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British engineer and businessman (born 1952)
Sir James Arthur Ratcliffe 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.
Ratcliffe was born in Failsworth, Lancashire (now in Greater Manchester), where his father worked as a joiner and went on to run a factory that made laboratory furniture. His mother worked in an accounts office. 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. In 1974, he graduated with a 2:1 in chemical engineering from the University of Birmingham.
Ratcliffe has two sons with previous wife Amanda Townson, and one daughter from a previous relationship with Italian tax lawyer Maria Alessia Maresca. He was married to Catherine Polli. Ratcliffe enjoys sport and physical adventure, and has made expeditions to the North and South Poles, as well as a three-month motorbike trek in South Africa. In 2013, he completed the Marathon Des Sables across the Sahara Desert, and founded the charity Go Run for Fun, which creates celebrity-led events to encourage five-to-ten-year-olds to get physically active. Another charity, the Jim Ratcliffe Foundation, helped build a new ski clubhouse in Courchevel to help underprivileged children learn to ski. The Charity Commission for England and Wales has opened an investigation into this charity over a regulatory compliance concern after a donation to a private ski resort. Ratcliffe splits his time between Hampshire and Monaco. In 2017, he submitted his fifth plan to build a luxury home at Thorns Beach near Beaulieu in Hampshire, which would replace an existing two-bedroom bungalow. In September 2020, he officially changed his tax residence from Hampshire to Monaco, which was estimated to save him £4 billion in tax. He owns an estate on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland, as well as the hotels Le Portetta in Courchevel and Lime Wood in Hampshire. Ratcliffe has owned two super yachts by Feadship: Hampshire and Hampshire II. His first yacht was built by Feadship under the name Barbara Jean, and was later sold. In 2012, he took delivery of the 78-metre (256 ft) Hampshire II, built by Royal Van Lent, which he still owns.
After graduating, Ratcliffe worked at the oil firm BP but was fired after 3 days. The reason given for his dismissal was that he had eczema, which made him unfit to work around toxic chemicals. This was a medical condition that BP had overlooked prior to Ratcliffe joining. After leaving BP he took up a position as a trainee accountant at a pharmaceuticals company. A few years later, Ratcliffe joined oil giant Esso. From 1978 to 1980, Esso funded his MBA at the London Business School (he donated £25 million to the school in 2016). Ratcliffe went on to work for the fabric and chemicals producer Courtaulds, where he stayed until his mid-thirties. In 1989, he joined US private equity group Advent International.
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