Crispin Odey will have his multimillion pound High Court libel case against the Financial Times tried at the same time as a legal claim lodged against him by five women over denied misconduct accusations, a judge has said.
The hedge fund manager is suing the publication for at least £79 million in damages over four articles published in 2023, which contained allegations he had sexually assaulted multiple women, something he denies.
The FT is defending the libel claim, arguing its reporting is substantially true and in the public interest.
Mr Odey is also defending separate legal action brought against him by five women over alleged misconduct between 1995 and 2023, including one who has accused him of rape.
On Friday, Mrs Justice Heather Williams said it was “incumbent on the court” to avoid the “undesirable scenario of there being two lengthy trials” on the same issues and the “duplication of time, effort and costs”.
She said that having one trial was “the best option, or it might be said, the least worst option” to resolve the claims.
Reading out her ruling on preliminary issues in the two claims, she said that one trial would also avoid the “highly undesirable” need for the five women, who are also witnesses in the libel claim, and Mr Odey to give evidence twice.
The four articles at the centre of the libel claim were published between June and July 2023.
The FT claimed in June that year that it had spoken to “13 women who said they had been abused by Odey”, and in July said a further six had made allegations that he “sexually assaulted or harassed them”.
Mr Odey, who previously told the FT the allegations were “rubbish”, left his position at Odey Asset Management (OAM), the hedge fund he founded, days after they were published.
OAM, which was founded in 1991, was then wound down after several banks cut ties after the accusations first came to light, although it remained a registered company.
Records from Companies House, the UK’s official register, showed that Mr Odey was reappointed a director of the firm in late September last year.
Mr Odey was first sued by some of the women in 2023, and launched the libel claim in May 2024.
In documents related to the libel battle filed at the High Court, seen by the PA news agency, Mr Odey’s lawyers claimed he had suffered a “very significant financial loss” as a result of the articles, but that he “will limit his claim to the sum of £79 million”.
