Sir Ken owns 2.6M shares in Sainsbury, and his son owns 2.1M, giving them a combined stake worth £11.9m, reported The Times.
Backing Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe, Sir Ken said: “It’s a well run company.”
The 84-year old former Morrisons’ chairman is thought have acquired many of the Sainsbury shares in April 2014, as his frustrations with the former management team of Morrisons apparently peaked.
Sainsbury’s shares at the time were trading at about 300p compared with 255p on Friday December 18.
Shortly after acquiring the shares, Sir Ken publically attacked Morrisons’ former ceo Dalton Philips, slamming his strategy for the retailer’s recovery as “bullshit”.
‘Dalton, you’ve got a lot more bullshit than me’
Launching the stinging attack at Morrison’s annual general meeting in June 2014, the multi-millionaire famously said: “When I left work and started working as a hobby, I choose to raise cattle. I have something like 1,000 bullocks and, having listened to your presentation Dalton, you’ve got a lot more bullshit than me.”
The attack drew loud applause from delegates.
Sir Ken on Sainsbury
“It’s a well run company.”
In April this year it was revealed Sir Ken reportedly lost £167M in the previous 12 months, due to the plunging value of his Morrisons’ shares.
According to The Sunday Times Rich List, published on April 26 this year: “Sir’s Ken’s fortune has been hit by tough times in the supermarket sector and is down £167M from last year.
“The 83 year-old is life president of Wm Morrison, the supermarket group founded by his father. The company made a £792M loss in 2014–15 and its share price has fallen as a result, reducing the value of the family stake to £283M. Past share sales and other assets add a further £450M to the family’s wealth.”
Meanwhile, Morrisons’ current boss David Potts has apparently been keen to solicit Sir Ken’s advice. By May this year Sir Ken had visited about 10 Morrisons’ stores at Potts’s invitation.