Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere

Jonathan Harmsworth the 4th Viscount of Rothermere is Chairman of the Daily Mail and General Trust. At the same time he is the Director of Rothermere Continuation Ltd, ultimate global owner of the Daily Mail and General Trust PLC (DMGT). Rothermere Continuation Ltd is incorporated in Jersey, Channel Islands. The company’s main asset is the 100% holding of DMGT ordinary shares.

Outside media, Harmsworth’s business interests include property/real estate, farming, venture capital investment and events. He has non-domiciled tax status in the UK. Furthermore, he is listed as one of five beneficial owners of the Harmsworth Trust Company (PTC) Limited, the only member of the Harmsworth family listed in the Company House (United Kingdom) filing. The other four beneficial owners for the trust are legal and accountancy professionals specialised in Private Trust Companies (25% share each). However, it appears that Jonathan Harmsworth holds de facto control over the actions of the Trust, the nature of his control stated in the Companies House (United Kingdom) filing as “Has significant influence or control over the trustees of a trust”. The Trust is administered in Jersey but incorporated in the British Virgin Islands in 2023. The Harmsworth Trust is a vehicle used by Jonathan Harmsworth to manage the family wealth.

Harmsworth inherited the Daily Mail and General Trust PLC following the death of his father in 1998 and was appointed Chairman. The company was originally founded by his great-grandfather Harold Sidney Harmsworth, the first 1st Viscount Rothermere and his brother Alfred. The Harmswood family have maintained control of DMGT since its foundation with the Chair being passed down the family line, thus far to a male heir. There is also a family link to Ireland as his great-great uncle Alfred Harmsworth (co-founder of The Daily Mail) was born in Sunnybank House, Dublin in 1865. Jonathan Harmsworth bought the property in 2012.

In recent years, Harmsworth and former DMGT CEO Paul Zwillenberg (CEO 2016-2022) made significant changes to the structure of the organisation. They streamlined the business interests to focus on media, property, events and venture capital investment. In 2021 Harmsworth brought back full control of the Daily Mail General and Media Trust to the family by acquiring 100% of DMGT shares through the Rothermere Continuation Ltd. In 2022 DMGT was delisted voluntarily from the London Stock Exchange, making it private. Zwillenberg stepped down as CEO in 2022 and Harmswood took full control of the business as both CEO and Chairman of the company. In March 2023 TG Collier was appointed CEO of DMGT.

In 2023 Jonathan Harmsworth’s son Vere Harmsworth, was appointed Director of Publishing Strategy for DMG Media having joined the company in 2020 working in business development and subscription strategy. In August 2023 DMGT registered its interest in submitting a bid for the British publisher of conservative titles The Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and Spectator Magazine.

Recently the UK edition of the Daily Mail hired former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a regular columnist following his resignation as an MP from the House of Commons. The controversial hire went against parliamentary rules which state that ex-Ministers must notify the Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) of any new position they are taking up, allowing time for the committee to make an assessment on any conflicts of interest. Johnson provided his notification to ACOBA just 30 minutes before The Daily Mail announced the column.

Outside DMGT Harmsworth is Director of property management company Bryanstown (RFE) Limited. In 2015 this company purchased the Bryanstown Estate in Dorset from The Crown Estate on behalf of Jonathan Harmsworth and his son Vere as part of a strategy to diversify the family investments. The estate consists of 4,700 acres including 14 farming tenants and 40 residential properties. He is also Director of Higher Berry Court (RFE) a mixed farming entity.

Educated in Gordonstoun, Scotland, and Duke University, USA, Jonathan Harmsworth joined the family company and took on multiple roles across different entities in the group, including management of regional papers and MD of the Evening Standard. In 1998 Johnathan Harmsworth was appointed DMGT Chairman following the death of his father. He inherited the family title and sat in the United Kingdom’s House of Lords from September 1998 to November 1999 before being excluded under the House of Lords Act 1999, which abolished hereditary peers. In the past he has been a vocal supporter of the Conservative Party, particularly of David Cameron during his tenure as Prime Minister. However, he insists that this support did not impact on the editorial direction of The Daily Mail and there is no record of direct financial support for the party.

While Rothermere Continuation Ltd is incorporated in Jersey details of a company with an identical name appeared in The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists “Paradise Papers” Offshore Leaks Database. In this data the company has a registered address in Bermuda via offshore legal firm Appleby (Bermuda) Ltd. incorporated in 2014. In 2021 The Guardian (UK) were requested to retract and change details in an article which stated that RCL was registered in Bermuda.