Thomas John Zacchaeus Winnifrith (born January 1968) is a former British journalist, share tipster and former fund manager.
Early life Winnifrith was born on 5th April 1968, son of Oxford-educated University of Warwick classics lecturer Dr Thomas John Winnifrith (1938-2020) and Joanna, daughter of John Mackarness Booker, headmaster of Knighton House Girls' School (now part of Bryanston School);https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/nov/29/tom-winnifrith-obituaryBurke's Irish Family Records, ed. Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1976, p. 250 his maternal uncle was the journalist and author Christopher Booker."Christopher Booker on My Grandfather". tomwinnifrith.com, 18 August 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2018"Christopher Booker – The Thatcher I knew, nearly always right in the end". uk.advfn.com, 28 April 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2018 His mother committed suicide in 1976."The deaths of my mother and aunt". tomwinnifrith.com, 23 October 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2018 His paternal grandfather, Sir John Winnifrith (brother to actress Anna Lee), was a senior civil servant in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.Burke's Irish Family Records, ed. Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1976, p. 250People of Today, Debrett's Ltd, 2001, p. 2126MR THOMAS JOHN ZACCHAEUS WINNIFRITH. Companies in the U.K. Retrieved 22 June 2015. He studied PPE at Christ Church, Oxford (1987–90), graduating with a lower second degree.tom winnifrith. LinkedIn. Retrieved 22 June 2015
Career Winnifrith is the founder and editor"Woodford Internet Nemesis Claims Vindication" Nishant Kumar, Bloomberg, 8 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019. of the website Shareprophets.com. He was at one stage chief executive and founder"Real Man Tom slices up his empire in tasty pizza sell-off." Anna White, The Telegraph, 2 May 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2015. of former ISDX listed Rivington Street Holdings (RSH)https://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/ltd/rivington-street-holdings-(uk)|Companies in the UK"Hero-to-zero RSH may have done too much, too soon." Derek Pain, The Independent, 2 June 2012. before stepping down in 2011.Comeback for Peter Webb as T1PS review prompts Winnifrith exit. Gavin Lumsden, citywiremoney, 29 May 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
He has formerly worked as a financial journalist for Investors Chronicle and the London Evening Standard. Winnifrith was the resident investment expert on the Channel 4 game show Show Me The Money."Tom Winnifrith quits". IOM Today, 11 July 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
Controversy
Winnifrith was expelled from the Liberal Democrat Party by Paddy Ashdown in 1993 for allegedly "pandering to racism". He was subject to an investigation by Metropolitan Police Service at the request of the Attorney General at the time, Sir Nicholas Lyell, and then Shadow Cabinet Minister Jack Straw, which found no wrongdoing.
In September 2017, Winnifrith authored an article that claimed that the FCA would not be shutting down Beaufort Securities."Beaufort Securities - alarming email? Panic not the FCA is not shutting it down". Shareprophets.com. 9 September 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2018. In March 2018, Beaufort Securities was shut down, declared insolvent, and charged with fraud, following a joint FCA, FBI, SEC and DOJ investigation."Beaufort Securities charged with fraud by US prosecutors". Citywire.co.uk. 2 March 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018"Six Individuals And Four Corporate Defendants Indicted In $50 Million International Securities Fraud And Money Laundering Schemes" Justice.gov. 2 March 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018"FCA kept Beaufort Securities alive for FBI fraud probe" Citywire.co.uk. 9 March 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018"SEC Charges U.K. Brokerage Firm, Investment Manager, CEO, and Others for Manipulative Trading in U.S. Microcap Stocks" sec.gov, 16 March 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018"Share pumping and Picassos: $50m scam that killed a London brokerage" ft.com. 10 March 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018
Personal life Tom is married to Ranji Devadason,"Why i am voting Labour". shareprophets.com, 3 May 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2018 sociology lecturer at Keele University.
References