Profile: Peter Cruddas

Peter Cruddas was principal treasurer of the Conservative Party for less than a month before he was forced to resign.

The former banker founded internet securities dealer CMC Markets in 1989. He began with a £10,000 investment and built it into a global player, with partnerships in more than 30 countries.

CMC deals in areas such as spread betting, foreign exchange and gold and oil trading.

According to the company’s website, it deals with more than 26 million trades each year. It has an estimated worth of £1.25 billion.

Mr Cruddas, who is 90th in the Sunday Times Rich List, has amassed a £750 million fortune. In 2006, he was described as the richest man in the City. The Arsenal fan, who left school aged 15, has held positions in several charities, including the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, The Prince’s Trust and Great Ormond Street Hospital.

He has also established The Peter Cruddas Foundation, which helps disadvantaged young people.

Mr Cruddas became Conservative co-treasurer in June last year, working alongside Stanley Fink. He took his former colleague’s place on the board of the Conservative Party on 1 March.

Tory peer Lord Fink will now return to the role.

The hedge fund millionaire was first put in charge of the Tories’ fundraising efforts in 2009, when he was tasked with building a war-chest for the party’s general election campaign the following year. He became a peer in December 2010.

Known as the “godfather” of the hedge fund industry, he is a former chief executive of Man Group, which he left in 2008 after 21 years with the company.

Lord Fink now runs International Standard Asset Management, another hedge fund.

He has himself donated more than £2m to the Conservative Party and its MPs over the past decade, according to Electoral Commission records.