Crispin Odey drops £79m libel claim against FT over sexual misconduct allegations

Crispin Odey, the former hedge fund manager, has dropped his £79m libel claim against the Financial Times over its reporting of sexual misconduct allegations against him, his lawyers have said.In 2023, the FT published several articles from 20 women alleging sexual assault and harassment against Odey, covering a period of five decades. He has previously denied the allegations against him.On Friday, lawyers for the former hedge fund tycoon, 67, said he had been “forced to accept” that the newspaper was “likely to succeed in establishing” its public interest defence.A letter said: “Having just endured the stress and strain of a three-week trial in the Upper Tribunal, he does not wish to pursue another lengthy trial at considerable cost, only to fail on the issue of public interest, even if he was successful, as he believes he would be, in demonstrating that he is not the violent predator he was presented as being in the articles.”Odey’s decision to drop his claim follows a three-week hearing in which he challenged a decision by the Financial Conduct Authority, the City regulator, to ban him from the financial services industry.The trial at the upper tribunal in London, before Mr Justice Thompsell, upper tribunal Judge Jones and upper tribunal member Cathy Farquharson, is due to return in May for lawyers on each side to close their case.He launched the libel claim in May 2024, saying at the time he suffered “very significant financial loss” because of the articles.The allegations, which emerged in the media in 2023, led to him being removed from Odey Asset Management.The firm, which was set up in 1991 and was once one of Europe’s largest hedge fund companies, announced plans to close in October that year.In its defence, the FT had pleaded the accounts of 15 women willing to come to testify in court on its behalf.The FT’s editor, Roula Khalaf, said: “This is a vindication for investigative journalism and for the victims whose stories of abuse we reported.“The FT was always confident in its reporting. This is a case that should have never been brought.”In March 2025, Odey was provisionally banned from working in financial services and fined £1.8m by the UK regulator for a “lack of integrity”.The FCA said at the time that Odey had attempted to “frustrate” a disciplinary process into sexual harassment allegations against him, and his conduct proved he was “not a fit and proper person to perform any function”.