
Preston Haskell III founded and is chairman of Florida’s largest private construction firm.
Preston Haskell IV of Texas, a multimillionaire and son of Florida’s construction mogul Preston Haskell III earned a University of Southern California economics degree.
Then he went to Russia, where he founded the Haskell International Group which specializes in property.
The company started out as a real estate management and investment company, but by 1997 the company also owned restaurants and a furniture production company.
In 2002, he bought a vineyard of 57 acres in Stellenbosch near Cape Town, South Africa, and transformed it into a winery and restaurant.
Alesia was his first wife. The couple got married in 2008 after he had met Alesia in Moscow.
They moved to London where they had a rented £3.3million apartment in Sloane Street.
British citizens were first to notice Mr Haskell in 2013, when he unsuccessfully tried to buy Coventry City FC’s stadium, Ricoh Arena.
Then Mr Haskell stated: “The agreement is subject to my being allowed to acquire Coventry City once all administrative processes have been concluded.”
The man was seen on private flight with Ken Bates (football executive) who played a part in developing Wembley Stadium.
Mr Bates purchased Chelsea FC for just £1 in 1982. He then sold the club for £18million to Roman Abramovic in 2003.
After becoming honorary president at Leeds United, he was fired in 2013 allegedly because of a dispute over payment for his private plane.
Judge Haskell found his finances ‘opaque’. He also noted the number of properties and businesses he has around the globe.
These included a South African winery and a ‘magnificent’ £6.5million villa in Cape Town, plus another high-end villa in Johannesburg.
Judge added that “The Cape Town villa is an extraordinary property with stunning views overlooking the ocean.”
Haskell complained to the judge that he was struggling financially and could not get cash. He said: “I don’t have any money.”
The real estate boss – once reputedly worth £160million – claimed to have ‘liabilities’ of £50million and to be struggling to meet his maintenance commitments.
However, Mr Justice Mostyn decided Mr Haskell could get his hands on sufficient funds to pay his ex £5.8million to conclude their divorce.
A stake in an international gold exploration company in Sweden, part in a Kiev building, land and business interests in Romania as well as an elegant Swedish Archipelago property complete with a motor boat are some other overseas investments.
He also highlighted social media posts from Mr Haskell in which he was shown speaking about his ‘beautiful year’ and posing with a £400 bottle of vintage red wine.
The claim Mr Haskell has ‘no money’ has however been disputed by his ex-wife’s barrister, Alexander Knight, who told a judge he still has access to ‘substantial sums’, including a trust fund valued at around £22million.
High Court was informed that Mr Haskell had given up his United States citizenship and became a citizen in St Kitts and Nevis and Sweden.
It is possible that Mr. Haskell was in America during portions of the High Court Hearing and Appeal Case.
His father was born in Birmingham in Alabama and is currently the chairman and founder of Florida’s largest privately held construction company, The Haskell Company.
Also, he was minority owner of National Football League Jacksonville Jaguars.
After graduating in 1956 from Indian Springs School, he went to Princeton and received a civil engineering degree with honours in 1960 before going on to receive an MBA with distinction from Harvard in 1962 and attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
It was after he left MIT and started working at S.S. Jacobs Company that he was encouraged to break out on his own and create the Preston H. Haskell Company.
It was awarded its first contract in 1965. The company successfully built an apartment complex on Atlantic Beach worth $1million.
It grew steadily and today is one of the most respected firms in America.
Mr Haskell received the Engineering News Record Southeast’s 2020 Legacy Award.