ASOS co-founder Quentin Griffiths dies in Thailand

ASOS co-founder Quentin Griffiths has died after a fall from an apartment balcony in Thailand.

Griffiths, who was 58, was confirmed by Thai police as having died on 9 February. According to the BBC, an investigator confirmed that the apartment door was locked from the inside at the time of the incident, but there was no evidence of foul play found during the autopsy.

A Foreign Office spokesperson told the BBC: "We are supporting the family of a British national who has died in Thailand and are in contact with the local authorities."

ASOS, then called As Seen On Screen, was established in 2000 by entrepreneurs Quentin Griffiths and Nick Robertson. Griffiths left the firm in 2005 and remained a significant shareholder at the time of his departure.

The business originally sold items that was seen in films or TV shows, hence the original brand name. It went on to specialise in fashion and become a global force in the sector under Nick Robertson. Robertson stood down as CEO in 2015 but remains on the board and is still a shareholder.

It is understood that Griffiths was involved in court cases that may have been causing him stress at the time of his passing. He was separated from his second wife, who was a Thai national, and had been in dispute with her over a business they ran together.

After leaving ASOS, Griffiths went on to co-found Achica, a private sale website for fashion and lifestyle brands, which is now part of Brandalley. His personal wealth had largely come from the sale of his ASOS shares in 2010.

He subsequently became involved in a legal dispute against accountants BDO, alleging that incorrect tax advice led him to pay more than £4 million in excess tax on the sale of his shares. His second wife had accused him of taking money out of their joint business and selling shares and land without her permission. He was arrested and questioned on the matter, but later released.

The complications in his private life have added a layer of complexity to the investigation surrounding his passing, but whatever the outcome of the investigation, Griffiths was one of a group of pioneers in the UK in the early 2000s that helped forged the modern e-commerce market.