After launching the UK’s biggest IPO in five years, The Hut Group (THG) founder and chief executive Matt Moulding has made the bold decision to donate £100m of shares to charity.
Most chief executives would be looking to buy another yacht or invest in other companies, but Moulding has chosen to distribute his significant fortune between a range of charities, through his newly created Moulding Foundation in an act of “good karma”.
“It’s a necessity. It’s a responsibility that you get when you get to this position [to give to charity],” he said.
“I can’t even believe I’m in the position to do this – it’s bizarre for me that I’m even having this conversation.
“I am surrounded by a couple of people who are very strong on charity that I’ve known over the years and who have done really well with it. I’ve learnt from them.
“It’s an essential part of business – there’s a karma to it, isn’t there? If you keep it all and you eat it all, then you’re probably not going to be in the best mental health.
“And it’s also pretty good for your children to see it, too. That’s the key driving force for this.”
Ahead of the IPO, Moulding notified the board that he would waive his salary from the group to make a charity donation of similar value, as well as making a donation equivalent to 100% of the profit the business generates over the next 100 years – calculated to be £100m.
Moulding has also waived his bonus for the period since the IPO in September 2020, while THG donated £300,000 to charity between the IPO and the end of the year instead of paying him and THG Ingenuity chief executive John Gallemore their base salaries.
The Moulding Foundation has announced that one of the recipients of the charitable funds will be The Seashell Trust, a residential school for seriously disabled children based in the North West, who will receive £5m to help construct a new campus.
Moulding told Retail Week that THG has been a long-term supporter of The Seashell Trust, but he also said he would not be involved in selecting the chosen charities to receive funds going forward.
Moulding said: “I don’t want to get involved in it. My job is to give the cash and then it will be distributed.
“I’ll be interested to see where it goes, but I’m not a part of that. My job is to create the money for the foundation to deploy.”
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