Paul reichmann biography

London has every reason to be grateful to Paul Reichmann, the builder of Canary Wharf, who has died aged 83, says City AM. He staked everything on the development in 1987 when few believed in it; watched his company, Olympia & York, go bust in 1992; bought back in and "was hammered again in 2008".

As with railway pioneers, his career reminds us that "those who risk their money on mega-projects" often lose out, while "the rest of us inherit a great infrastructure".

At the peak of the 80s boom, Olympia & York was the world's largest commercial real-estate company.

Reichmann and his brothers "commanded an awesome reputation for the scale of the financial risks they were prepared to take", says The Daily Telegraph.