About James Ratcliffe
James Ratcliffe is 66 years old British former chemical engineer, who is the founder, chairman and majority owner of Ineos Group Holdings S.A and Ineos Capital since 1998. The London based company operates in 24 countries with about 19,000 employees generating the revenue of about $85 billion in 2017. In 2018, he got named as the richest person in United Kingdom.
Early Life
James was born on 18th October, 1952 in Failsworth, Lancashire, England as James Arthur Ratcliffe. He was raised in family with father in job of a joiner making laboratory furniture and mother working as an account officer. He later made a move to East Yorkshire where he attended Beverley Grammar School at age 10 further getting graduated from University of Birmingham in chemical engineering in 1974. He also joined London Business School in 1980 to do his MBA.
Career
James started his career after completing his studies in chemical engineering and joining an oil company, Esso. He later worked for three years for a private equity firm, Advent International in 1989
followed by making his life saving investments in buying BP’s speciality chemical units in Europe and Canada. He then got positioned as chief executive officer in Inspec which got listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1994 after many acquisitions. He next made a decision to buyout Belgian chemical plant naming it Ineos from Inspec turning it into one of the largest chemical companies in the world. In 2013, the company got under national attention after a stand-off with the union at Ineos’ Grangemouth plant and he extracted a three-year pay freeze from his workers to keep the plant open. In 2016, he came back to U.K from Switzerland after 6 years for some tax issues. He recently planned to move to Monaco in 2018 after backing Britain’s exit from the European Union and is also planning to invest around £1 bn in the UK oil and chemical industries as per announcement in February 2019.
Achievements
Among his many achievements, he has received the Petrochemical Heritage Award in 2013 and recently got appointed as Knight Bachelor for his services to business and to investment in the 2018 Birthday Honours.
Personal Life
He got married twice. His first marriage was with Amanda Townson in 1985 but it just lasted for ten years ending up with divorce in 1995. Both have two sons. He then married Alessia Maresca and is father of a beautiful daughter.
Net Worth
It is estimated to be around US$32 billion as on April 2018.
