Introduction
James Ratcliffe is a British billionaire chemical engineer who became a financier and industrialist.
Ratcliffe is chairman and chief executive of Ineos chemicals, which he co-founded in 1998. He still owns two-thirds of Ineos and has a turnover estimated at $80 billion.
He is not well-known and was described by Sunday Times as “publicity shy”.
James Ratcliffe’s net worth was $19 Billion as of August 2022.
Early Life
Sir James Arthur Ratcliffe was a Manchester native.
Ratcliffe was born to a joiner father and an accountant office worker mother.
His father owned a furniture factory that made laboratory furniture. He moved to Yorkshire with his family at the age of ten. Ratcliffe attended Beverley Grammar School, where he lived until 18. Ratcliffe received a degree from the University of Birmingham in 1974 in chemical engineering.
Career
Ratcliffe started his career with Esso oil giant. However, he wanted to expand his financial skills by studying management accounting at London Business School and completing an MBA. In 1989, he joined Advent International, a US private equity firm.
Ratcliffe was a cofounder of INSPEC which leased the Antwerp site from BP Chemicals. Ratcliffe founded Ineos, Hampshire in 1998 to purchase INSPEC and the Antwerp site’s freehold.
Ineos’s headquarters was moved from Hampshire to Rolle in Switzerland in 2010. This reduced the annual tax payment of the company by PS100m.
Ratcliffe, who opened the UK headquarters for the chemicals and energy group in Knightsbridge, London in 2015, said he was “very happy about returning to the UK”.
He was happy with UK policy and London as a base of business, and not worried about the possibility of the UK leaving the EU. It remains an Anglo-Swiss business for the moment.
How Does James Ratcliffe Spend His Money
James Ratcliffe uses some of his wealth to buy real estate.
Ratcliffe resides in Monaco and Hampshire.
He built second luxury home in Thorns Beach on the Hampshire coast in 2017, which was to replace a two-bedroom bungalow. Ratcliffe owned superyachts Hampshire II and Hampshire II. His first yacht, Barbara Jean by Feadship was built.
Highlights
These are some of James Ratcliffe’s greatest moments:
- Chairman and chief executive officer at Ineos chemicals group
Three Life Lessons From James Ratcliffe
We now know all about James Ratcliffe and his success story. Let’s look at some lessons we can learn.
1. Be Yourself
Two types of people will tell you you can’t make a difference in the world: those who are afraid and those who fear you will succeed.
2. Defeats
We might face many defeats but that does not mean we should be defeated.
3. Settling
You will settle for the normal if you don’t want to take on the risk of the unknown.
Favorite Quotes From James Ratcliffe
In large organizations, where it can be difficult to speak to more than a thousand people, unions can be a valuable resource. They can negotiate annual pay increases with management, handle grievance cases, and provide advice and explanation on complex changes in employment and pension law.
It would be great if some areas could be revived, like the U.S. cities of Pittsburgh and New York, which have been transformed by shale. Because of the development and use of shale in an industrial area, you can now have shiny cars in a shining city.
The U.K. could be successful as a separate country and parts of the European market like Norway or Switzerland, but without the costly E.U. bureaucracy.