Peter Hargreaves

Peter Hargreaves
Born
Peter Kendal Hargreaves

(1946-10-05) 5 October 1946 (age 78)
Clitheroe, Lancashire
NationalityBritish
EducationClitheroe Royal Grammar School
OccupationBusinessman
Known forCo-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown
Chairman of Blue Whale Capital
Websitewww.bluewhale.co.uk

Peter Kendal Hargreaves CBE (born 5 October 1946)[1] is an English co-founder with Stephen Lansdown of Hargreaves Lansdown, one of the United Kingdom's largest financial services businesses. He is a shareholder of Hargreaves Lansdown[2] but no longer a director or employee. He is a partner in Blue Whale Capital, an investment boutique that was launched in 2017.[3]

Early life

Hargreaves was born in Clitheroe and educated at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School in Lancashire.[4][5][6]

Career

Trained as an accountant,[6] Peter Hargreaves initially worked as a computer salesman.[6] He then started Hargreaves Lansdown trading from a bedroom in 1981; in 2010, he stood down as chief executive and, in the same year, received £18 million in payouts from dividends. He was succeeded as CEO by Ian Gorham. His wealth was reported at £2,315 million according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2017, making him the 51st richest person in the UK.[7] Hargreaves joined the board of ITM Power in February 2004 as a non-executive director:[8] he has invested heavily in ITM Power.[9] In March 2016 he joined the Leave.EU movement to campaign for the UK's exit from the European Union.[10] He was the top donor to the Brexit campaign contributing over £3 million to the Leave campaign.[11] In September 2017, Hargreaves announced a £25 million backing in Blue Whale Capital – a new asset management company set up by previous colleague, Stephen Yiu.[12][13]

It was announced in August 2020 that Hargreaves would receive £63.4 million in dividends after Hargreaves Lansdown's profits increased by 24% to £378.3 million in the 12 months leading up to 30 June 2020.[14][15]

According to The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020 his net worth was estimated at £2.4 billion.[16] In 2021, he came ninth in a list of the top ten biggest taxpayers in the UK, having paid a tax bill of £91.4 million that year.[17]

Honours

Hargreaves was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to business innovation, financial services, and the City of Bristol.[18]

Politics

Hargreaves financially supported the Leave.EU campaign in 2016,[19][20] donating £3.2m to the Leave.EU campaign founded by Arron Banks and wrote to 15 million UK householders asking them to support the leave campaign in the European Union membership referendum.[21][22]

In May 2016, Hargreaves said that Brexit will lead to insecurity, which will turn out to be very effective.[23] Hargreaves said that Theresa May should reassure the three million EU nationals already in the UK that their current rights would be maintained.[24]

Hargreaves donated £1m to the Conservatives’ election fund in 2019.[25]

Personal life

In 1986 he married Rosemary; they have one son and one daughter.[26] They live in a Georgian property in the West Country.[4] He owns three racehorses.[6]

References

  1. ^ Duke, Simon (10 September 2017). "Interview: Peter Hargreaves and Blue Whale Capital's Stephen Yiu". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Richard Branson Reveals Virgin Has Lost A Third of Its Value Since Brexit". HuffPost. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  3. ^ Lynch, Andrew (3 September 2017). "Tycoon Peter Hargreaves back in the swim with Blue Whale Capital". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  4. ^ a b Wachman, Richard (30 June 2011). "Peter Hargreaves, the modest multimillionaire". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  5. ^ Andrew Lynch (22 March 2009). "Fame and Fortune: Peter Hargreaves". Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d Bristol’s deadly duo hit the City The Times, 6 May 2007
  7. ^ "The Sunday Times Rich List 2017". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2 July 2017.[dead link‍]
  8. ^ "ITM Power: People". Archived from the original on 1 September 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  9. ^ Peter Hargreaves: My First Million Financial Times
  10. ^ "Peter Hargreaves Joins the Leave.EU team". Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  11. ^ Savage, Michael (7 May 2017). "Biggest Brexit donor urges May to guarantee EU nationals' rights". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  12. ^ "How fund Hargreaves is putting £25m into will invest". FTAdviser.com. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  13. ^ Collinson, Patrick (27 November 2017). "Does Peter Hargreaves have a whale of an opportunity for UK investors?". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  14. ^ O'Dwyer, Michael (7 August 2020). "Hargreaves Lansdown founders to share £82m payout". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Hargreaves Lansdown sees business soar during coronavirus crisis". Evening Standard. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Rich List 2020: profiles 51-100, featuring Bernie Ecclestone". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  17. ^ "Peter Hargreaves and Leonie Schroder were two of the UK's biggest taxpayers - reports". www.investmentweek.co.uk. 29 January 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  18. ^ "No. 60728". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2013. p. 8.
  19. ^ Michael Yong (31 March 2016). "Bankrolling Brexit: How two Bristol businessmen put in millions of pounds". Bristol Post. Retrieved 1 April 2016.[permanent dead link‍]
  20. ^ Howard Mustoe (18 March 2016). "EU referendum: Founder of FTSE 100 broker backs EU exit". BBC News. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  21. ^ Damian Fantato (23 March 2016). "Peter Hargreaves signs 15m letters backing Brexit". FTAdviser. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  22. ^ Dylan Lobo (29 March 2016). "Hargreaves Lansdown distances itself from founder's leave campaign". citywire.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  23. ^ 'Like Dunkirk': Brexit donor trumpets 'fantastic insecurity' of leaving EU, The Guardian 12 May 2016
  24. ^ Savage, Michael (7 May 2017). "Biggest Brexit donor urges May to guarantee EU nationals' rights". The Guardian.
  25. ^ "Tories receive £1m funding boost from billionaire Brexiter". The Guardian. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  26. ^ Fame & Fortune: Peter Hargreaves[dead link‍] The Times, 22 March 2009