Phones4U tycoon John Caudwell pledges to leave most of his £1.5bn fortune to charity instead of his five children to ‘rebalance the rich-poor divide’

• Founder of Phones4U pledged to give majority of £1.5bn wealth to good causes
• John Caudwell said the other 30 per cent will be split between his five children
• Tycoon splits his time between Staffordshire, Mayfair in London and Monaco 

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The billionaire founder of Phones4U has pledged to give vast majority of his £1.5bn wealth to good causes.  

John Caudwell has revealed the other 30 per cent of his fortune will be split between his five children,  Rebekah, 39, Libby, 31, Rufus, 23, Scarlett, 17 and Jacobi, 15.

The pledge is an increase on his previous 50 per cent commitment to giving cash to good causes. 

Mobile phone magnate John Caudwell (pictured with his girlfriend Modesta Vzesniauskaite, a former Lithuanian cycling champion, in 2018), has pledged to give vast majority of his £1.5bn wealth to good causes.

Phones 4u founder John Caudwell with his two daughters Rebecca (left) and Rhiannon (right) 

He told The Mirror: ‘I don’t want my kids to be broke, but if you left your kids your entire wealth, that does nothing to rebalance the rich-poor divide.

‘If they are worth several billion, what about giving most of that away and just leaving a few hundred million to the kids? They’re still filthy rich, they can still ruin their lives.

‘I don’t think leaving your kids filthy rich is going to be good for them.’ 

The tycoon, 66, claims he has paid more than £300million in UK incomes taxes in the past 10 years.

Mr Caudwell splits his time between Britain, where he owns 50-room £12million Jacobean Broughton Hall in Staffordshire and lavish homes in Mayfair in London and Monaco.

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He owns a fleet of cars, a helicopter and flies and 73-metre superyacht the Titania. 

He lives with his glamorous girlfriend Modesta Vzesniauskaite, a former Lithuanian cycling champion, 35. 

He said he ‘could easily be in Monaco with my girlfriend and paying no tax’.

Asked what his wealthy friends think of him not doing so, he says: ‘They think I’m a mug. I’ve had arguments about it.’

John Caudwell and daughter Libby Caudwell at the Chopard Christmas Party at Annabel’s in 2014 

Mr Caudwell at his charity event, the Caudwell Children’s Butterfly Ball in London in 2015

The tycoon (pictured with former wife Claire in 2014), claims he has paid more than £300million in UK incomes taxes in the past 10 years

Mr Caudwell’s son Rufus, who he is pictured with, has been diagnosed with neurological Lyme disease.

One aspect of Mr Caudwell’s life he has been unable to move on from is a chronic illness which has blighted the life of his son Rufus for the past 12 years.

From being an energetic and outgoing boy, aged 11 he deteriorated at devastating speed after being struck down with a mystery illness which left him mentally traumatised, needing 24 hour supervision and house bound for long periods because of extreme anxiety.

At one stage, the condition got so bad Rufus did not leave the house for two and a half years.

He was eventually diagnosed with neurological Lyme disease.

But the real breakthrough came when doctors much later pinpointed the main reason for his trauma, a barely known condition called Pans/Pandas.

Talking about the illness for the first time, Mr Caudwell said: ‘The person feels like they’re being attacked by a knife and it feels like the same anxiety they would feel if they were being attacked by someone.’

Yet the illness can be treated with antibiotics if diagnosed in the early stages.

Studies in the US suggest one in 200 children may have the condition.

It has inspired Mr Caudwell to set himself a mission.

‘It’s my job to try to make sure most of Britain has heard of Pans/Pandas in the next year,’ he says.

With his steely ambition, who would doubt him?

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