He was only 41 when, having amassed an estimated £450 million, he suddenly announced his retirement.
Since then, the ‘Wizard of Oz’, as Australian hedge fund whizz-kid Greg Coffey was dubbed, has snapped up an £83 million American estate in the Hamptons and the 12,000-acre Ardfin Estate on the Scottish island of Jura.
But now Coffey is at loggerheads with the jeweller who lives in the flat beneath his in one of London’s grandest squares, where another flat sold for just under £12 million eight months ago.
So distressed has Dorrit Moussaieff, 74, become by being repeatedly flooded by water which, she alleges, sloshes down from Coffey’s flat, that she’s posted a photograph on social media showing where panels in her ceiling have crashed to the floor.
‘It has affected me horribly,’ Moussaieff tells me. ‘There has been repeated flooding. The building is now not insured for water damage.’
The ‘Wizard of Oz’, as Australian hedge fund whizz-kid Greg Coffey (left, pictured with wife Ania Coffey) was dubbed, has snapped up an £83 million American estate in the Hamptons and the 12,000-acre Ardfin Estate on the Scottish island of Jura
So distressed has Dorrit Moussaieff (left, pictured with husband and former president of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson), 74, become by being repeatedly flooded by water which, she alleges, sloshes down from Coffey’s flat, that she’s posted a photograph on social media showing where panels in her ceiling have crashed to the floor
She adds that her walls, clothes, handbags and carpets are ‘saturated’ with mould.
Married to former Icelandic President Olafur Grimsson, Moussaieff alleges that neither Coffey, 52, nor his wife, Ania, have ‘even so much as apologised. They are just ignoring everything. He sub-let the property to different people.’
Instead, it’s been left to the couple’s plumber to explain each successive cascade.
‘He said it was either the dishwasher or the washing machine, and the time before that it was the shower,’ Moussaieff explains.
She holds out little hope of rapprochement. ‘I think they want me out. Greg said to me: “How much do you want for your flat?” When I told him it wasn’t for sale, he replied: “Everything has a price.”‘
A spokesman for Coffey, who now heads Kirkoswald Capital and has seen his fortune swell to just under £900 million, tells me: ‘He has no interest in buying Ms Moussaieff’s flat, and has never expressed any such interest.’
A job for Prince Harry, recently crowned a ‘Legend of Aviation’ at a Hollywood ceremony?
The Royal Household is advertising for a landing site officer to make sure each helicopter flight for members of The Firm goes smoothly. Prince Harry flew Apaches with the Army Air Corps.
‘You’ll play a crucial role in ensuring safe helicopter operations at a variety of non-aviation locations,’ says the advertisement for the £28,353-a-year job.
Prince Harry flew Apaches with the Army Air Corps (pictured above in 2012)
Mum has dementia, says designer Kelly
The Princess of Wales’s favourite interior designer Kelly Hoppen has revealed her mother, Stephanie, has dementia – and she blames the disease on the art dealer’s retirement.
‘My mother’s got the onset of dementia and she was one of the most extraordinary businesswomen of all time,’ says Kelly, 64. ‘She sold her business, then Covid happened, and it was a disaster.
‘That really made me think: “Never put your mind to bed.”‘
‘Queen of taupe’ Kelly claims her mother’s retirement was ‘100 per cent’ linked to her becoming ill.
When Prince William met Kelly, he told her: ‘My wife’s a huge fan.’
The Princess of Wales’s favourite interior designer Kelly Hoppen (left) has revealed her mother, Stephanie (right), has dementia – and she blames the disease on the art dealer’s retirement
Love’s on hand for Midwife star
Devoted to her calling at Nonnatus House on screen, new Call The Midwife star Natalie Quarry’s passions lie elsewhere when filming is over.
The actress, 25, who made her debut as Rosalind Clifford in this series of the hit BBC drama, was seen hand in hand in North London ahead of Valentine’s Day with Lewis Thorne, a Cambridge University graduate who works in technology.
They are understood to have been a couple for five years.
Quarry has described him as ‘the most wonderful person in the world’.
Devoted to her calling at Nonnatus House on screen, new Call The Midwife star Natalie Quarry’s (second from right) passions lie elsewhere when filming is over
The actress (left), 25, who made her debut as Rosalind Clifford in this series of the hit BBC drama, was seen hand in hand in North London ahead of Valentine’s Day with Lewis Thorne (right), a Cambridge University graduate who works in technology
Richard Osman has revealed how badly it went when his Pointless co-host Alexander Armstrong swore in front of Mary Berry.
‘When we were recording in front of an audience, and if it’s quite a quiet audience, we’d swear, just because they loved it. They’d go: “Oooh,”‘ he says.
But when Armstrong did it in front of Berry, Osman recalls: ‘She gave him such a stare… you could tell he’d realised he’d upset Mary Berry and he was mortified.’
Richard Osman (pictured) has revealed how badly it went when his Pointless co-host Alexander Armstrong swore in front of Mary Berry
Dame Maureen Lipman, who defended Israel after the October 7 terror attacks, has spoken out against Ireland.
Last year, Irish leader Leo Varadkar suggested Israel’s bombardment of Gaza was ‘collective punishment’.
‘You have the Irish preaching about genocide – we know what that means,’ the actress tells me at JW3, where she opened the Lovelock Hostage Bridge.
‘Ireland has a terrible anti-Semitism problem. Clean up your own f***ing backyard.’
Dame Maureen Lipman (pictured), who defended Israel after the October 7 terror attacks, has spoken out against Ireland
Cherie makes £1m
Cherie Blair has topped up her family’s bulging coffers after making £1 million last year at her law firm, Omnia Strategy.
Its net current assets increased to £8.2 million in the 12 months to April last year.
Cherie co-founded the law firm in 2011, owning more than 50 per cent of the voting rights, according to records at Companies House.
No turnover is disclosed in the new accounts.
Cherie Blair (left, husband Tony Blair pictured right) has topped up her family’s bulging coffers after making £1 million last year at her law firm, Omnia Strategy