Hedge fund boss drops FT libel suit

Crispin Odey has dropped his libel claim against the Financial Times over its reporting of sexual misconduct allegations against him, acknowledging that the FT would win in its defense.

Antonia Cundy, Madison Marriage and Paul Caruana Galizia of the FT report, “In a letter on Friday afternoon, lawyers for the former hedge fund boss said he had been ‘forced to accept’ that the FT was ‘likely to succeed in establishing’ its public interest defence.

“Odey’s abrupt U-turn came only two months after the FT had served him with the substantial disclosure of the evidence that it intended to rely on in court, relating to its investigations into his behaviour.

“In 2023, the FT published several articles detailing allegations from 20 women of sexual assault and harassment against Odey. The allegations covered a period of five decades.

“‘This is a vindication for investigative journalism and for the victims whose stories of abuse we reported,’ said the FT’s editor, Roula Khalaf. ‘The FT was always confident in its reporting. This is a case that should have never been brought.'”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.