Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Euan Blair: from PM’s son to £700m business and an MBE. Maybe it's not a laundering-scheme for Papa-Blair's corruption money

Euan Blair: from PM’s son to £700m business and an MBE. Maybe it's not a laundering-scheme for Papa-Blair's corruption money

Co-founder of Multiverse believes ‘obsession with the academic’ is holding some people back, he is right, obviously (most of the successful people never wasted their time to complete the fake formal education trap). But most of the startups in the world also did not have a father like Blair, who got rich from bribery, wars and the mass killing of so many innocent civilians. The actions Blair did in Iraq are far worse than the actions Putin does in Ukraine, so if I were his son I would be ashamed of my family name and not tarnish my venture in the dirty name of the father.
He is the son of a former prime minister, the proud new owner of a £22m home in west London, and at 38 years old, Euan Blair was on Wednesday awarded an MBE for services to education.

Tony Blair’s eldest child made headlines as a teenager for being found by police “drunk and incapable” in Leicester Square after celebrating the end of his GCSEs in 2000.

More recently, he has called on the government to consider scrapping the exams, and university degrees too, for many people. As the founder of an apprenticeship training business valued at £700m in its last private funding round, he has a financial interest in education policy.

“We definitely have to make sure we are tracking people’s progress throughout the classroom, but that doesn’t have to exist through this current obsession with GCSEs,” he told the Times Education Commission summit last month. “You end up doing mock after mock, and this becomes the end in itself rather than actually learning.”

Blair’s father was elected prime minister in 1997 after promising that his three priorities would be “education, education, education”, and later set a target of getting 50% of school leavers into university. The target was not hit until 2019.

But Blair Jr argues that the nation’s “obsession with the academic as a marker of potential and talent” is holding back people from minority groups and failing to serve the needs of employers in a digital age.

“When you look at the 50% target, the belief was, the more people go to university, the more people can access great opportunities, the more we would transition people fairly from full-time education to full-time employment,” he told the Telegraph. “It has not worked out that way. Lots of students end up in jobs deemed to be low-skilled that would not need a degree in the first place. Getting a degree does not guarantee you a job.”

Blair, who studied ancient history at the University of Bristol before going on to Yale, has said he “didn’t love studying”, but when he was growing up, going to university was seen as the only route to a top job. He says he hit upon the idea of setting up his training provider, Multiverse, after his first job at the investment bank Morgan Stanley.

“I often say to people: ‘I started my career in investment banking structuring corporate debt and derivatives, armed with a degree in ancient history and a master’s in international relations that did not teach me how to do the job,” he told London Rising, a conference discussing ideas about how to help the capital bounce back from the pandemic, last year. “I effectively did an apprenticeship as I learned everything I knew about that job on the job.”

His business, co-founded with his friend Sophie Adelman in 2016, offers what he claims is “a genuine, credible alternative that can compete with university”.

Multiverse matches school leavers with more than 300 employers including Google, Facebook, Morgan Stanley and Depop, and provides on-the-job training tailored to the needs of employees as well as personal coaching and extracurricular activities and societies akin to those at university.

The training is funded by a 0.5% levy placed on all companies with an annual payroll bill of more than £3m. This can be spent on their own training costs or transferred to other organisations, such as Multiverse.

Blair, a lifelong Liverpool FC fan, claims that some young people have even turned down places at Oxford to join his scheme.

It has also proved popular with venture capitalist investors, including Google’s VC division, which have pumped millions into the business. Late last year, a third round of funding valued Multiverse at $875m (£700m). Blair is understood to own just under 50% of the shares, which means his stake could be worth up to £350m – far more than his dad’s estimated £60m fortune.

He recently splashed some of his cash on a five-storey west London townhouse for a reported £22m. The seven-bedroom residence, which he shares with his wife, Suzanne Ashman, and their two children, features a two-storey “iceberg” basement with an indoor pool, gym and multi-car garage.

He set foot on the property ladder early when his mother, Cherie Blair, bought a £265,000 flat for him to live in while he was studying at Bristol University.

Blair prefers to dress in the relaxed style of a Silicon Valley tech CEO, in Multiverse-branded T-shirts or hoodies paired with jeans and often multicoloured trainers. He once said he had a branded top in almost every colour “so I can wear a different one every day”.

He has been praised for prioritising social mobility at Multiverse, where 53% of apprentices are people of colour and 36% come from poorer backgrounds. Last year he was appointed to a government taskforce aiming to improve socioeconomic diversity in financial services.

Blair’s life mission, he says, is to “make sure the best jobs the next decade don’t just go to the same people who got the best jobs for the last decade”.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
EU Proposes Phasing Out Russian Oil and Gas by End of 2027 to End Energy Dependence
More Than 150,000 Followers for a Fictional Character: The New Influencers Are AI Creations
EU Prepares for War
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
×