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Martha Lane Fox

Sue Lawley's castaway is dot-com millionaire Martha Lane Fox.

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the dot-com millionaire and businesswoman Martha Lane Fox.

She says that as a child she was confident and bossy - tormenting her younger brother and, in games of teachers and pupils, always marking him lower than her line of teddy bears. Her drive and ambition were recognised at school and college - her brother claims her nickname was 'Fast Lane Foxy'. After studying modern and classical history at Oxford University she became a management consultant at a small company and met Brent Hoberman - who had the idea for lastminute.com. Initially, Lane Fox rubbished the idea, but eventually Brent convinced her and she joined him, appropriately enough, at the last minute. The pair launched lastminute.com in 1998 - it started out as an online bucket shop - selling the holidays that small travel agents couldn't get rid of - and branched out into entertainment and gifts. On March 14th, 2000, days before the markets peaked, lastminute.com was floated on the stock exchange - and over the following weeks prices collapsed. Martha Lane Fox became the face, the figurehead and eventually the fall-girl for the dot-com bubble. In November 2003, after lastminute.com announced a profit for the first time, Lane Fox announced she was resigning as managing director.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Get Happy by Judy Garland
Book: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Luxury: A karaoke machine

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 9 Jan 2004 09:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Music Played

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Judy Garland

      Get Happy

      • That's Entertainment: Best of MGM.
      • EMI.

  • James Taylor

    You've Got A Friend

    • Classic Songs: James Taylor.
    • CBS.

  • Chaka Khan

    Ain't Nobody

    • The Best of Chaka Khan.
    • Reprise.

  • Groove Armada

    If Everybody Looked The Same

    • Miss Congeniality Soundtrack.
    • Gut.

  • Toots & The Maytals

    Funky Kingston

    • The Sins Soundtrack.
    • Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ.

  • Simon & Garfunkel

    The Boxer

    • Greatest Hits: Simon and Garfunkel.
    • CBS.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    La traviata Act 3 (finale)

    Soloist: Joan Sutherland

    • La Traviata.
    • Decca.

  • Michael Jackson

    Billie Jean

    • Diana-Michael-Gladys-Stevie: Their Very Best, Back to Back.
    • Priority TV.

  • Book Choice

    • War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

  • Luxury Choice

    • A karaoke machine

Credits

Presenter Sue Lawley
Interviewed Guest Martha Lane Fox

Broadcasts

  • Sun 4 Jan 2004 11:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 9 Jan 2004 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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