Tina Green

Tina Green
Born	Cristina Stuart Paine London, England
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, interior designer
Years active	1970s–present
Known for	Director of Taveta, co-founder of Green & Mingarelli, principal shareholder of Arcadia Group
Notable work	Co-established Green & Mingarelli interior design agency; record £1.2 billion dividend payout from Arcadia in 2005

Cristina Stuart Green, Lady Green (, formerly Palos; born August 1949), commonly known as Tina Green, is a British entrepreneur and interior designer. She serves as a director of Taveta, the principal shareholder of Taveta Investments Ltd, which is the holding company for the Arcadia Group, chaired by her spouse, Sir Philip Green. The Arcadia Group previously owned a range of retail brands including Topshop, Topman, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Outfit, and Wallis. Taveta was also the proprietor of British Home Stores (BHS) until its sale in 2015; BHS went into administration in 2016, followed by Arcadia in 2020. Tina Green co-established the interior design agency Green & Mingarelli alongside Italian designer Pietro Mingarelli.

In 2005, she received a dividend payout of £1.2 billion from Arcadia, marking a record in the history of UK corporate dividends. That same year, The Times highlighted that she was "for tax reasons the legal owner" of the couple’s combined estimated fortune of £4.9 billion. By 2020, their wealth was assessed at £930 million according to the Sunday Times Rich List and reached $2.4 billion as per Forbes in 2021. Tina Green maintains close financial ties with businessman Richard Caring and resides in Monaco.

Early life and career

Cristina Stuart Paine was born in London in August 1949 and spent much of her early years overseas due to her father’s involvement in the wine trade, living in locations such as Hong Kong, Japan, and Thailand. Although she did not complete formal education, she developed a strong determination to work hard. At age 17, she married Robert "Bobby" Palos, a South African jazz drummer whom she met in Hong Kong. The couple settled in South Africa where they operated a fashion boutique based in Johannesburg before moving it to London. They had two children: Stasha (born 1972) and Brett (born 1974). Stasha later described her mother’s early professional life as varied, including stints as a diamond trader and Johannesburg’s first female DJ. After two decades together, Tina and Robert Palos divorced amicably.

In 1985, Green met Philip Green and they married five years later in 1990; they have two children named Chloe (born 1991) and Brandon (born 1993). She played a role in designing apparel lines and store interiors for his retail enterprises such as Lewis's and Owen Owen. Her own boutique located in Knightsbridge called Harabels ceased operations in 1992.

Following an incident where Philip was mugged, the Greens relocated from St John's Wood in London to Monaco in 1998 for health-related reasons. Tina organised extravagant birthday celebrations for Philip’s milestone ages: £5 million for his 50th birthday, £20 million for his 55th, and similarly lavish events for his 60th featuring prominent musical performers.

In 2012, she commissioned the superyacht Lionheart from Benetti at an estimated price of £100 million. In 2017, she was appointed treasurer of Princess Charlene of Monaco’s private charitable foundation.

In the year 2000, Tina acquired Marks & Spencer shares valued at £25 million ahead of Philip Green’s attempted takeover bid. Their combined net worth reached its peak at £4.9 billion in 2007 but had decreased to £930 million by 2020. Tina has acknowledged public criticism regarding their wealth but stressed the complexities involved in managing it.

Taveta and the Arcadia Group

Taveta Ltd, under the leadership of Tina Green, holds the majority stake in Taveta Investments Ltd, which is the holding company for the Arcadia Group, chaired by her husband Philip Green. In 2004, Taveta Investments purchased Arcadia for £770 million. By 2018, Arcadia's portfolio included prominent UK fashion retailers such as Topshop, Topman, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Outfit, and Wallis. In 2005, Tina Green received a dividend of £1.2 billion from Arcadia—marking the largest dividend payout in UK corporate history—without incurring UK income tax liabilities due to her residency in Monaco. This dividend was financed through a loan extended to Arcadia, which allowed the company to lower its corporation tax burden via interest expense deductions.

Philip Green stated in 2010 that despite living outside the UK, the family pays significant taxes on company earnings within Britain. By 2016, Tina Green held ownership interests in eleven companies, primarily incorporated in Jersey and the British Virgin Islands for regulatory advantages.

Taveta acquired British Home Stores (BHS) in 2000 for £200 million and later sold it in 2015 for a nominal £1 before BHS collapsed in 2016. The collapse involved a pension shortfall of £571 million and jeopardized approximately 11,000 jobs. Throughout their tenure as shareholders, including the Greens, a total of £580 million was extracted from BHS.

In 2016, Philip Green appeared before a UK parliamentary select committee investigating BHS’s failure but declined calls for Tina Green to testify. As the largest shareholder of Arcadia, Tina Green committed £100 million over three years in 2019 to support its pension schemes following an agreement with the Pensions Regulator and also contributed £50 million to negotiate reduced rent on Arcadia’s retail outlets. Despite these interventions, Arcadia entered administration in November 2020 after prolonged sales declines exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The group faced criticism for insufficient investment and inadequate adaptation to digital retail trends.

UK Uncut protests

In 2010, activist group UK Uncut organized demonstrations targeting the Greens over accusations of corporate tax avoidance. Amid government austerity measures under Prime Minister David Cameron, protesters contended that public spending cuts could be circumvented by addressing tax avoidance strategies. Philip Green, who served as a government efficiency advisor appointed by Cameron, became a central figure in these protests. UK Uncut conducted sit-ins at Arcadia’s flagship Topshop store on Oxford Street in London and staged window-gluing protests at Topshop’s Brighton location on 4 December 2010. Other companies targeted included Barclays, Boots, HSBC, and Vodafone.

Green & Mingarelli

Tina Green co-established the interior design firm Green & Mingarelli alongside Italian furniture designer Pietro Mingarelli, whom she met aboard a yacht. The firm focuses on luxury interior design projects for private homes and yachts and is distinguished by its frequent use of black and white color schemes. One notable project involved refurbishing a Belgravia mews house predominantly featuring black and white elements.

Green & Mingarelli extensively utilize Lalique glass within their designs and partnered with Lalique Maison in 2014 to develop an exclusive homeware collection. This collaboration emerged after their prominent use of Lalique glass on the 68.5-meter motor yacht Silver Angel drew the attention of Lalique’s owner Silvio Denz. The resulting product line includes high-end pieces such as a €30,000 sideboard and a €10,000 mirror. Mark Harrison from The Times characterized the collection as "ornate but not vulgar" and distinctly "upmarket," while Green herself described it as "obviously high end, and obviously expensive."

Financial Connection with Richard Caring

Green maintains financial associations with British entrepreneur Richard Caring, who is closely linked to her spouse Philip Green. Investigations from the Swiss Leaks disclosed that Green managed the bulk of Caring's liquid assets through a trust held in her HSBC Monaco account. She extended £23.5 million to Caring to facilitate his purchase of the restaurant groups Belgo and Strada from Luke Johnson. In 2017, Green transferred ownership of the Silver Angel motor yacht, estimated to be worth approximately £25 million, to Caring. While Caring publicly declared possession of the yacht in 2009, documents from the Pandora Papers revealed that the vessel was registered under Green's name from 2009 until 2017. The yacht’s interior was crafted by Green’s firm, Green & Mingarelli, and featured a palette of white, cream, and black hues.