News that Sir Tom Hunter is going to give away his personal fortune before he dies comes as another cruel blow to followers of clubs from Ibrox.
A billionaire, from Ayrshire involved in sports businesses and not prepared to lob some loose change to the cause!
So far Hunter, who made his fortune initially by selling trainers then setting up Sports Division, has given away £54m and is a passionate supporter of many charities.
However the notion of pouring money into the bank accounts of footballers, WAGS and agents holds no appeal to the 61-year-old.
Hunter came to prominence, alongside Dave Murray during the Thatcher powered eighties and was in the magic circle that include the steel magnate and Gavin Masterton of Bank of Scotland.
Bringing in Hunter to join the ‘blue chip’ investors at Ibrox seemed a certainty allowing the Sports Division chief to take the club’s merchandising to a new level.
In a famous article in The Herald in 2000 Murray was in his pomp as he prepared to leave Celtic and Scottish football behind with his investment master-plan.
The former Ibrox chairman said: “The bulk of the rights issue is being taken up by myself and David King and some other smaller investors, including Alastair Johnston, who is a long-time Rangers’ supporter.
”We also have Trevor Hemmings coming in as an investor and Tom Hunter will join us some time in the future.
”Essentially, the investment we require is in place and we also have a major media deal in the pipeline which is very exciting and will bring in further serious investment to the club.
”I told you earlier this week that I had run the club up to now on a high-risk strategy which has involved carrying large debt.
”These days are over. The whole method of running the club is going to change, because we are in a situation right now where we do not need to take the risks we have had to take in the past.
”We don’t have to spend the same money on players, for example, as we have had to do over the past two years when we were restructuring the team after the arrival of Dick Advocaat.
Hunter and Hemmings never came on board. Upto a decade later Murray was trying to woo the genuine Scottish success story on board. In 2007 Hunter was the first Scot to feature as a billionaire in The Sunday Times Rich List.
At the same time as Murray was trying to lure him on board he met up with the Carnegie Corporation in New York and changed his motivation from making money to giving it away to good causes- Ibrox was bosyswerved.
In an interview today with The Sun Hunter explains his current motivations and it’s not about stopping 10-in-a-row.
He said: “We’re not into naming buildings — we’re more about the human capital rather than bricks and mortar. So I’m very proud we have given away £54million — but I want to give away an awful lot more.”
CLICK HERE to read about Murray’s blueprint to global domination in 2000
