Claude Littner

Claude Manuel Littner (born 4 May 1949) is a British business executive and the former chairman of Viglen, Powerleague, ASCO and Azzuri Communications. He is also the deputy chairman of Blacks Leisure and former chief executive of Tottenham Hotspur. He is also known from his appearances on the British version of The Apprentice, interviewing for his former boss Alan Sugar. Littner was one of Sugar's aides between 2015 and 2019.

Early life Claude Manuel Littner in New York City, to an American mother and an Austrian-Jewish father, who had fled the Nazis in the 1930s. His father worked as a chemical engineer. The family immigrated to the United Kingdom soon after Littner's birth. Littner holds British citizenship, and is fluent in French. He is a practising Jew.

Football Littner was the chief executive of Tottenham Hotspur starting in 1993 and resigned his position in 2001.

Littner bought into Powerleague, a five-a-side football centre operator in 2001. After leading a management buyout from 3i Group in 2003, it floated on AIM in 2006. The company was taken over in 2009 by Patron Capital and he netted some £50m. The Apprentice Littner came to wider UK public recognition through his direct and confrontational style of job interviewing on The Apprentice. He is the only interviewer to have appeared in this role in every series of the programme.

On 27 April 2015, it was announced that Littner had replaced Nick Hewer as Alan Sugar's aide on the show. He started when the 2015 series began on 14 October 2015, and he continues to interview the candidates.

He took a hiatus from the programme for its sixteenth series due to injuries sustained from a cycling accident in 2021, with series one winner Tim Campbell taking over for the sixteenth series. Littner returned to the show for the first episode of the seventeenth series, but was not well enough to continue. His place was taken by Tim Campbell for the following 10 episodes. He returned to the programme in 2025 for the interviews only.

Honours In October 2014, the University of West London's Business School was renamed the Claude Littner Business School in appreciation of his contributions to the university. It was opened and unveiled by long-time associate and colleague, Alan Sugar. In April 2015 the University of West London appointed him a visiting professor.

Personal life Since 1976 Littner has been married to Thelma. They have two sons, Anthony and Alex, and five grandchildren. He has since recovered and is a trustee in Blood Cancer UK.

In 2016 Littner published his autobiography titled "Single-Minded: My Life in Business".

Littner renounced American citizenship in 2018.