Sir James Arthur Ratcliffe FIChemE (born 18 October 1952) is a British billionaire, chemical engineer, and businessman. Ratcliffe is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the INEOS chemicals group, which he founded in 1998. The company is estimated to have had a turnover of $65 billion in 2021. He does not have a high public profile, and was once described by The Sunday Times as “publicity shy”.In May 2018, Ratcliffe was the richest person in the UK, with a net worth of £21.05 billion. As of May 2023, the Sunday Times Rich List 2023 estimated his net worth at £29.688 billion, making him the second wealthiest figure in the UK. In September 2020, Ratcliffe officially changed his tax residence from Hampshire to Monaco, a move that it is estimated will save him £4 billion in tax.
Jim Ratcliffe Facts
- Born: James Arthur Ratcliffe, 18 October 1952 (age 71), Failsworth,
- Alma Mater: University of Birmingham
- Occupation: Chairman and CEO, Inos
- Spouse: Amanda Townson
- Children: 3
Jim Ratcliffe Early life and education
Ratcliffe was born in Failsworth, Lancashire (now in Greater Manchester)the son of a father who started out as a joiner, and a mother who was an accounts office worker. He was raised in a council house in the town until the age of 10, when the family moved to East Yorkshire. He was educated at Beverley Grammar School. He studied chemical engineering at Birmingham University, gaining a BSc, and later gained an MBA from London Business School in 1980. Ratcliffe’s father eventually ran a factory making laboratory furniture
Jim RatcliffeCareer
Ratcliffe’s first job was with oil giant Esso, but he decided to broaden his skills into finance by studying management accounting, studying for an MBA at London Business School from 1978 to 1980 (he donated £25m to the school in 2016).In 1989, he joined US private equity group Advent International.
Jim Ratcliffe INEOS
Ratcliffe was a co-founder of Inspec, which leased the former BP Chemicals site in Antwerp, Belgium. In 1998, Ratcliffe formed INEOS in Hampshire to buy-out Inspec and the freehold of the Antwerp site.
Ratcliffe From this small base, using high-yield debt to finance deals, Ratcliffe started buying unwanted operations from Ratcliffe groups such as ICI and BP, selecting targets based on their potential to double their earnings over a five-year period. In 2006 INEOS bought BP’s refining and petrochemical arm Innovene, giving INEOS refineries and plants in Scotland, Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, and Canada.
Ratcliffe In April 2010, Ratcliffe moved INEOS’s head office from Hampshire to Rolle, Switzerland, decreasing the amount of tax the company paid by £100m a year.
In 2015, Ratcliffe opened the UK headquarters of the chemicals and energy group in Knightsbridge, London, along with gas and oil trading, and other functions, saying he was “very cheerful about coming back to the UK”. He was pleased with UK policy, London as a business base, and untroubled by the prospect of Brexit. Full year 2015 EBITDA was €577 million compared to €253 million for 2014.
Ratcliffe In the Sunday Times Rich List 2018, he was named as the richest man in the UK, with a net worth of £21.05 billion.
In February 2019, it was announced that Ratcliffe INEOS would invest £1bn in the UK oil and chemical industries, to include an overhaul of the Forties pipeline system that is responsible for transporting a significant percentage of the UK’s North Sea oil and gas.
Ratcliffe On 1 May 2019, Ratcliffe criticised the current government rules that say fracking in Britain must be suspended every time a 0.5 magnitude tremor is detected, which has led to a de facto ban on fracking, calling the government “pathetic”.
Ratcliffe Ineos Automotive Ltd. was founded by Ratcliffe, initially to build a replacement for his Land Rover Defender. He unsuccessfully approached Jaguar Land Rover to buy the tooling to continue
Dick Van Dick Van Dyke,BiographyDyke,Biography
production after the original model was cancelled. Instead, in 2019 Ratcliffe formed partnerships with BMW and Magna Steyr to design and build a similar vehicle under the codename Projekt Grenadier.
Jim Ratcliffe Energy transition
In October 2021, Ratcliffe announced plans to invest more than €2bn (£1.7bn) into Ratcliffe electrolysis projects to make zero-carbon green hydrogen across Europe.[19] He said the first units will produce clean hydrogen through the electrolysis of water in Norway, powered by renewable electricity, and will serve as a hub to provide gas for the country’s transport industry. This will be followed by projects in Germany and Belgium. Ratcliffe also intends to invest in France and the UK,Ratcliffe where his hydrogen business will be headquartered.
Jim Ratcliffe Environmental pollution
Ratcliffe In March 2019, INEOS said it would close its Middlesbrough manufacturing plant unless it is allowed to ‘defer compliance’ with EU rules designed to prevent air and water pollution. An analysis of data from the Environment Agency (EA) also reveals the plant clocked up 176 permit violations between 2014 and 2017.An EA spokesperson said: “air emissions are well over legal limits and this poses a risk to the environment”. INEOS director Tom Crotty said the firm “cannot justify” Ratcliffe the investment required to comply with EU air and water pollution rules due to come into force in the coming years.
Ratcliffe INEOS has carried out small projects in bio ethanol production using Clostridium bacteria, but it has had problems because the syngas has levels of hydrogen cyanide too high for the bacteria to survive. INEOS sold the Florida plant to Alliance Bio-Products Inc.