How Philip Green, the ‘king of high street’, lost his crown: when online competitors Asos and Boohoo elbowed out BHS, Topshop and Arcadia, it marked the beginning of the end

Dec 3 , 2020

Philip Green with Suki Waterhouse, Kate Moss, Cara Delevingne, Sienna Miller and Naomi Campbell at a private dinner celebrating the Global Launch of the Kate Moss for Topshop Collection at The Connaught Hotel in London in 2014. Photo: Getty Images

He’s besties with Kate Moss and Anna Wintour and spent most of his life on a superyacht, but the fast fashion billionaire’s glory days might be over after bankruptcies, #MeToo accusations and his inability to go digital

Philip Green, the so-called “king of the high street”, stormed into the limelight in the early 2000s when he bought some of Britain’s best-known department stores and chains.

He also cultivated a roster of celebrity friends, including model Kate Moss and Vogue editor Anna Wintour, relocated to Monaco, and spent much of his life on a 92-metre (300-foot) superyacht.

Two decades on, his retail group Arcadia faces financial ruin after years of underinvestment in his businesses and failure to recognise the shift to online shopping.

Along the way, 68-year-old Green has faced calls to be stripped of his knighthood after the once-flagship chain BHS went bankrupt with a huge pensions fund shortfall.

The tycoon paid himself £1.2 billion (US$1.6 billion) in tax-free dividends in 2005 – more than four times the company’s pre-tax profit.

His residency in tax haven Monaco was criticised and he was also caught up in the global #MeToo movement, accused of sexually harassing and racially abusing staff.

Posters for a closing down sale at a Topshop retail store in Hong Kong in September. Photo: Nora Tam

But it is his failure to adapt to changing consumer trends that looks set to prompt his ultimate downfall.

The Sunday Times described him as the “consummate analogue man in a digital world”, citing his dislike for modern tech culture as central to his empire’s imminent demise.

“In the end, even this fiercest of retail dinosaurs has been ripped apart by more sophisticated predators,” the newspaper said.