Disgraced financier Crispin Odey has dropped his £79million High Court libel claim against the Financial Times (FT), the newspaper has said.

The former hedge fund manager was suing the paper over articles published in 2023 which alleged he had sexually assaulted multiple women, claims he denies.

Before Mr Odey dropped the claim, the FT was due to defend its reporting, arguing it was substantially true and in the public interest.

The FT said Mr Odey's lawyers had sent a letter to the newspaper on Friday afternoon saying the 67-year-old had been 'forced to accept' that the publication was 'likely to succeed' in its public interest defence.

Roula Khalaf, the paper's editor, said it was a 'vindication for investigative journalism' and for 'the victims whose stories of abuse we reported'.

She added: 'The FT was always confident in its reporting. This is a case that should have never been brought.'

The FT said it had served Mr Odey two months ago with the 'substantial' disclosure of evidence relating to its investigations into his behaviour that it intended to rely upon in court.

Mr Odey last month appeared before an Upper Tribunal after he challenged a decision made by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to ban him from the UK finance industry and fine him £1.8million after allegations of sexual harassment against female staff.

According to the FT, Mr Odey's lawyers said in the letter: 'Having just endured the stress and strain of a three-week trial in the Upper Tribunal, he does not wish to pursue another lengthy trial at considerable cost, only to fail on the issue of public interest, even if he was successful, as he believes he would be, in demonstrating that he is not the violent predator he was presented as being in the articles.'

Speaking last month Mr Odey admitted that he risked being seen as a 'creepy old man' over his behaviour towards a receptionist at the firm he owned.

London's Upper Tribunal heard Mr Odey texted the woman in her 20s to say he wished he had been 'in bed' with her and that she was 'delicious'.

But he insisted the woman - who later said she had been left dreading work because of his behaviour - was a 'willing participant' in flirting with him.

And he said the receptionist, who he described as a 'dangerous girl', had made claims about him because she was looking for money from his firm, Odey Asset Management.

On a separate occasion, he said he had been 'under the influence of general anaesthetic' when he was accused of groping another staff member's breast.

Asked if he had sexually assaulted her, Mr Odey said: 'Of course, I admit to grabbing her breast.'

And he added: 'It wasn't entirely innocent in nature. But it was understandable. And she accepted that.'

When it was suggested to him that women would feel 'shocked and violated' by such behaviour, he said: 'I do know that and I am deeply embarrassed about this.'

The trial at the Upper Tribunal is set to return next month for lawyers on each side to close their cases.

Mr Odey launched the libel claim in May 2024, saying at the time he suffered 'very significant financial loss' because of the articles.

His firm, which was founded in 1991 and had been one of Europe's largest hedge fund companies, announced plans to close in October 2023, the same year the FT's articles were published.

Mr Odey had been found not guilty of indecent assault in 2021 after he was alleged to have assaulted a woman, who was in her 20s at the time, at his west London home in 1998.

The Daily Mail approached Mr Odey for comment on the libel claim's withdrawal.