Career
Charman made his fortune in the 1990, during the 1991 Gulf War, offering war risk insurance on a 24-hour basis. Charman was the Chief Executive Officer of Tarquin plc (a joint venture company among Insurance Partners, Harvard University and the Charman Group), the parent company of the Charman Underwriting Agencies at Lloyd's of London. He was also a deputy chairman of the Council of Lloyd's and a member of the Lloyd's Core Management Group and Lloyd's Market Board between 1995 and 1997.
Nicknamed "King of the London Insurance market", Charman earned the loathing of employees by banning entertainment of clients in company time, and refusing to indulge in long business lunches himself. One critic claimed Charman was so intimidating that colleagues "half-expect the theme from The Godfather to greet him as he arrives at his office." In 2002 Axis settled out of court with a woman who claimed Charman barred her from a meeting, saying: "We are discussing something we decided when you were having babies."
Charman made more money when he sold Tarquin/Charman Underwriting Agencies for £350 million in 1998 to the Bermuda-based ACE International Group, receiving £70.6 million in ACE shares.
Charman was made Chief Executive Officer at ACE Global Markets (the merger of Charman Underwriting and assets of ACE), and in January 2001 was named group president and chief executive officer of Bermuda based ACE International Group, but left the company in March 2001 due to personal differences. He was paid £3,597,241 in lieu of notice, and £500,000 in a one-off pension contribution.
Charman immediately set up Axis Capital, a Bermuda-based reinsurance and insurance business with offices in London, Dublin, Zurich and New York that is listed on the NYSE. The company aimed to cash in on the surge in insurance premiums after the September 11 terrorist attacks. In the financial year 2005 he was paid $7,741,762, and had stock options of $42,027,204 in Axis. Charman has informed the company that he will retire at the end of December 2008.
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