celebyachts.comThe maritime broadsheet of public waters · Register current through 27 Jul 2026
British businessman (born 1945)
Anthony Paul Bamford, Baron Bamford, is a British billionaire businessman who is the chairman of J.C. Bamford Excavators Limited (JCB). He succeeded his father, Joseph Cyril Bamford, as chairman and managing director of the company in 1975, at the age of 30. He was knighted in 1990. Bamford has appeared in the Sunday Times Rich List, and in 2021 his net worth was estimated at US$9.48 billion.
Bamford was born on 23 October 1945 to Joseph Bamford and Marjorie Bamford (née Griffin). He was educated at Ampleforth College, then an all-boys Roman Catholic public school (i.e. independent boarding school). He then studied at the University of Grenoble.
Bamford owns mansions in several countries; in England, they include Daylesford House and Wootton Lodge. In 2004 Bamford bought Sloane House in Chelsea, London from oil trader Ely Calil for £45 million. Although he was linked to offshore tax havens in the Panama Papers through sole ownership of Casper Ltd., his spokesman said the company was inactive for its entire existence before being dissolved in 2012. Bamford is married to Carole Whitt and they have 3 children, Joseph "Jo" Cyril Edward, George, and Alice. Jo Bamford is also a businessman who founded a green hydrogen investment fund after working at the family company. In 2019 Jo purchased Northern Irish company Wrightbus, which manufactures buses, including London's double-deckers. Bamford is close to King Charles III as well as former prime ministers Tony Blair, David Cameron and Boris Johnson. He provided Daylesford House for Johnson's wedding party in July 2022, along with £23,853 towards costs. With his wife, Bamford was invited to ride in the King's procession at Royal Ascot 2023.
In 1974, Bamford sued the then MP Jeffrey Archer for bankruptcy after Archer failed to repay a £172,000 loan. Archer had lost the money in a fraudulent share scam. Archer later repaid the money from his earnings as a novelist and Bamford subsequently withdrew the bankruptcy notice. In 2000, JCB was fined £22 million by the European Commission for antitrust breaches. Bamford said the decision was "disappointing and wrong". A six-year legal battle ensued, which resulted in the European Court of Justice upholding the penalty. Outside of business, Bamford is a well-known collector of early vintage Ferraris, and is the only individual to own two Ferrari 250 GTOs. He was once the owner of a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 Grand Prix car raced by the five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina, and in August 2006, he expressed an interest in purchasing Jaguar Cars but backed out when he was told the sale would also involve Land Rover, which he did not wish to buy. A few months before Bamford joined the House of Lords, he shut down a company he had owned that was registered in the British Virgin Islands. The company was called Casper Ltd. and was formed in 1994. Bamford was the sole shareholder. A spokesman for Bamford told The Guardian in 2016 that Casper Ltd. never owned any assets, had a bank account or engaged in any activity during its entire existence. In 2014 Bamford was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Biographical detail compiled from Wikipedia and Wikidata, which are edited openly and may be incomplete or out of date. Fleet data is our own. Source →
