The Reuben Brothers: Cash is King
David and Simon Reuben went from trading scrap metal to becoming the second richest family in the UK, buying up Prime Central London entirely in cash during the 2008 crash.
David and Simon Reuben are notoriously private, but their property portfolio is anything but. From Piccadilly to Mayfair, they own massive swathes of prime London real estate, alongside data centres, racecourses, and airports.
Buying the Dip with Cash
The Reubens initially made their billions in the Russian aluminium wars of the 1990s. When they returned to the UK, they pivoted entirely to real estate. Their true genius was demonstrated during the 2008 financial crash. While highly-leveraged developers were going bankrupt and banks stopped lending, the Reubens sat on billions in liquid cash.
They became the 'lender of last resort', providing high-interest mezzanine finance to desperate developers. When the developers inevitably defaulted, the Reubens foreclosed and took the prime assets at rock-bottom valuations. By having liquid capital when credit dried up, they acquired legendary buildings like the Millbank Tower and the Piccadilly Estate at severe discounts. The lesson? Leverage builds wealth in a bull market, but cash buys empires in a bear market.