Partners at Odey Asset Management said founder Crispin Odey is leaving the company after 13 women accused him of sexual misconduct.
The prominent financier and his company were at the center of a growing crisis after the Financial Times reported on Thursday that 13 women alleged Oddy had sexually assaulted or harassed them in various incidents over a 25-year period.
“Mr Crispin Oddy has left the partnership. As of today, he will have no economic or personal involvement in the partnership,” Peter Martin, chief executive, and Michael Eddy, chief financial and operating officer, wrote in a statement seen by the Financial Times on Saturday.
They added that Odey Asset Management Group Limited, a holding company that is part of the group and majority owned by Odey, will also be removed as a member and the partnership will now be owned and controlled by the remaining partners.
OAM, which had $3.8 billion in assets under management in 2022, said it was “investigating allegations relating to Mr. Audi” but said it could not comment in detail for reasons of confidentiality. It said “further contacts” with clients would follow over the weekend.
Contacted by phone at lunchtime on Saturday, Audi confirmed that he had received notice of the company’s decision but indicated that he would fight it. He said, “You have to have (a) willing buyer, willing seller.” No additional comment was made.
A law firm representing Odi had previously said the allegations against him were “highly disputed”. Oddy said this week that “none of these allegations have ever been made in a courtroom or investigation.”
A former partner said of Odie: “The emperor now has no clothes and is losing his strength. It’s too good that you’re not there anymore. They had to get rid of him. He obviously has to go. In the end the boss got pushed for going too far.”
Odie has been an important figure in the City of London for over three decades. Since OAM was founded in 1991, it has built up a reputation for taking high risks in the market, making huge returns as well as huge losses.
He has also donated large sums to the UK Conservative Party and the anti-immigration Ukip Party, as well as to anti-EU pressure groups. In 2022, Audi has benefited from sharp drops in the value of the pound sterling after he bets on the pound. His main fund returned 152 percent in 2022.
Audi stepped down as co-CEO of the company in November 2020, but remains a majority owner. In the same month, Brook Asset Management was incorporated and nearly half of the company’s funds, including those held by brilliant partners James Hanbury and Oliver Kelton, were renamed under Brook’s name.
Several large financial institutions have already moved to cut ties with the company in response to the FT reports.
Ixane, which is owned by French bank BNP Paribas, told OAM on Thursday that it was ending the relationship. Goldman Sachs began disentangling its relationship, including with Brock Asset Management, on Friday.
A person familiar with the situation said the Financial Conduct Authority, which approves management of financial services firms and investigates OAM, has been notified of the planned change of control at the firm. The Financial Conduct Authority declined to comment.
The last time Audi’s executive committee tried to discipline him for his behavior toward women, after he broke a “final written warning” preventing him from behaving inappropriately with female employees in 2021, he fired them.
According to the former partner, extracting Odey from the company he founded would be complicated by its “complex structure” with several holding companies within the legally interconnected group. The Back Office, Legal, Compliance and Marketing departments are shared.
“As we said previously, the Executive Committee takes all allegations of misconduct very seriously. The company has strong policies and procedures in place that were followed at all times,” the statement added.