The last time I met him, probably seven years ago, Spencer was wearing red braces, a colourful tie, a white shirt and gold cufflinks. You have to love it and get a buzz from working in the financial markets, otherwise I doubt that you would last five minutes.' 'You couldn't do this job just for the cash. Is it money that motivates him? 'That wouldn't work,' he says. Rumour has it that he has recently built up a secret holding in New Star Asset Management, the fund management company headed by John Duffield.
He controls 22 per cent of Icap, worth a cool £750m he owns City Index, the spread-betting firm he is also chairman of stockbroker Numis Securities and has stakes in numerous public companies. Michael Spencer has built up his Icap money-broking empire from scratch in 1986 to a company that is today valued on the London Stock Exchange at more than £3bn, and along the way, he has made millions for his shareholders - £100 invested in Icap in November 1999 would now be worth £1,083.
He has a large private wine cellar, an art collection and travels to work in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes. He likes the high life and has homes in Holland Park, New York and Suffolk. He is one the richest and most influential men in the City of London, a friend of Tory leader David Cameron and fierce critic of European federalism.
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