John Caudwell and Modesta Vžesniauskaitė have offered their home to Ukrainian refugees
(Picture: (Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire)Good Morning Britain hosted billionaire John Caudwell, who said he would heat only one room of his mansion to spite Vladimir Putin.
The mobile phone entrepreneur from Eccleshall in Staffordshire said he has turned off the heat and is using an extra duvet in support of Ukraine and the environment.
Speaking to the hosts, he said: “The first point is, I’ve been an environmentalist for 30 years and predicting really catastrophic consequences of what we’re doing to this planet, and we’re not doing enough to protect the planet.
"Point number two: I really wanted Europe to stop buying Putin’s war money (oil and gas). Of course, Europe would have faced absolutely dire consequences if we’d have stopped purchasing – we’d have collapsed from a financial point of view.
“But I find it very, very difficult to justify feeding Putin’s war machine so that us Europeans can live a comfortable-ish life and, at the same time, slaughter Ukrainian people."
He added: "It’s a symbolic gesture that, of course, on its own, makes no difference at all. But the other aspect of it as well is I’m saying to people, ‘Look, just cut down your energy cost because you’re all moaning about the cost of energy’.”
Caudwell also revealed that he has turned down the heat of his swimming pool.
But who is the billionaire and how did he make his fortune?
Who is John Caudwell?
John Caudwell is a British billionaire who was born in Birmingham but grew up in Stoke-on-Trent.
At age 18, Caudwell lost his father to heart issues and dropped his A-levels to become an apprentice at tyre manufacturing company Michelin.
Finding his entrepreneurial spirit early, he gained a diploma in mechanical engineering, while simultaneously running a corner shop and a mail order business selling clothes to motorcyclists.
In 1987, he registered a mobile phone wholesalers, working at a loss for two years until he evolved the business into a high street and network provision business.
Caudwell has various other interests including ownership of the South African F1 Powerboat racing team Caudwell Racing, various charities under his name, including Caudwell Children, which is funded with £2 million a year, and donations to Lyme disease research, which almost a dozen people in his family suffer from.
He is currently in a relationship with Lithuanian former Olympian cyclist Modesta VžesniauskaitÄ, with whom he has one son.
Caudwell has five other children from his previous relationships and his first marriage of 25 years to Kate McFarlane.
What is John Caudwell’s net worth?
John Caudwell has a net worth of £2.4 billion.
In 2006, he sold his wider phone business for £1.46 billion.
Caudwell is also the owner of the UK’s most expensive property, a £250 million mansion in Mayfair, but stays at his main residence, the Grade I listed Broughton Hall in Staffordshire.
