Jim Ratcliffe

James Arthur "Jim" Ratcliffe (born 18 October 1952) is a British chemical engineer turned financier and industrialist. Ratcliffe is the chairman and chief executive officer of the Ineos chemicals group, which he founded in 1998 and still owns two-thirds of, and which has been estimated to have a turnover of $44bn. He does not have a high public profile, and has been described by the Sunday Times as "publicity shy". According to the 2010 Sunday Times Rich List, he is one of the richest people in the UK.

Early life and education

Born in Manchester, the son of a joiner father and an accounts office worker mother, Ratcliffe lived there in a council house in Failsworth until the age of ten. His father eventually ran a factory making laboratory furniture. Aged ten, he moved with his family to Yorkshire, and Ratcliffe attended Beverley Grammar School and lived in Hull up to the age of 18.

Ratcliffe graduated from the University of Birmingham with a degree in chemical engineering in 1974.