"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much,
it is whether we provide enough for those that have too little." Franklin D Roosevelt
"Greed, for want of a better word" must still be considered
"good" in the Berkeley boardroom.
But how much is enough Mr Pidgley?
At your age (68), what extra happiness or quality of life will this additional £23m bring you?
Perhaps you will use some of this windfall for charitable causes - Adult literacy classes perhaps?
Pidgley came from a humble background, being adopted from Barnardos by travellers when he was four, spending his formative years living in a disused railway carriage. After co-founding Berkeley nearly 30 years ago, he received £23.2m last year as the first of a series of payments to the company’s top executives which could total £500m over the next six years if targets for returns to shareholders set in 2011 are met.
The Sunday Times Rich List previously estimated Pidgley’s fortune at £212m. The additional £23.2 cash and shares windfall makes him one of the wealthiest executives in the UK.
Berkeley focuses on building upmarket homes in London and the south-east of England, building 10% of all new homes in the capital. Last year the Berkeley built a total of 3,355 new homes, 387
less than the previous year. Despite this, Berkeley Group reported a profit after tax of £423.5m - up 44.6%. Hardly surprising given that the average selling price of their new homes is £575,000, 270% more than the average new home sold by Taylor Wimpey.
Pidgley was one of several FTSE executives that showed their support for the Conservatives in a letter to The Daily Telegraph in the run up to the general election in May. No doubt in gratitude to this overly builder-friendly government for the taxpayer funded 'Help to Buy' subsidy that has 'helped' all housebuilders to record profits.
Clearly they are "all in it together"
