Anthony Parnes

Who is Anthony Parnes?

Anthony Keith Parnes is a millionaire stockbroker who was involved with Ernest Saunders, Gerald Ronson, and Jack Lyons in the Guinness share-trading fraud of the 1980s; they collectively became known as "the Guinness Four".

The son of a London gown manufacturer, Parnes started his working life as an office boy with a stockbroker. Parnes started at the bottom, working in the Stock Exchange as a 'blue button' at A. J. Bekhor Renton. He established a reputation for dealing with the big players of the fringe banking world. Because of his success his colleagues nicknamed him "The Animal".

Parnes built up the strategic shareholding in Debenhams for Ronson and Sir Philip Harris during Burton's fiercely contested bid for the department store group. That stake helped win the bid for Sir Ralph Halpern, Burton's chairman, in a cliffhanging finish. The vote went in favour of Burton after the bid had been extended from the 3pm Friday deadline to the following Sunday in a special dispensation by the Takeover Panel. Parnes was a big dealer who acted for some of the biggest names in the share dealing business.