Testimonials

John Madejski: I'm certainly not fanatical about number plates, but I do see them as an essential finishing touch to prestigious cars. That's why I trawl through Regtransfers' advert in the Sunday Times each week. It's always been my first port of call

John Madejski has been listed as one of the 200 wealthiest men in Britain. His business interests are many and varied, and he is not a man to leave his wealth languishing idle in bank vaults. Although born with the surname Hurst, John later changed his name to that of his father, who was a Polish airman during the Second World War.

In the 1970s Madejski began work on the advertising magazine that was to become his big success story. He had originally seen a similar publication in the USA, but identified a gap in the UK market for something similar. Thames Valley Trader, a general marketplace publication, began to specialise in ads selling motor vehicles, and eventually adopted the new name Auto Trader. In 1998, Madejski sold his interest in the publishing company for an impressive £174 million.

In addition to posh cars and personal number plates, John Madejski is well known for his interest in art. In 2004 he bought a sculpture by Edgar Degas, La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans. In total, the purchase, made at Sotheby's, cost him more than £5m. In a characteristically supportive gesture Madejski promptly loaned the bronze to the Royal Academy for display in the Fine Rooms at Burlington House. Restoration of the Fine Rooms themselves was made possible by an earlier £3m donation from Madejski.

Read our John Madjeski interview here...