John Studzinski: banker, philanthropist and anglophile

Profile of John Studzinski, the eccentric banker with a passion for art, religion and philanthropy, who will shortly leave HSBC for US private-equity firm Blackstone.

John Studzinski's imminent departure from HSBC for the comparatively tranquil waters of US private-equity firm Blackstone will be keenly felt by the bank. "It is often said that a successful advisory business is built upon personalities," says Iain Dey in The Sunday Telegraph. Well, enigmatic Renaissance man "Studz" is about "the biggest personality in the business".

Vivienne Westwood, who often bemoans Britain's lack of "salon culture", should have a quiet word with Studz. The American's gatherings at his riverside 1771 Robert Adam house in Chelsea are known for an eclecticism that reflects his polymath interests. A trustee of Tate Modern, patron of the arts and devout Roman Catholic, Studz mixes artists, authors and musicians with clergy, politicians, royalty and captains of industry. Here you will find the Duchess of Kent and Sting; Lord Browne of BP and members of the Gucci family. Perhaps they are admiring Studz's Man Ray and Picasso collection; perhaps scrutinising the candlesticks in his private chapel that used to belong to Ignatius Loyola. Studz might mix with the jet-set, but he was made a Knight of the Order of St Gregory for a record of good works, including 30 years working with the homeless. The Catholic church in Britain is "so beholden to him", says Cristina Odone in The Observer, "that Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor changes his diary to fit in with Studzinski's".

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Jane writes profiles for MoneyWeek and is city editor of The Week. A former British Society of Magazine Editors editor of the year, she cut her teeth in journalism editing The Daily Telegraph’s Letters page and writing gossip for the London Evening Standard – while contributing to a kaleidoscopic range of business magazines including Personnel Today, Edge, Microscope, Computing, PC Business World, and Business & Finance.

She has edited corporate publications for accountants BDO, business psychologists YSC Consulting, and the law firm Stephenson Harwood – also enjoying a stint as a researcher for the due diligence department of a global risk advisory firm.

Her sole book to date, Stay or Go? (2016), rehearsed the arguments on both sides of the EU referendum.

She lives in north London, has a degree in modern history from Trinity College, Oxford, and is currently learning to play the drums.