Photo: Staff photographer / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Jim Ratcliffe is a self-made figure whose drive I find hard not to respect. Born in Failsworth, the chemical engineer founded INEOS in 1998 and built it into a chemicals giant, becoming at one point the richest person in the UK and earning a knighthood. More recently he's bought into Manchester United, which is how plenty of sports fans came to know his name. What strikes me is the trajectory: an engineer who built a fortune from the ground up rather than inheriting one. I'm always drawn to people who climb on the strength of their own work, and his appetite to keep taking on new arenas even after success is genuinely energetic.
Overview
Sir James Arthur Ratcliffe (born 18 October 1952) 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. In May 2018, Ratcliffe was the richest person in the UK, with a net worth of £21.05 billion.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Jim Ratcliffe
- Name (Japanese)
- ジム・ラトクリフ
- Reading
- じむ・らとくりふ
- Born
- October 18, 1952 (age 73)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Libra / Dragon
- Origin
- Failsworth, United Kingdom
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- engineer / chairperson / chief executive officer / businessperson / entrepreneur
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- University of Birmingham
Awards & achievements
- 2018 Knight Bachelor
- Petrochemical Heritage Award
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Engineer — see all → · More people from United Kingdom →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.