Lane Fox, Martha (1972– )

English co-founder, chief operating officer, and director of the London-based Internet company Lastminute.com, which sells late-breaking deals for travel, gifts, and entertainment bookings that are perishable inventory for their suppliers. With her business partner, Brent Hoberman, she epitomized the new breed of dotcom millionaires, and was the subject of press and television exposure.

She established Lastminute.com and launched the Web site in the UK in October 1998. It was launched in France, Germany, and Sweden in 1999, and Australia in August 2000. On 14 March 2000 the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange and on 21 March the Nasdaq National Market. In 2003, Lane Fox received a salary of £140,000 plus a bonus of £49,000. In November 2003, after Lastminute.com made its first annual profit, she stood down from her position as managing director, but remained a non-executive director. In March 2004, she sold 20% of her shares in the company for £4.6 million.

After graduating from Oxford University with an MA in ancient and modern history, she was an associate at Spectrum Strategy Consultants from September 1994 to May 1997. She specialized in the pay television sector, managing UK and Asian teams, where her clients were reported to include the BBC and Canal Plus. From May 1997 to April 1998 she was business development manager of Carlton Communication's initiatives in pay television, Internet, and digital channels.

Lane Fox is committed to prison reform and is a trustee of the charity Reprieve, which supports inmates on death row in the USA.