Rank 113
James Ratcliffe
16B
Chemicals
London
United Kingdom
- An adventure seeker, Ratcliffe has made trips to both the North and South poles and went on a month-long motorbike trip in South Africa in 2015.
- Ineos owns a third of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, as well as two smaller soccer clubs in France and Switzerland.
- Former chemical engineer James Ratcliffe is the founder, chairman and majority owner of $68 billion (2022 revenue) chemical powerhouse Ineos Group.
- The London-based conglomerate produces everything from synthetic oils and plastics to solvents used to make insulin and antibiotics.
- It's become one of the U.K. shale sector's largest players. Its 600-foot "Dragon Ships" were the first to transport U.S. shale gas into Europe.
- Ratcliffe mortgaged his house in 1992 to lead the buyout of a BP chemicals business; 6 years later, he bought a plant from that firm to form Ineos.
- Ineos acquired two chemicals businesses from BP in 2021 for $5 billion. It formed petrochemical JVs with Sinopec worth more than $7 billion in 2022.
- In 2023, Ineos acquired $1.4 billion of U.S. onshore oil and gas assets from Chesapeake Energy.
- Ratcliffe acquired a 28% stake in British soccer club Manchester United for $1.5 billion over two months ending in early 2024.