Billionaire Phones4U founder John Caudwell celebrates birth of daughter at 70
John Caudwell, the British billionaire behind Phones4U, has welcomed his seventh child at the age of 70.
Mr Caudwell said his wife, 39-year-old former Olympic cyclist Modesta Vžesniauskaitė, gave birth to Isabella Sky on Monday night.
Announcing the news on Twitter, Mr Caudwell said: “Isabella Sky was born at 10.40[pm].
“It's one of the most beautiful experiences… We look forward to introducing Isabella to her brothers and sisters, family and friends.”
The couple had their first child, William, in 2021. Mr Caudwell has five children from other relationships.
Raised in Stoke-on-Trent, Mr Caudwell dropped out of school before his A-levels to become an apprentice mechanic at a Michelin tyre plant, before later moving into mobile phone sales.
He set up Phones4U in 1987 and ultimately sold the business for £1.5bn in 2006.
Mr Caudwell met Ms Vžesniauskaitė at a cycling event and the pair have been together since 2015. The former Olympian represented Lithuania at the 2008 summer Olympics in the women’s road race. A recent Channel 5 documentary of their romance was titled "Millionaire Age Gap Love".
Speaking to The Telegraph last year, Mr Caudwell said he had more time to spend with his children as an older father.
He said: “With my other kids, I always tried to do the sports days, prize days and school theatres, but I was working huge amounts of hours so it was very difficult.
“Now, I have got the luxury of spending time with William, and really enjoying the nuances of how he changes every day. And that's really fabulous.”
Mr Caudwell and his partner live at Broughton Hall in Staffordshire, while also spending time on the billionaire’s 73 ft yacht. The pair were pictured on the boat when they first announced that Ms Vžesniauskaitė was pregnant last October.
After its sale, Phones4U subsequently collapsed in 2014, with Mr Caudwell blaming its private equity debt pile.
Administrators for the failed phone retailer have since sued Britain’s telecoms networks, accusing them of colluding to put it out of business. The networks deny the claims and the case is ongoing.
Mr Caudwell, who has signed a pledge to give away 70pc of his wealth to charity, was a prominent Brexit supporter and gave £500,000 to the Conservative Party ahead of the 2019 general election.
