House of Fraser chairman McCarthy made £135m from his stake in the 2006 sale of the shoes and fashion group Rubicon. McCarthy, 55, has a 25% stake in Aurum, the jewelry chain wherein he is also the chairman.

When McCarthy was only 15, he left school and joined Stead & Simpson, a footwear retailer. He became their full-time sales assistant and eventually worked as one of their store managers. When he was 20, he joined the central London flagship store of Kurt Geiger in Central London's Bond Street. McCarthy became part of a team that was able to develop the mid-range shoe brand of Kurt Geiger called Carvela. In 1991, he became the founder and chief executive officer of the multi-brand concession footwear retailed called The Shoe Studio. He led the management buyout of The Shoe Studio Group to Nine West in 1996.

McCarthy became the chairman of the British watch and jewelry retailer called Aurum from 2007 to 2012. It was acquired by the US private equity firm called the Apollo Global Management last December 2012. McCarthy left Aurum after the acquisition of Apollo even if he controlled 25% of the shares.

He eventually became the founding patron of New York's British School of Fashion. It was an offshoot of the GCU that opened in the year 2013.

Earnings & Financial Data