John Harris has written an extended feature on Matthew Freud's connections to the worlds of politics, media and celebrity. It reads rather like an appendix to Miller and Dinan's A Century of Spin: the author can't quite pin his subject down, but clearly senses there's something wrong in someone having this much influence.
Having a famous great-grandfather, being the son of well-known MP and broadcaster, having Rupert Murdoch as father-in-law must confer advantages. I suspect it encouraged him to take risks, because you can see Freud's progress as an entrepreneurial success story - how someone who did not go to university built a business and became connected to the most powerful people in the country. He's earned the money he's spending on private jets and lavish parties, though John Harris sees him as the Great Gatsby of our age.
I dont think enough was made in the article about the Hollywood contacts Matthew Freud made due to Emma's partnership with Richard Curtis in the early days.
Whatever the contacts and whatever the family relationships, he still built a highly successful PR firm by himself.
Respect!
Posted by: Deborah | Friday, November 14, 2008 at 05:04 PM