Sajid Javid to become partner at investment firm Centricus

Sajid Javid, the former Conservative chancellor of the exchequer, is to become a partner at a London investment firm founded by a trio of his former colleagues at Deutsche Bank.

The former banker, who held seven ministerial positions in a 15-year political career, confirmed on Tuesday that he was joining Centricus, a private equity and asset manager based in Mayfair. He will start the role on 8 July.

Javid has already earned about £450,000 as a consultant for the company, which has $42bn (£33bn) of assets under management and invests in everything from football to luxury hotels and 3D printing.

The company began paying him £25,000 for up to 10 hours of work a month in March 2023, rising to £50,000 a month after he doubled his hours in April this year, according to the register of members’ interests.

He will join Centricus as a partner after the general election, in a full-time role that will reunite him with the company’s two other partners and co-founders, Nizar Al-Bassam and Dalinc Ariburnu.

Javid worked alongside both men at Deutsche Bank in the years leading up to – and during – the global banking crash, before he left to enter politics in 2009.

“The founders of the firm I know very well, because I used to work with them. Having left parliament and politics I was looking to go back into business and finance and Centricus is a firm I am very pleased to be joining,” said Javid.

“I will in my own time also be carving out time to support good causes. The motivations I had to get into politics to help others have never gone.”

Javid served in the cabinet under three prime ministers as the minister for business, health and culture, as well as home secretary. He resigned as chancellor in February 2020 after Boris Johnson asked him to sack his advisers , and was replaced by Rishi Sunak.

He rejoined Johnson’s cabinet in June 2021 as health secretary but sensationally quit in July 2022, amid a wave of resignations that ultimately brought down Johnson as prime minister.

Centricus says it focuses its investments in four areas, financial services, technology, infrastructure and media, consumer and entertainment.

The company is perhaps best known for its work advising the $100bn Vision Fund, a partnership between Japan’s SoftBank and the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund.

Centricus, whose co-founder Al-Bassam holds British and Saudi citizenship according to Companies House filings, reportedly played a big role in securing investment from Riyadh.

The company’s third co-founder, Michele Faissola, reportedly left the firm after his connections with the Qatari government created tension with the Saudis, amid diplomatic tension between the two Gulf states.

Centricus also worked with European football’s governing body, Uefa, on an alternative proposal to a plan by several large football clubs to create a new Super League to rival the Champions League.

The company was also involved in an ill-fated attempt to buy Chelsea FC in 2022, during a forced sale process triggered by UK imposing sanctions on the club’s former owner, the Russian oligarch.

Javid’s consultancy work for Centricus has previously attracted the attention of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointment (Acoba), which examines the propriety of ministers taking jobs in the private sector after their service.

Acoba said Javid’s previous role as chancellor had afforded him “significant knowledge of fiscal and monetary policy”.

It said this knowledge might be “perceived to offer an unfair advantage to Centricus, specifically information regarding potential at-risk firms”.

However, the body cleared Javid to work for Centricus.

On Tuesday, Ariburnu, who donated £5,000 to Javid’s Bromsgrove constituency office in 2015, said the firm had “benefited greatly” from Javid’s advice over the past year.

“We are delighted that he has agreed to join our partnership and firm on a full-time basis,” said Aburnu.

“We look forward to further benefiting from his in-depth understanding and experience in global markets, international business and global geo-politics to help guide and execute our firm-wide strategy.”