One of the UK’s wealthiest men, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has built a multibillion-pound business by purchasing unwanted assets. He now wishes to acquire Manchester United.
The Ineos founder’s interest comes on the heels of a Bloomberg report that United’s current owners, the Glazer family, are willing to sell a minority stake in the club.
United, the 20-time English champions, are at the bottom of the Premier League after losing their first two games under new manager Erik ten Hag.
The Glazers’ poor start has fueled criticism of their perceived lack of investment in the team.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, the club has struggled and has not won a trophy since 2017.
Sir Jim was born in Failsworth, Greater Manchester, the son of a joiner, and grew up a Manchester United fan.
“If the club is for sale, Jim is definitely a potential buyer,” a spokesperson for the 69-year-old told The Times.
“If something like this were possible, we would be interested in discussing long-term ownership.”
It’s a familiar mode of operation for the man once known as Dr No by trade unions for his tough negotiating stance.
Sir Jim has amassed a large fortune by purchasing and repurposing surplus parts of other companies, though estimates of his fortune vary.
Forbes estimates it to be just under £11 billion, while The Sunday Times Rich List, which ranks him as the 27th wealthiest person in the UK, estimates it to be closer to £6 billion.
Ineos
Sir Jim founded Ineos from operations once owned by oil giant BP. Ineos’ chemicals and raw materials are found in nearly everything we touch every day.
Ineos generates around £50 billion in sales and employs over 26,000 people across 194 sites in 29 countries.
Its raw materials are used in everything from toiletries, medicines, and food packaging to mobile phones and furniture.
Sir Jim has always worked in the chemical and industrial fields.
After earning a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Birmingham in 1974, he worked for BP and Esso before joining the fabric and chemicals manufacturer Courtaulds.
Then, in 1989, he took a career-changing step into private equity by joining Advent International.
It taught Sir Jim the intricacies of business before he embarked on what would become a tried-and-true strategy of co-ownership.
In 1992, he and fellow businessman John Hollowood paid £40 million for BP’s chemicals division in Hythe, near Southampton. When it went public on the London Stock Exchange in 1994, it was worth £100 million.
Inspec, the company, later acquired BP’s speciality chemicals business in Antwerp, Belgium. Sir Jim then left to start his own company, Ineos, which bought the Belgian company for £89 million in 1998.
Since then, Ineos has grown to become a chemical powerhouse, expanding through acquisitions and investing in contentious areas such as fracking.
Sir Jim, who is also the majority shareholder of Ineos, has been able to move quickly on deals due to his decision not to flog the company and thus have no City shareholders to consult.
He’s also known for being a tough negotiator in labor disputes.
In 2013, he famously clashed with unions at the Grangemouth petrochemical plant and refinery in Scotland, amid threats of company-wide strikes over pay and pensions.
The dispute, which earned Sir Jim the Bond villain moniker of Dr No, resulted in Ineos announcing that the plant would be closed and 800 jobs would be lost.
However, the company quickly reversed its decision after the Unite union agreed to a £300 million survival plan to keep the site open.
Sir Jim is no stranger to controversy; in 2016, Ineos imported the first shipment of shale gas (derived from fracking) into the UK, despite fierce opposition from environmental groups.
He also reportedly plans to relocate from the United Kingdom to Monaco in 2020, a country that does not levy personal income or capital gains taxes. Sir Jim declined to comment, but when asked about reports that he would relocate to the principality in 2019, he told the BBC that he tried to “give back to the UK” by investing £2.5 billion in the country.
Sir Jim’s business interests have shifted away from chemicals in recent years. He stated that he intends to build a new vehicle based on the Land Rover Defender, which was discontinued in 2016.
However, Sir Jim, a Leave campaigner in the Brexit referendum, announced in 2020 that the new 4×4 vehicle would be built in France, putting an end to hopes that it would be manufactured at a new plant in Wales.
Ineos purchased Belstaff, a luxury motorcycle wear manufacturer whose jackets were once worn by actor Steve McQueen and modeled by David Beckham.
After Ineos acquired the former Team Sky in 2019, Sir Jim became the new owner of a high-profile professional cycling team. The team is now known as the Ineos Grenadiers.
It’s unclear whether these businesses were unloved, but Sir Jim clearly saw a lot of potential in them.
Sir Jim made an unsuccessful £4.25 billion bid to purchase Chelsea after owner Roman Abramovich put the London club up for sale in May.
He told BBC Sport at the time that he was a Manchester United fan and that he was not bidding for the Red Devils because they were not for sale.
Sir Jim also owns Nice in France and Lausanne-Sport in Switzerland, and Ineos has a partnership with the