Asos co-founder Quentin Griffiths dies in Thailand after balcony fall

BANGKOK – Mr Quentin Griffiths, who co-founded British fast-fashion retailer Asos, has died after a fall from a balcony in Thailand, the Thai police said on Feb 20.

The police said the 58-year-old fell from the 17th floor of a residential building in the seaside resort city of Pattaya on Feb 9.

Officers at the scene found the body of a British national, identified as Mr Griffiths, on the ground directly below the balcony.

Initial investigations suggest suicide, and there were no indications of foul play, the police said.

CCTV showed no sign of anyone entering his flat, where he lived alone. His body was sent for an autopsy, they added.

The police also quoted a Thai friend of Mr Griffiths as saying the Briton had been worried about lawsuits from his former wife, a Thai national.

Documents related to those lawsuits were found in his flat, the police said.

When asked about Mr Griffiths, Britain’s foreign office said it was supporting “the family of a British national who has died in Thailand” and was in touch with the local authorities.

The case did not initially attract media attention in Pattaya, which has a large number of foreign residents, until The Sun newspaper in Britain reported it on Feb 19.

Co-founded Asos in 2000

Mr Griffiths co-founded Asos, then known as “As Seen on Screen” with Mr Nick Robertson, a former advertising executive and great-grandson of tailor Austin Reed, in 2000. The company floated it on London’s Alternative Investment Market in 2001.

The company defied the wave of failures that hit other web-based companies after the internet bubble burst and emerged as a standout success in the British retail scene.

Asos expanded rapidly into new countries, broadening its offer of both own-brand and third-party products, and moved quickly to capitalise on the rise of social media.

Mr Griffiths was marketing director at Asos before leaving the company in 2004. He remained a large shareholder for nearly another decade.

In recent years, the online retailer has struggled with profitability against a backdrop of rising costs and stiffer competition from cheaper Chinese rivals.

Shares of the company – whose own-label creations have been worn by the likes of former US first lady Michelle Obama and Catherine, Princess of Wales – have slid about 96 per cent from their peak value. REUTERS