| Millbank Tower, the former home of the Labour party, has a new owner. Step forward the Reuben brothers, reclusive metal traders and now property developers, who made their fortune in the Russian aluminium industry in the early 1990s. The purchase of the famous tower for £120m marks a frenetic period of London property dealing by the Reubens. They bought a prime site in Mayfair last year and have been trying to buy another in the Victoria area for £110m. The big prize, though, could be the John Lewis department store headquarters in central London, which the Reubens want to buy for £135m. That they can contemplate such moves is down to their work in Russia, where they were dubbed the "metal tsars". But their origins were anything but regal. Born in Bombay, the Reubens made their way to London, where Simon, 61, went into property and David, 64, started trading in scrap metal. Their foray into Russia proved extremely lucrative. In a long analysis in 2000, Fortune magazine reckoned they had made £1.3 billion from their dealings there, which ended in 1999. We can see £145m of net assets in eight firms where the Reubens have had stakes or were directors, and the speed with which they are buying property prompts a much higher valuation of them than last year's £131m. In all, our sources suggest the Reubens are worth £2.1 billion - and that's after deducting the £62m they pledged last year to establish a foundation to support health and educational work.
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