HATRY’S CAREER

Southland Times, Issue 20886, 23 September 1929, Page 7

HATRY’S CAREER

A FINANCIAL GENIUS

ALWAYS THINKING IN MILLIONS

SHARES FALL £8,000,000 (United Tress Assn.—By Telegraph—Copyright.) (Rec. 5.5 p.m.) London, September 21. The greatest post-war financial sensation in Britain pivots round Clarence Hatry, the directing genius of companies interwoven with a group of financial undertakings. He is between 40 and 50, though he ’appears to be younger. Immaculately groomed and of medium height and slight stature, debonoir and soft voiced, Hatry does not resemble a fictitious financial colossus. He docs not smoke outsize cigars, but has a partiality for the pipe which, unlit, remains clenched between his teeth for hours. Although he owns one of Mayfair’s most imposing mansions, which is painted white with colourful window boxes containing red geraniums, nearby Viscount Lascelle’s residence, Hatry is a simple liver and early riser. His breakfast consists of coffee and toast which is brought up to his bedroom where it is eaten while dressing. He motors to the city to enter a palatial sound-proof office with double doors and soft carpets. “Croesus of Finance.” This sanctum resembles a magnificent drawing-room in which there is an atmosphere of sublime restfulness. Here Hatry worked coat-less long after the staff departed, going home at midnight, when he partakes of a simple supper, after which he frequently reads light literature for half an hour before going to sleep. Intimates dubbed him the “Croesus of Finance.” His remarkable career commenced at Saint Paul’s School, after which he toured the Continent studying French and German. He became an insurance clerk at 25 and reorganized an insurance company involving £250,000; thence to higher finance till at one period his dealings soared to £30,000,000. Ilatry was not always successful, but his genius enabled him to regain even after setbacks. Fie had the confidence of big financiers, and it was known that he was interested in Australian and other dominion loans markets. He was always thinking in millions. Secret Negotiations. Hatry seems to have belied his calm, collected characteristics during the last few days, when Hatry shares fell £8,000,000. On Wednesday he left his mansion unusually early with personal baggage and has not been seen in familiar haunts in the city since. Intimates are of the opinion that he was secretly negotiating with bankers in an endeavour to defeat his opponents, working quietly. Meantime, Sir Gilbert Garnsey, the "doctor of industry,” called in to diagnose the Hatry group’s malady.—Australian Press Association.