[2][3] A spin-off from Regent Pacific that specialises in Eastern Europe, the fund management firm Charlemagne Capital, was also founded in the 1990s and listed on the stock market in 2006.
This and Regent's methods of breaking-up of closed-end funds led to a 1997 Business Week article referring to him and the company's investment director, Peter Everington as "the Bad Boys of Emerging Markets".
[10] He also holds non-executive directorships at Condor Gold PLC, Bradda Head Limited (formerly Life Science Developments) and Portage Biotech Inc.[11] He is also chairman of the Burnbrae Group.
[27] In 2009, Mellon was a leading financial backer of then Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron, and critical of the Labour government's "crazy crackdown on the non-domiciles who bring so much money and expertise into the country".
[2] Mellon was a backer of Brexit and played a significant role in it as the man who first introduced Arron Banks to then UKIP leader Nigel Farage.
As this offer had also been made to Banks, a report in the New York Times said that this raised "new questions about whether the Kremlin sought to reward critical figures in the Brexit campaign.
"[29][34][35] Although Mellon founded Charlemagne and retained approximately 19% of its shares, and a non-executive director position, his representatives said that he was not involved in investment decisions, did not have prior knowledge of the acquisition, and did not benefit personally from the deal.
[37] In March 2016, Mellon said he was less “ideologically committed” to Brexit than his friend Arron Banks, and that there were “good arguments to be made on both sides” of what he saw as a “nuanced” debate.
"[27] He also serves on the executive board of the Initiative for Free Trade, a London-based research foundation founded by another prominent leave-supporter Daniel Hannan MEP, after the Brexit vote.