The founder of ASOS has died in Thailand. What you Need to Know about Quentin Griffiths

The British multi-millionaire and co-founder of the online store ASOS died in Pattaya on February 9th. The circumstances of his death are called suspicious, since shortly before his death he was under investigation at the request of his ex-wife. Who is Quentin Griffiths and why his sudden death has raised so many questions is in the Izvestia article.

Circumstances of death

• 58-year-old multimillionaire Quentin Griffiths allegedly fell from the balcony of his apartment located on the 17th floor of a building in Pattaya: the body was found on the ground under the balcony. The police say that Griffiths fell out of the room, which was locked from the inside: there were no signs of forced entry on the door, and there was no obvious disorder inside.

However, law enforcement officials do not rule out that the millionaire's death could have been violent, since shortly before his death Griffiths was in conflict with his ex-wife. The police have collected witness statements and CCTV footage, and additional forensic examinations will be conducted during the investigation: the investigation may take several months.

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Conflict with ex-wife

Griffiths separated from his first wife, the mother of his three children, in 2007, and moved to Thailand after the divorce. His second wife was a Thai woman who bore him a son and a daughter. The couple ran a joint business, which led to a conflict between the former spouses after the divorce.

• Griffiths' ex-wife accused him of stealing 500,000 pounds ($673,000) from a company they jointly managed. According to the woman, her husband forged documents for the sale of land and shares without her knowledge. Last year, the millionaire was questioned by the police — he denied everything. Despite the fact that Griffiths was released immediately after the interrogation, the case was not closed at the time of his death.

Businessman and investor

• Quentin Griffiths was one of the founders of the online clothing store ASOS along with Nick Robertson, Andrew Regan and Deborah Thorpe. Griffiths served as Director of Marketing at the company, which was founded in 2000. ASOS has become a major online retailer with a turnover of £3 billion ($404 billion), and the brand's clothes were worn by Catherine, Princess of Wales, and former First Lady Michelle Obama. But Griffiths left the company back in 2005, when the business was just starting to make a profit, retaining ASOS shares.

• He earned money from their sale twice: in 2010, he sold shares of ASOS for £15 million ($20 million), and three years later he received additional profit from sales. The millionaire earned his main fortune by using the capital received from the sale of ASOS assets for stock transactions. Griffiths also founded online home improvement stores Achica, EBTM music, and Adili fashion, but none of the projects he invested in could replicate the success of ASOS. Adili was eventually sold by Griffiths for a nominal sum of £1 ($1.3 million).

• Before selling ASOS shares, in order to reduce taxes, Griffiths registered on the island of Guernsey, an offshore area popular with British big business. He received this advice from his accountant Mark Savage from the auditing firm BDO. But in 2019, the millionaire sued the company, claiming that he had lost about £4 million ($5 million) due to incorrect investment advice.

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