Michael Hintze

Credentials

MBA, Harvard Business School.¹
MSC. in Acoustics, University of New South Wales.²
Doctor of Business, University of New South Wales.³
BSc. Physics and Pure Mathematics, University of Sydney.⁴
BEng. Electrical Engineering, University of Sydney.⁵

Background

Australian hedge fund manager Michael Hintze is one of the biggest donors to the UK’s Conservative Party and has been dubbed the godfather of Tory donors by some in the British press. He also donated money to the Brexit campaign and is one of the key funders of UK climate science denial thinktank the Global Warming Policy Foundation.⁶ ⁷ ⁸

In 1999 Hintze launched his hedge fund Convertible & Quantitative Strategies (CQS) in London after stints at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse First Boston. In 2011, Hintze was also revealed as one of Liam Fox’s closest supporters. Hintze helped to bankroll office space and trips for Fox and colleagues involved with the now defunct libertarian thinktank the Atlantic Bridge. Hintze was also a member of the Atlantic Bridge’s advisory council along with Boris Johnson and Michael Gove.⁹

Hintze is also a trustee of the UK neoliberal thinktank the Institute of Economic Affairs. Hintze and his charitable family foundation have also donated to charities of the UK‘s Prince Charles, to restoration works in the Vatican, and to various organisations in the arts and museums world. The Hintze Hall in London’s Natural History Museum was so named after a $5 million donation from the Hintze foundation.¹⁰ ¹¹ ¹²

Charitable Giving

According to a search for “Michael Hintze” at the Electoral Commission, he gave at least the following amounts to political parties and candidates between 2002 and 2018:¹³

View the attached spreadsheet for more details on Michael Hintze’s political donations by year (.xlsx).

Permitted Participant	£225,000
No Campaign Limited	£25,000
Vote Leave Limited	£100,000
Political Party	£3,886,386
Conservative and Unionist Party	£3,886,386
Regulated Donee	£89,200
Mr Adam Holloway MP	£1,500
Mr Boris Johnson MP	£5,000
The Rt Hon David Davis MP	£11,000
The Rt Hon David Willetts MP	£25,000
The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP	£10,000
The Rt Hon George Osborne MP	£37,500
The Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP	£2,000
The Rt Hon Theresa May MP	£1,200
Grand Total	£4,104,586

Stance on Climate Change

While Hintze avoids public statements, he is reportedly one of the earliest financial backers of the UK’s only climate science denial thinktank, the Global Warming Policy Foundation. A dedicated supporter, he attended the group’s 2017 annual invitation-only lecture delivered by former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.¹⁴ ¹⁵

Key Quotes

January 1, 2015

“Markets are a good thing and they are the best way of ensuring we have fairness,” Hintze said in an interview with the Daily Mail.¹⁶

Key Deeds

November 2021

Hintze gave a £1,000 Conservative Party gala ticket to Tory leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch, a junior minister in the department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.¹⁷ Badenoch was later appointed Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade, as well as Minister for Women and Equalities.¹⁸

October 2019

Hintze donated £3,000 to Conservative MP Penny Mordaunt ahead of the 2019 general election.¹⁹ Mordaunt later became the Leader of the House of Commons on September 6, 2022.²⁰

October 2017

Hintze attended the GWPF’s annual lecture given by former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.²¹ ²²

July 2016

Hintze donated £100,000 to the Vote Leave campaign group on 22 June, the day before Britain headed to the polls to vote in the EU Referendum.²³

May 2014

Through a family trust, the Hintze Family Charitable Foundation, Hintze and his wife donated £5 million to the Natural History Museum in London. This was the largest donation the museum had ever received in its 133-year history, and saw the renaming of the central hall to Hintze Hall.²⁴

The money will be used for scientific research and to maintain collections, it was reported at the time. “We feel privileged to be able to make a contribution towards securing this centre of scientific knowledge and research for present and future generations,” Hintze said.²⁵

October 2013

Michael Hintze’s £3m 60th birthday bash was attended by senior Tory politicians Theresa May, Boris Johnson, William Hague, and Chris Grayling.²⁶

2009

In 2009 Theresa May, then Conservative shadow minister for work and pensions, was the beneficiary of £1,200 in “hospitality” from Michael Hintze.²⁷

2007–2009

Between 2007 and 2009 Hintze donated £11,000 to David Davis (note one donation is under a misspelling of “Hitnze”).²⁸

2007–2008

In the run up to Boris Johnson’s 2008 May London Mayoral Election, Michael Hintze donated the following: £2,000 in December 2007, £2,000 in February 2008, and £1,000 in March 2008.²⁹

January 2007

Hintze donated £10,000 to Liam Fox, who at the time was the UK’s Defence Secretary and founder of the Atlantic Bridge.³⁰