Media baron Black enjoyed lavish lifestyle

The flamboyant larger-than-life character with a ruthless business mind bought his first newspaper more than 30 years ago and went on to run hundreds of titles around the world, including the Daily Telegraph in the UK.

With homes in New York, Toronto, Florida and London, the socialite is known to enjoy the company of the rich, powerful and famous, with his glamorous second wife, journalist Barbara Amiel, 66, by his side.

But Black has seen his empire and power unravel in the space of four years as he faced the racketeering, fraud and obstruction of justice charges.

He was born in Montreal, Canada, on August 25 1944. His father George was a wealthy brewery executive. Black’s entrepreneurial skills first caused him trouble when he was expelled as a 14-year-old student from Toronto’s elite Upper Canada College after he made $1,400 by selling his classmates’ stolen exams.

He went on to read history at Carleton University, law at Laval and achieved an MA from McGill before he bought his first newspaper, the Eastern Townships Advertiser in Quebec, in 1966.

His media empire began to develop as he bought more small Canadian newspapers before he co-founded the Sterling Newspapers Group in 1971.

Seven years later, he became chair of the Argus Corporation, from which he launched the Hollinger group.

By the 1990s, Hollinger controlled 60% of Canadian newspapers, along with hundreds of dailies in England, the US, Australia and Israel.

At its peak in 1999, Hollinger had revenues of more than two billion dollars and Black was publisher of the third-biggest group of newspapers in the world.

Black’s first marriage was to Joanne (born Shirley) Hishon, of Montreal, by whom he has two sons, Jonathan David Conrad and James Patrick Leonard Black, and a daughter, Alana Whitney Elizabeth Black.

The couple divorced in 1992, the same year that Black married England-born Barbara Amiel.

He hit the headlines again when the British government moved to ennoble him and was opposed by Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien, who used the Nickle Resolution of 1919 to rule that foreign governments could not grant honours to Canadians that carry a title of privilege.

After an unsuccessful court challenge, Black renounced his Canadian citizenship and was officially inducted into the House of Lords as Lord Black of Crossharbour on October 31 2001.

Crossharbour lies near to what was then the site of the Daily Telegraph building in the Docklands, one of the crown jewels of the Hollinger International empire.

During these glory days at the turn of the century, Black and his second wife Barbara were known for throwing lavish parties in their Kensington home in London. The couple also owned mansions in Toronto and Palm Beach, Florida, along with an apartment on Park Avenue, Manhattan.

During the trial, a long list of the trappings of wealth that Black used to make this company flat, near New York’s Central Park, habitable emerged.

These included Napoleon Bonaparte’s shaving stand and a set of marble elephant carvings that cost $17,710 (€12,800), a heated towel rail which cost $4,399 (€3,200), and a $9,800 (€7,100) set of Louis XVI painted stools with rails carved in a Guilloche pattern.

He also developed a reputation as a merciless businessman with a love of suing anyone who crossed him.

But by 2003, his downfall had begun.

Black lost control of Hollinger International, his newspaper empire that stretched from Canada halfway across the world, when minority shareholders in the US accused him of siphoning off millions of dollars of their money in unauthorised payments to himself.

A special committee of Hollinger’s board found what it called evidence of “excessive” fees paid to Black and other executives, and demanded repayment.

Black brushed off the allegations, writing to the company’s investor relations officer: “Two years from now, no one will remember any of this.”

But he was ousted as chief executive in November 2003 and, two months later, also lost his chairmanship as the company sought $200m (€145m) in damages in a suit filed against him in Chicago.

Hollinger Inc, the Toronto-based parent company of the publishing company, also filed lawsuits.

Black countersued and then tried to sell Hollinger’s key newspaper titles to the Barclay brothers, but was blocked in court by Hollinger International.

On August 31 2004, the special committee’s damning report, which accused Black of running Hollinger like a “corporate kleptocracy”, was made public by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The report accused Black and other executives of taking hundreds of millions of dollars that they were not entitled to.

Black sued the special committee for defamation.

Then in September 2005, Black’s former associate and long-term friend David Radler pleaded guilty to a single count of mail fraud as part of a scheme to divert more than $32m (€23m) from Hollinger International.

Radler agreed to testify for the US government and was given a reduced sentence of 29 months in jail.

Black’s Toronto-based holding company, Ravelston, was also charged and pleaded guilty, despite Black’s objections, to one count of mail fraud.

Criminal charges of racketeering, obstruction of justice and money laundering were laid against Black in December 2005, followed by charges of criminal tax evasion the following year.

Black said he was entitled to the so-called “non-compete” payments which he was given, and described the allegations as “monstrous defamations”. Even some of Black’s critics acknowledge he believes he has done nothing wrong.

Meanwhile, Black is also trying to regain his Canadian citizenship.

In an opinion piece headlined “I am not afraid”, which was published before his trial began, Black wrote: “I have never been happier to be Canadian.”

The 62-year-old has also published books on a number of topics, including the 2003 biography Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion Of Freedom, which was described by Publisher’s Weekly as “not only the best one-volume life of the 32nd president but the best at any length, bound to be widely read and discussed”.