Billionaire to give away most of his money

Sir Tom Hunter is set to become Britain's most prolific philanthropist after committing himself to giving £1 billion of his company's money to charity.

The 46-year-old billionaire businessman is part of an increasing trend among Britain's richest people to hark back to their Victorian forebears and give much of their fortunes away before they die.

The Scot, who, when aged 37, made £260 million after selling his Sports Division chain of shops, said the money would come from investments held by his company West Coast Capital in listed companies and shopping centres around the country.

He told The Daily Telegraph today: "This is me challenging myself – making public a very private goal. With great wealth comes great responsibility. We have approached this in a businesslike way.

"My wife Marion and myself are going to leave this world as we came into it – pretty much with nothing. I don't want to take £1billion to my grave with me. I am being responsible in setting out a way in which this money can go. I have been thinking about it a lot."