Financial accounts have revealed that the media company owned by the late former First Minister Alex Salmond was drained of more than £200,000 in the months preceding his death. Salmond passed away while bankrupt, with debts approaching £345,000.
Sharp Decline in Company Assets
Slainte Media Ltd, established by Mr Salmond in 2017 to manage his television earnings, experienced a dramatic two-thirds drop in its assets. Newly filed annual accounts show the firm's cash reserves fell from £340,441 in November 2023 to just £121,834 by 30 November 2024.
Over the same period, the company's shareholders' funds also collapsed, slumping from £310,674 to £91,553. The firm was identified as an associated trading business in the official filing made last month when a trustee was appointed to Salmond's estate.
Lavish Lifestyle Amid Financial Collapse
Despite the company's financial troubles and his eventual bankruptcy, Salmond had been residing in a luxury London apartment with a monthly rent of £7,000. The three-bedroom flat in the Dumont Complex near Westminster offered stunning views of the Thames and Parliament, along with access to premium amenities including a gym, swimming pool, and cinema.
It is understood the former SNP leader moved into the £2.5 million property after the Covid outbreak, with the lease initially funded by profits from his work for the Kremlin-backed RT channel. Salmond presented a weekly chat show for RT, which reportedly paid his company £30,000 per episode, until he dropped the programme following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Business Links and Settled Debts
Slainte Media was jointly owned by Salmond and his business partner, former MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, who was also his flat-mate and was present when he suffered a fatal heart attack in North Macedonia on 12 October 2023. The company's 2023 accounts noted a debt of £120,000 owed to Keep Calm Media and Entertainment Ltd, a firm owned by Ms Ahmed-Sheikh and her husband. This debt was no longer mentioned in the 2024 filings, suggesting it had been settled.
Ms Ahmed-Sheikh, who signed off the unaudited accounts for Slainte Media, was approached for comment. When Salmond died at age 69, he owed almost £345,000 with confirmed assets of less than £2,300, leaving his estate insolvent.
