David Thomson fathers 'love child' - report

David Thomson (photo), multi-billionaire art collector and chairman of Thomson Reuters, was revealed on Saturday as the father of a “love child”.

The mother is Séverine Nackers, a Belgian-born art expert who recently took leave of her job at auction house Sotheby’s London offices where she is head of prints in Europe, to give birth to a daughter.

The Daily Mail said it was Thomson’s fifth child by four women. It described him as “Canadian-born David Thomson, aka Lord Thomson of Fleet, 58-year-old heir to the Thomson Reuters media empire who, with a fortune estimated at £18 billion, is one of the world’s richest men” and said he was one of the art world’s “biggest hitters”.

“I am told Thomson, who resides mainly in Toronto and boasts one of the world’s finest art collections, met Nackers several years ago through his regular dealings with Sotheby’s. The pair struck up a relationship at the end of last year which, until now, they managed to keep under wraps,” reporter Sebastian Shakespeare wrote.

“The arrival of baby Ottilie in August means that Thomson now boasts an impressive five children from four different women.

“He was engaged briefly to the Hollywood actress Kelly Rowan, star of U.S. series The OC, with whom he has a young daughter, as well as three other children from his two marriages.

“He also once enjoyed a romance with Picasso’s granddaughter Diana Widmaier-Picasso, who recently jokingly described her ex’s chaotic private life as ‘very busy’.” ■