Reuben is a U.K.-based investor who shares interests in technology, real estate and hospitality with his billionaire brother, Simon. The siblings own 24 percent of Global Switch, operator of data centers in Asia and Europe. They own prime real estate across Europe including a London mansion that they are converting into a luxury hotel.
David Reuben's net worth of $6.25B can buy ...
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Reuben and his brother Simon share a 24 percent stake in closely held data center provider Global Switch. The London-based company operates data centers in Europe and Asia, according to its website. It's valued using the 2.1 billion pounds ($2.8 billion) paid by Asian investors for a 25 percent stake in the business, according to a July 2018 report.
The value of Reuben's cash investments accounts for the sale and purchase of assets, including the sale of two stakes in Global Switch, as well as taxes, market performance and the cost of his investments. Spokesman Charles Stewart-Smith confirmed the pair share the businesses equally.
They also have U.K. real estate, according to a Bloomberg analysis of property records. Their property holdings include the former In and Out Club in London's Mayfair neighborhood that they bought for more than $200 million in 2011. The value of their holdings is based on price data for the relevant London districts published by brokers Savills, Colliers International, real estate data provider IPD and property developer Grosvenor.
The brothers hold a range of other closely held investments in transportation, leisure, mining, banking and technology, including airports, pubs, hotels and racetracks. These are valued using reported acquisition costs, valuations of comparable peers or book value and included in his cash balance.
David Reuben was born in Mumbai, then called Bombay, in 1938, three years before his younger brother, Simon. The sons of Jewish parents from Iran, the pair moved to London as teenagers. David became a scrap metal dealer and began trading metal in the Soviet Union with Merrill Lynch in 1974. Three years later, he teamed up with Simon to create metals trader Trans-World Group.
They established a Russian office in 1991, and, with the help of partner Lev Chernoy, bought controlling stakes in Russian and Ukrainian aluminum plants. Five years later, they were the world's third-largest producer of the metal, with sales reaching $6 billion in 1997. The company was criticized by Russia's politicians and media, who attacked the Trans-World's profit margins.
Faced with fines from Moscow and disgruntled ex-managers who were maneuvering to take control of their smelters, the brothers sold their interest in the company in 2000 for $250 million to billionaire Oleg Deripaska, and invested the proceeds in real estate, leisure interests and technology companies.
In 2007, they bought full control of Global Switch, a data center company that now has nine data centers around the world. They sold a 49 percent stake in the business for $2.94 billion in December 2016. The pair acquired a dilapidated mansion in London's Mayfair neighborhood for $200 million cash that they plan to develop into a luxury hotel. They also established a namesake foundation focused on education and poverty relief, endowing it with $100 million in 2002.
Reuben lives in London with his wife. The couple have a son, Jamie.