You May Never See Us Again

‘Part Ozymandias, part Succession‘ – Financial Times

‘A tour de force‘ – Guardian
A Financial Times Book of the Year 2023

The inside story of the rise and fall of the Barclay brothers, secretive business titans and one-time owners of the Ritz and the Daily Telegraph

Born poor, the Barclay brothers were enigmatic twins who built one of the biggest fortunes in Britain together from scratch and spent six decades at the epicentre of business, media and politics. Their empire, said to be worth £7bn at its height, included Littlewoods, the Ritz Hotel, the Daily Telegraph and the channel island of Brecqhou. They were major advocates for Brexit and well-connected with influential politicians including Margaret Thatcher, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage.

And yet despite their fortune and influence, their fiercely guarded desire for privacy has meant that their story has remained largely unknown – until a very public family dispute pitched Barclay against Barclay in the High Court.

In You May Never See Us Again, journalist Jane Martinson unravels the fascinating story of these once inseparable billionaire brothers. Through their lives she offers compelling insights into post-war Britain, from the conditions that enabled their way of doing business to thrive, through to the tightly enmeshed webs of influence between capitalism, politics and the media that shape Britain today.