A phone call changed his luck and made him a billionaire. Jim Ratcliffe (Failsworth, United Kingdom, 71 years old) was sitting on a rock surrounded by deer in the Scottish mountainous region of Glen Nevis in the spring of 2005 when his cell phone began to ring. BP's CFO wanted to make him a suggestion. If Ineos were to put $9 billion on the table, the energy giant's petrochemicals business would be its own. He agreed immediately. The deal tripled the size of the company, which Ratcliffe founded in 1998 with two other partners, Andy Currie and John Reece. “It was all surreal. “I didn’t tell the BP manager that I had just gotten off my bike and was covered in mud and shit,” the businessman says in his memoirs titled “The Alchemists.”
Ratcliffe, polemicist, relentless negotiator, tax allergy, Knight (Sir) of Queen Elizabeth II and ardent supporter of Brexit, has just given himself a media Christmas present. On Christmas Eve and after months of tug-of-war, the agreement to buy 25% of Manchester United from the Glazer family, one of the most followed football clubs in the world, was concluded. He won the race against the other contender, Qatari Sheikh Jessim bin Hamad Al Thani, after shelling out $1.3 billion. The agreement secures him two seats on the club's board and enables him to manage the sports operations. In addition, Ratcliffe will invest a further 300 million in improving the stadium – the legendary Old Trafford. “As a lifelong fan of the club, I am very pleased that we have been able to reach an agreement,” he said in a statement published on the team’s official website. The businessman, who is now flaunting his love for the Red Devils, failed a year ago in his attempt to buy Chelsea, one of his big rivals.
According to Bloomberg, Ratcliffe is the second richest person in the UK – just behind vacuum cleaner king James Dyson – with a fortune worth €19.4 billion. However, its origins are much more humble. He was born in Greater Manchester and lived in a council house during his childhood. He graduated with a degree in petrochemistry and his first jobs were related to energy and finance. At the age of 40, he took a career turn, mortgaged his house and started his first business. Then came the introduction of Ineos, which was a true predator in its early days. The company rose by retaining the assets that the hydrocarbon giants auctioned off in the midst of restructuring. In the first ten years of its existence, the company made 20 acquisitions of companies such as BP, BASF and SCI and others. Currently Ineos is an octopus with multiple interests, a turnover (data for 2022) of almost 65,000 million euros (including income from its investments in various joint ventures) and 26,000 employees.
Controversy after controversy
Ratcliffe has two passions. The first is sport – he runs marathons, mountain bikes and has undertaken expeditions to the North and South Poles. Second, get into any puddles that come your way. Last summer he said Britain's energy policy was “rubbish”. He is very critical of the British government because it bans fracking “without regard for the scientific community” and uses its extraction taxes to hinder oil and gas investments in the North Sea.
Ratcliffe's relationship with the tributes has also raised more than just a cloud of dust. Ineos moved its British headquarters to Lausanne in 2010 to save tax costs. The parent company returned to British soil in 2016, but many of the subsidiaries are still based in Switzerland, according to the Financial Times. In addition, in 2019, the entrepreneur decided to move his tax residence to Monaco. He justified this decision by saying that he had made it at the age of 65 and had therefore paid tax in the UK for most of his life. He is hermetic towards the press – he has hardly given any interviews – and his leadership style hardly allows any concessions. The house's brand is to reduce costs at all costs to improve efficiency. In 2013, he faced a labor dispute at the Ineos complex in Grangemouth, Scotland. He threatened to close the petrochemical plant and leave its 800 workers on the streets. In the end, he won the fight against one of the most difficult unions in the country.
Ratcliffe, who holds a 60% stake in Ineos, has diversified the company in recent years. The majority of cash flow continues to come from the petrochemical business, but the group also has a consumer division, which includes the Belstaff clothing brand and its flagship automotive project, the Grenadier 4×4, a modern version of the legendary Range Rover. Ineos' other growth path is in sports. The group has had one of the best cycling teams in the world for years, is involved in the world of rugby and sailing, is one of the shareholders of the Formula 1 team Mercedes-AMG Petronas and the owner of football clubs such as Lausanne and Nice.
Used to succeeding in almost everything he sets his sights on, Ratcliffe is now taking on the challenge of restoring Manchester United to glory. The club, where stars such as Bobby Charlton, George Best, Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo have played, is experiencing a very long dry spell of titles and games. In fact, his last appearance in the Premier League dates back to 2013. The void left by Alex Ferguson after his resignation as manager has still not been filled, despite the spending on new signings that has been accumulated since then. However, this poor sporting performance is not reflected in the balance sheet. In terms of sales, Manchester United is the fourth largest club in the world (688 million euros) and its capitalization remains solid. The Glazers bought the club in 2005 for 800 million and its market value is now 3,379 million. Now it's the alchemist's turn: he has to convert the numbers into goals.
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