Robert Waley-Cohen

For his grandfather, see Robert Waley Cohen.

Robert Bernard Waley-Cohen DL (born 10 November 1948 in Westminster, London) is an English entrepreneur.

Robert Waley-Cohen
Born	Robert Bernard Waley-Cohen (1948-11-10) 10 November 1948 (age 76) Westminster, United Kingdom
Education	Eton College
Occupation	Businessman
Title	Founder and CEO of Alliance Imaging Inc Founder and CEO of Alliance Medical Founder and Director of Portman Healthcare
Board member of	The Jockey Club until 2019 Brown Advisory
Spouse	The Honourable Felicity Ann Samuel ​ ​ (m. 1975)​
Children	4
Parents	Bernard Waley-Cohen (father) Joyce Waley-Cohen (mother)

Personal life

He is the son of Bernard Waley-Cohen and Joyce Waley-Cohen, and grandson of Sir Robert Waley Cohen and Harry Nathan, 1st Baron Nathan. He was educated at Eton College.^[1]

In 1975, Waley-Cohen married The Honourable Felicity Ann Samuel, daughter of Marcus Samuel, 3rd Viscount Bearsted.^[2] The couple have four children, Marcus, Jessica, Sam and Thomas. Thomas died in 2004 from cancer.^[3][4]

He has three siblings. His brother is Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen a senior figure in the world of theatre, and operator of St Martin's Theatre home of The Mousetrap. He has two sisters, Rosalind, who is married to the former New Zealand politician Philip Burdon and Joanna a professor at New York University. His nephew, Jack, is the question editor for BBC quiz Only Connect and founder of What3words.

In 2009, his net worth was estimated at £30million by the Sunday Times Rich List.^[5] Waley-Cohen was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Warwickshire on 16 August 2016.^[6][7]

Business

Waley-Cohen started his career in 1969 with Christie's auction house, where he remained until 1981.^[8] He has founded multiple companies including a founding shareholder and director of Portman Healthcare, a dental business, founder and CEO of Alliance Medical and later founder and CEO of Alliance Imaging Inc in California. Waley-Cohen is on the board of American investment company Brown Advisory.^[9]

Horse racing

Waley-Cohen is a noted horse racing owner and breeder. He was chairman of Cheltenham Racecourse until October 2019, succeeded by Martin St Quinton.^[10] He has experienced multiple successes of big race victories including the 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup with Long Run, and the 2022 Grand National with Noble Yeats ridden by his son, Sam Waley-Cohen.^[11][12]