| It was the biggest cheque in the history of the Bank of Scotland - £850m to be precise. And it went to Green, 51, to help him snap up fashion chain Arcadia last September. "This is his time, this is Philip's time," said the banker who handed over the cheque. Never was a truer word spoken. Within six months of the deal, the former discount retailer, who has always been regarded as something of a maverick in the City, had pared down the £850m debt to £300m. Arcadia, known for its Top Man, Top Shop and Miss Selfridge outlets, should make profits of £150m in the year to August 2003. Even on the lowest of multiples, Arcadia is easily worth about £1 billion, according to City analysts; stripping out the borrowing leaves Green with £600m of asset wealth. He is getting an old hand at this and Arcadia is his second coup. It was the turnaround of BHS, which he bought in 2000, that propelled him to billionaire status. In 2002-03, profits there should be well over £100m. It has property assets in excess of £300m and no debts. Even in a world of depressed values, it should easily be worth £850m, making Green's stake worth about £800m, the City reckons. But we add his £157.7m dividend from BHS last year, his profits from past break-up situations such as Sears, and a host of deals and investments in the mid-1990s, as well as his Monaco home, yacht, jet and the like - well over £400m in total. He also has what has been described as the best pension plan for life in BHS, which will probably be able to pay him £50m a year for ever as a dividend. In all, Green is worth £1.85 billion - truly the king of the British high street. He could, of course, go much higher, should he launch a successful takeover bid for the Safeway grocery chain in the near future.
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£1,200m
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