:14:08.390 --> 00:14:11.270 align:middle line:90% and what did I do to annoy him. 00:14:11.270 --> 00:14:13.760 align:middle line:90% Odey has come back really angry. 00:14:13.760 --> 00:14:18.350 align:middle line:84% I have no social skills, making complete fun out 00:14:18.350 --> 00:14:20.390 align:middle line:90% of this situation. 00:14:20.390 --> 00:14:26.270 align:middle line:84% And that, for me, was just as bad. 00:14:26.270 --> 00:14:28.340 align:middle line:84% There are lots of people in senior positions 00:14:28.340 --> 00:14:30.680 align:middle line:84% at the firm who absolutely knew what women 00:14:30.680 --> 00:14:33.280 align:middle line:90% said he was doing to them. 00:14:33.280 --> 00:14:38.990 align:middle line:84% Those who worked alongside him protected him. 00:14:38.990 --> 00:14:41.540 align:middle line:84% That makes them complicit in this. 00:14:41.540 --> 00:14:45.890 align:middle line:84% He had enormous power, enormous power as its owner and founder. 00:14:45.890 --> 00:14:52.250 align:middle line:84% His partners were not always comfortable challenging him. 00:14:52.250 --> 00:14:55.670 align:middle line:84% He really held people's fortunes in his hands, 00:14:55.670 --> 00:14:59.000 align:middle line:84% so the effect of that enormous power in the company 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:02.900 align:middle line:84% was to create a culture of secrecy and silence. 00:15:02.900 --> 00:15:06.860 align:middle line:84% Odey and Odey Asset Management completely got away 00:15:06.860 --> 00:15:09.440 align:middle line:90% with hiding what had happened. 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:10.910 align:middle line:90% They didn't acknowledge. 00:15:10.910 --> 00:15:13.220 align:middle line:90% They never apologised. 00:15:13.220 --> 00:15:15.530 align:middle line:90% They didn't care. 00:15:15.530 --> 00:15:22.085 align:middle line:84% It was more about silencing me so that it didn't get out. 00:15:22.085 --> 00:15:24.305 align:middle line:90% We published on a Thursday. 00:15:24.305 --> 00:15:26.150 align:middle line:84% The fallout from the investigation 00:15:26.150 --> 00:15:28.340 align:middle line:90% was both rapid and immediate. 00:15:28.340 --> 00:15:31.400 align:middle line:84% It's been one of the quickest and most decisive unravelings 00:15:31.400 --> 00:15:32.900 align:middle line:84% of a hedge fund that I can remember. 00:15:38.460 --> 00:15:41.070 align:middle line:84% It was published early morning on the 8th of June. 00:15:41.070 --> 00:15:43.830 align:middle line:84% By early afternoon that day, Morgan Stanley, 00:15:43.830 --> 00:15:46.410 align:middle line:84% which is one of Odey Asset Management's key prime brokers, 00:15:46.410 --> 00:15:49.020 align:middle line:84% had moved to sever ties with the firm. 00:15:49.020 --> 00:15:50.730 align:middle line:84% Prime brokers are crucial for hedge funds 00:15:50.730 --> 00:15:52.355 align:middle line:84% to go about their business because they 00:15:52.355 --> 00:15:54.900 align:middle line:84% offer services like stock lending, leverage, 00:15:54.900 --> 00:15:56.100 align:middle line:90% trade execution. 00:15:56.100 --> 00:15:58.290 align:middle line:84% When Morgan Stanley cut ties it then 00:15:58.290 --> 00:16:00.780 align:middle line:84% became untenable for Odey Asset Management's 00:16:00.780 --> 00:16:02.820 align:middle line:84% other relationships not to go the same way. 00:16:02.820 --> 00:16:05.580 align:middle line:84% Other firms fearing the reputational fallout 00:16:05.580 --> 00:16:08.340 align:middle line:84% began reviewing and terminating their relationship. 00:16:08.340 --> 00:16:11.210 align:middle line:84% The French brokerage, Exane, Goldman Sachs followed. 00:16:11.210 --> 00:16:13.710 align:middle line:84% Schroders said they were pulling their remaining investments 00:16:13.710 --> 00:16:14.310 align:middle line:90% from the firm. 00:16:14.310 --> 00:16:17.130 align:middle line:84% We also revealed that the UK financial regulator, 00:16:17.130 --> 00:16:20.640 align:middle line:84% the Financial Conduct Authority, was widening its investigation 00:16:20.640 --> 00:16:21.690 align:middle line:90% into Odey. 00:16:21.690 --> 00:16:24.180 align:middle line:84% He and his firm became a toxic asset 00:16:24.180 --> 00:16:25.890 align:middle line:90% within the City of London. 00:16:25.890 --> 00:16:29.100 align:middle line:84% Crucially, it really worries Odey Asset Management's 00:16:29.100 --> 00:16:31.650 align:middle line:84% clients, who know that without those banks 00:16:31.650 --> 00:16:33.315 align:middle line:84% the company simply can't do business. 00:16:33.315 --> 00:16:35.565 align:middle line:84% On the weekend, then, there was another big bombshell. 00:16:35.565 --> 00:16:37.650 align:middle line:84% The partners at Odey Asset Management 00:16:37.650 --> 00:16:39.160 align:middle line:84% said that they were going to remove 00:16:39.160 --> 00:16:40.570 align:middle line:90% Crispin Odey as a member. 00:16:40.570 --> 00:16:43.562 align:middle line:84% He suggested to the FT that this is something he would fight. 00:16:43.562 --> 00:16:46.730 align:middle line:84% I put in a call to Crispin, and he gave his very Crispin-like 00:16:46.730 --> 00:16:47.230 align:middle line:90% response. 00:16:47.230 --> 00:16:48.160 align:middle line:90% How are they going to do that? 00:16:48.160 --> 00:16:50.285 align:middle line:84% You've got to have a willing buyer, willing seller, 00:16:50.285 --> 00:16:51.280 align:middle line:90% but then hung up. 00:16:51.280 --> 00:16:55.060 align:middle line:84% At the same time you had clients of Odey Asset Management 00:16:55.060 --> 00:16:56.620 align:middle line:84% putting in redemption requests, so 00:16:56.620 --> 00:16:58.810 align:middle line:90% asking to withdraw their money. 00:16:58.810 --> 00:17:01.420 align:middle line:84% They decided to shutter the Odey Swan Fund, 00:17:01.420 --> 00:17:03.958 align:middle line:84% blocking redemptions from a number of funds, 00:17:03.958 --> 00:17:05.500 align:middle line:84% just something you only really see in 00:17:05.500 --> 00:17:07.253 align:middle line:90% quite distressed situations. 00:17:07.253 --> 00:17:08.920 align:middle line:84% Then there was another milestone of when 00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:12.520 align:middle line:84% JPMorgan, which was the prime broker but also the custodian 00:17:12.520 --> 00:17:15.369 align:middle line:84% that safeguards Odey Asset Management's assets, 00:17:15.369 --> 00:17:17.589 align:middle line:84% also began terminating their relationship. 00:17:17.589 --> 00:17:20.619 align:middle line:84% And this was crucial because having a custodian is 00:17:20.619 --> 00:17:22.885 align:middle line:90% a regulatory necessity. 00:17:22.885 --> 00:17:24.760 align:middle line:84% On the Wednesday after our story broke, 00:17:24.760 --> 00:17:26.859 align:middle line:84% the Treasury select committee of MPs 00:17:26.859 --> 00:17:29.410 align:middle line:84% wrote to the UK's financial watchdog, 00:17:29.410 --> 00:17:31.630 align:middle line:84% demanding to know what action it had taken 00:17:31.630 --> 00:17:33.220 align:middle line:90% with respect to Crispin Odey. 00:17:33.220 --> 00:17:35.170 align:middle line:84% Also on the Wednesday, UBS said it 00:17:35.170 --> 00:17:37.623 align:middle line:84% was going to sever its ties with the firm. 00:17:37.623 --> 00:17:39.040 align:middle line:84% On the Thursday, which was exactly 00:17:39.040 --> 00:17:42.100 align:middle line:84% a week after our report first published, 00:17:42.100 --> 00:17:46.150 align:middle line:84% the company announced that it was looking to break up. 00:17:46.150 --> 00:17:48.520 align:middle line:84% The company is now in the process 00:17:48.520 --> 00:17:52.750 align:middle line:84% of transferring some of its funds and its fund managers 00:17:52.750 --> 00:17:55.180 align:middle line:84% to other asset management companies, 00:17:55.180 --> 00:17:58.330 align:middle line:84% in effect dismantling one of Britain's oldest asset 00:17:58.330 --> 00:17:59.710 align:middle line:90% management companies. 00:17:59.710 --> 00:18:01.870 align:middle line:84% I think it's probably closer to a war room 00:18:01.870 --> 00:18:03.310 align:middle line:90% than a company at the moment. 00:18:03.310 --> 00:18:06.490 align:middle line:84% And how that company can go on existing without Crispin 00:18:06.490 --> 00:18:08.257 align:middle line:90% is very hard to see. 00:18:08.257 --> 00:18:10.090 align:middle line:84% Things are looking quite bleak for the firm. 00:18:10.090 --> 00:18:11.830 align:middle line:84% Too many institutions have cut ties, 00:18:11.830 --> 00:18:14.740 align:middle line:84% and I don't see them rushing back any time soon. 00:18:20.185 --> 00:18:23.500 align:middle line:84% Odey was able to get away with this behaviour for decades. 00:18:23.500 --> 00:18:25.420 align:middle line:84% I think it speaks to a wider point 00:18:25.420 --> 00:18:28.630 align:middle line:84% across many different industries about money and power 00:18:28.630 --> 00:18:32.695 align:middle line:84% and how people think they are untouchable. 00:18:32.695 --> 00:18:34.210 align:middle line:84% It wasn't the company in the end. 00:18:34.210 --> 00:18:35.290 align:middle line:90% It wasn't the courts. 00:18:35.290 --> 00:18:36.400 align:middle line:90% It wasn't the police. 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:37.990 align:middle line:90% It wasn't the regulator. 00:18:37.990 --> 00:18:41.035 align:middle line:90% It was a bunch of journalists. 00:18:41.035 --> 00:18:43.390 align:middle line:84% We have finally held someone to account, 00:18:43.390 --> 00:18:45.998 align:middle line:84% and that's benefited the lives of many women 00:18:45.998 --> 00:18:48.040 align:middle line:84% who have been quite seriously harmed by this guy. 00:18:48.040 --> 00:18:52.405 align:middle line:84% The impact he's had on them has lasted decades, in some cases. 00:18:52.405 --> 00:18:54.400 align:middle line:90% These women weren't listened to. 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:57.520 align:middle line:84% And so it has affected me, and it has affected the way 00:18:57.520 --> 00:19:02.110 align:middle line:84% I think about everything - the system, about where we stand, 00:19:02.110 --> 00:19:05.530 align:middle line:84% and how much we can trust, and how we can be protected. 00:19:05.530 --> 00:19:10.440 align:middle line:84% Because I now have daughters, and I don't want either of them 00:19:10.440 --> 00:19:11.835 align:middle line:84% to have to go through what I did. 00:19:14.430 --> 00:19:17.190 align:middle line:84% And I wanted to contribute to positive change, 00:19:17.190 --> 00:19:21.400 align:middle line:84% to highlighting systems that enable and normalise this 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:21.900 align:middle line:90% behaviour... 00:19:24.870 --> 00:19:27.755 align:middle line:90% because change is needed. 00:19:27.755 --> 00:19:30.920 align:middle line:84% He isn't just a man who allegedly 00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:33.530 align:middle line:84% harassed and abused women over many years. 00:19:33.530 --> 00:19:35.720 align:middle line:84% He's a man that evaded the scrutiny 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:37.850 align:middle line:90% of the regulator, the police. 00:19:37.850 --> 00:19:43.130 align:middle line:84% The FCA cannot just sit and turn a blind eye or pretend, 00:19:43.130 --> 00:19:46.100 align:middle line:84% in fact, that they are doing a good investigation when they 00:19:46.100 --> 00:19:47.930 align:middle line:90% are simply not. 00:19:47.930 --> 00:19:50.420 align:middle line:84% They need to take these things more seriously, 00:19:50.420 --> 00:19:52.220 align:middle line:84% and they need to act more promptly. 00:19:54.750 --> 00:19:58.710 align:middle line:84% The fact that we are scared to go to the police 00:19:58.710 --> 00:20:02.550 align:middle line:84% because we aren't going to be believed or listened to 00:20:02.550 --> 00:20:03.840 align:middle line:90% is terrible. 00:20:03.840 --> 00:20:06.630 align:middle line:84% Something really serious needs to change 00:20:06.630 --> 00:20:11.910 align:middle line:84% so sexual assault, wherever it occurred, is handled. 00:20:11.910 --> 00:20:14.130 align:middle line:84% We do know that Crispin threatened judicial action 00:20:14.130 --> 00:20:17.850 align:middle line:84% against the FCA if it continued to pursue the sexual misconduct 00:20:17.850 --> 00:20:18.900 align:middle line:90% line of inquiry. 00:20:18.900 --> 00:20:21.607 align:middle line:84% So it's possible they were intimidated by him. 00:20:21.607 --> 00:20:25.980 align:middle line:84% Why we're able to go through a list of former female employees 00:20:25.980 --> 00:20:29.790 align:middle line:84% and find them and contact them and get some of them 00:20:29.790 --> 00:20:34.120 align:middle line:84% to talk to us and the FCA can't is not clear to me. 00:20:34.120 --> 00:20:36.120 align:middle line:84% Odey's performance has been incredibly volatile. 00:20:36.120 --> 00:20:38.662 align:middle line:84% He's had some amazing years but often on a much smaller asset 00:20:38.662 --> 00:20:39.162 align:middle line:90% base. 00:20:39.162 --> 00:20:41.670 align:middle line:84% And there are investors who've lost a lot of money with him. 00:20:41.670 --> 00:20:44.220 align:middle line:84% I think it speaks to a wider point about the business 00:20:44.220 --> 00:20:47.460 align:middle line:84% model of the hedge fund industry, which appears to be 00:20:47.460 --> 00:20:49.770 align:middle line:90% a heads, I win, tails you lose. 00:20:49.770 --> 00:20:53.270 align:middle line:84% He's still got 600mn of his own money in the funds. 00:20:53.270 --> 00:20:59.105 align:middle line:84% It doesn't feel like a complete sense of justice. 00:20:59.105 --> 00:21:03.170 align:middle line:84% We've watched his company crumble and disintegrate, 00:21:03.170 --> 00:21:05.380 align:middle line:90% hopefully. 00:21:05.380 --> 00:21:09.610 align:middle line:84% I feel that is the right thing, but it wasn't the company 00:21:09.610 --> 00:21:11.680 align:middle line:90% that assaulted the women. 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:14.770 align:middle line:84% They may have aided and abetted him. 00:21:14.770 --> 00:21:17.260 align:middle line:90% He is the one who groped us. 00:21:17.260 --> 00:21:20.575 align:middle line:84% He is the one who needs to be held to account. 00:21:20.575 --> 00:21:24.790 align:middle line:84% I think the huge number of women in our story 00:21:24.790 --> 00:21:26.680 align:middle line:90% did help it to really hit home. 00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:32.770 align:middle line:84% But it is depressing that it takes that number of women. 00:21:32.770 --> 00:21:37.285 align:middle line:84% I feel enormously frustrated for the women who came first. 00:21:37.285 --> 00:21:39.940 align:middle line:84% There is power in numbers, but it's really 00:21:39.940 --> 00:21:48.180 align:middle line:84% telling of how far we have to go when we only 00:21:48.180 --> 00:21:52.600 align:middle line:84% listen to a collective voice because my voice should 00:21:52.600 --> 00:21:57.902 align:middle line:84% have been enough 20 years ago, as should of many other voices. 00:21:57.902 --> 00:21:59.860 align:middle line:84% I don't think it's that women weren't believed. 00:21:59.860 --> 00:22:02.650 align:middle line:84% The vast majority of people knew what Odey was like. 00:22:02.650 --> 00:22:06.640 align:middle line:84% I don't think they necessarily knew the extremes of it 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:08.290 align:middle line:90% or the lengths that he went to. 00:22:08.290 --> 00:22:10.780 align:middle line:84% The women are heard, but they're just ignored. 00:22:10.780 --> 00:22:14.410 align:middle line:84% The fallout since the FT investigation is something 00:22:14.410 --> 00:22:19.910 align:middle line:84% that I never imagined could ever happen. 00:22:19.910 --> 00:22:24.620 align:middle line:84% It really highlights how many more people, including Odey, 00:22:24.620 --> 00:22:28.640 align:middle line:84% need to be held accountable and what 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:33.305 align:middle line:84% we need to do to create systems that protect women. 00:22:33.305 --> 00:22:35.270 align:middle line:90% I am the mother of girls. 00:22:35.270 --> 00:22:38.490 align:middle line:84% This behaviour needs to be stopped. 00:22:38.490 --> 00:22:41.430 align:middle line:84% I don't want my children, my daughters, 00:22:41.430 --> 00:22:43.410 align:middle line:84% going into a workplace and having 00:22:43.410 --> 00:22:46.830 align:middle line:84% to be subjected to what he subjected so many of us 00:22:46.830 --> 00:22:50.120 align:middle line:90% to, so many of us.