The Queen's Knight, Debate and Tax Sensitive: Portrait of the Alchemist Who Wants to Bring Back Manchester United's Greatness | a job

A call that changed his luck and made him a billionaire. Jim Ratcliffe (Failsworth, UK, 71) was sitting on a rock, surrounded by deer, in the Scottish mountainous Glen Nevis in the spring of 2005, when his mobile phone started ringing. BP's CFO wanted to make him a suggestion. If Ineos put $9 billion on the table, the energy giant's petrochemicals business was its own. He agreed immediately. The deal tripled the size of the company Ratcliffe founded.

A call that changed his luck and made him a billionaire. Jim Ratcliffe (Failsworth, UK, 71) was sitting on a rock, surrounded by deer, in the Scottish mountainous Glen Nevis in the spring of 2005, when his mobile phone started ringing. BP's CFO wanted to make him a suggestion. If Ineos put $9 billion on the table, the energy giant's petrochemicals business was its own. He agreed immediately. The deal triples the size of the firm, which Ratcliffe founded in 1998 with two other partners, Andy Currie and John Rees. “It was all surreal. “I didn't tell the BP manager that I had just gotten off the bike and that I was covered in mud and dirt,” the businessman says in his memoir, titled Alchemists (Chemists).

Argumentative, relentless negotiator, tax-sensitive, Mr.sir) For Queen Elizabeth II and an ardent Brexit advocate, Ratcliffe has just given himself a media present at Christmas. On Christmas Eve, after months of tug-of-war, the agreement to purchase 25% of Manchester United shares from the Glazer family, one of the most followed football clubs in the world, was closed. He won the race over the other suitor, Qatari Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, after spending $1.3 billion. The agreement will give him two seats on the club's board of directors and allow him to take responsibility for sports operations. In addition, Ratcliffe will invest another $300 million to improve the stadium – the legendary Old Trafford stadium. “As a lifelong fan of the club, I am very happy that we were able to reach an agreement,” he said in a statement published on the team’s official website. The businessman, who is now showing his love for the Red Devils, failed a year ago in his attempt to buy Chelsea, one of his major rivals.

Ratcliffe is the second richest person in the UK – behind vacuum cleaner king James Dyson – with an estimated fortune of €19.4 billion, according to Bloomberg. However, its origins are much more humble. He was born in the Greater Manchester area and lived in a council house during his childhood. He graduated in petrochemical engineering and his first jobs were related to energy and finance. At the age of 40, he took a turn in his career, mortgaged his house and started his first company. Then came the release of Ineos, which in its early days was a true predator. The company rose by retaining assets that giant oil and gas companies were auctioning off, in the midst of a restructuring process. In its first 10 years, it made 20 acquisitions from companies such as BP, BASF or SCI, among others. At the moment, Ineos is a multi-interest octopus, with a turnover (2022 data) of approximately 65,000 million euros (including income provided by its interests in various fields). Join the adventures) and 26,000 employees.

Controversy after controversy

Ratcliffe has two passions. The first is sports: he participates in marathons, runs mountain bike trails, and undertakes expeditions to both the North and South Poles. Second, get into all the puddles that come your way. Last summer he said the UK's energy policy was “rubbish”. He strongly criticizes the British government for banning it Hydraulic fracturing “Ignoring the scientific community” and discouraging investments by oil and gas companies in the North Sea with extraction taxes.

Ratcliffe's relationship with the gladiators also raised more than just a cloud of dust. Ineos moved its UK headquarters to Lausanne in 2010 to save on the tax bill. The parent company returned to British territory in 2016, but many subsidiaries are still based in Switzerland, according to the report. Financial Times. Moreover, the businessman decided to transfer his tax residence to Monaco in 2019. He justified this decision by explaining that he made it at the age of 65 and therefore had been paying taxes in the UK almost all his life. He is an arbitrator in the eyes of the press – he rarely gives interviews – and his management style allows for few concessions. The home brand is to reduce costs at all costs to improve efficiency. In 2013, he faced a labor dispute at the Ineos complex in Grangemouth (Scotland). He threatened to close the petrochemical plant and leave its 800 workers on the streets. He ended up winning the battle against one of the most difficult unions in the country.

Ratcliffe, who holds a 60% stake in Ineos, has diversified the company in recent years. The petrochemicals business still contributes the bulk of cash flow, but the group also has a consumer division that includes clothing brand Belstaff and its automotive venture with the Grenadier 4×4, a modernized version of the legendary Range Rover, as its flagship. . Another growth path for Ineos is sports. For many years, the group has owned one of the world's top cycling teams, has interests in the world of rugby and sailing, is a shareholder in the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team, and is also the owner of football clubs such as Lausanne. and nice.

Accustomed to success at almost everything he touches, Ratcliffe now faces the challenge of recreating Manchester United's greatness. The club, which has played for stars such as Bobby Charlton, George Best, Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo, is going through a very long drought of trophies and matches. In fact, his last Premier League appearance dates back to 2013. The gap left by Alex Ferguson when he retired as manager has yet to be filled despite the backlog of spending on signings since then. But this poor athletic performance was not reflected in the calculations. Manchester United is the fourth club in the world in terms of revenue (€688 million) and its capitalization remains strong. The Glazer family bought the club for $800 million in 2005, and it now has a market value of $3.379 million. Now it's the alchemist's turn: he has to turn numbers into goals.

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