Ratcliffe is 69 years old and is the founder and owner of the petrochemical company Ineos. Photo by Reuters
After the Glazer family, who have owned Manchester United since 2005, reported they would be willing to sell a small portion of their stock and Elon Musk surprised through his Twitter account, Jim RatcliffeThe richest man in the UK has announced his interest in joining the traditional British team, a spokesman for the businessman reported to various British media.
“If Manchester United is for sale, Jim Ratcliffe is definitely a potential buyer. We would be interested in talking about a long-term property,” said the representative of the millionaire businessman, making it clear that Ratcliffe’s idea is to acquire, in the future, the entire share package, to have “total control” and “rekindle” the club.
And although for the moment the tycoon’s arrival in the English Premier League team is only a possibility – the first contacts have just been established to start the negotiations – the rumor has already had a great impact on the value of the club.
Because according to the information of the newspaper TimesUnited’s shares on the New York Stock Exchange rose by 15 percent compared to last week. Today, they are trading at $ 13.77, which means the club is worth nearly $ 240 million more than it was seven days ago.
Who is the man who could win a piece of one of the most traditional teams in English football? Born in Failsworth, Lancashire 69 years ago, he is the founder, chairman and majority shareholder of Ineos, one of the two largest petrochemical companies in the world. at its best, It was worth about 25,000 million dollars. Currently, his fortune would be around 18,000 million.
His father was a carpenter, who later ran a laboratory furniture factory, and his mother worked in accounting. After graduating from high school, Ratcliffe – now ranked 27th on the richest list in the world – Sunday times 2022- Graduated in Chemical Engineering from the University of Birmingham and then studied Management Accounting at London Business School.
He only started building his entrepreneurial career at the age of 40. Before, he had worked in the oil company That’s all and in the American Private Equity Group international advent. But in the 90s she decided to go his way.
In 1992 he was one of the co-founders of INSPECTa bibliographic database on science and technology and in 1998, created Ineos in Hampshire, after purchasing the rest of INSPEC from its partners. In 2006, Ineos bought innovatethe refining and petrochemical sector of BPan energy company, mainly engaged in oil and natural gas, based in London.
The Ratcliffe company, which employs around 19,000 people worldwide, produces fuels and lubricants, food containers, building materials, plastics, acids and polystyrene, and even supplies natural gas to some homes. In 2018, the company was valued at approximately $ 42 billion; although according to specialized publications, that figure has increased by nearly 18,000 million since then.
Although Ineos does not only have a strong presence in the petrochemical sector. Like Sir Jim – he received the title of gentleman of honor in 2018 – is a sports and physical activity enthusiast, he did not hesitate to expand his “empire” in that world.
He is the owner of the football teams Beautiful (France) e Lausanne (Swiss). Through the company he appoints the famous cycling team INEOS Grenadiersseven-time winner of the Tour de France under the name of Sky, with Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal. And he has also invested in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
Reserved and solitary, Ratcliffe is not a man much loved by his rivals and his employees. Many nickname it drin reference to the eccentric scientist, genius and millionaire, who was the villain of one of the James Bond films.
Father of three children – two from his first marriage and one from his second – he lives on the French Riviera and tends to indulge some extravagant tastes.
For example, he owns a superyacht called the Hampshire II, which it bought in 2011 for nearly $ 160 million. The ship is 257 feet 6 inches long (over 78 meters) and can accommodate 14 guests and 23 crew members. It has six cabins, a swimming pool on one of the decks, Jacuzzi, sauna, cinema, beach club and a helipad, which can be transformed into a sports area for playing tennis, badminton, basketball, baseball or football.
Ratcliffe also owns four private jets and a large fleet of automobiles. And he is known as Land Rover lovers, to the point that he financed the production of his own 4×4 line to compete with that British brand, the Ineos Projekt Grenadierwhich will soon be on the market and will cost around 59 thousand dollars.
In addition, he has made expeditions to the North and South Poles and also spent three months on a motorcycle trip through South Africa.
Last May, Sir Jim failed in his attempt to purchase the Chelsea, a team in which he has been a paying member for many years. Although he has acknowledged several times in the past that despite having those annual tickets to the London club’s matches, he has always been a United fan, so his desire to take control of the red team, to try and get them out of the league, is it is not surprising the crisis into which it has plunged.
“They are in great difficulty as a company. They don’t have the right choice for the coach, they haven’t bought well,” he once told the Times.
Source: Clarin
