Peter Hargreaves

Last updated

Peter Hargreaves
Born
Peter Kendal Hargreaves

(1946-10-05) 5 October 1946 (age 78)
Clitheroe, Lancashire
NationalityBritish
Education Clitheroe Royal Grammar School
OccupationBusinessman
Known forCo-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown
Chairman of Blue Whale Capital
Website www.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]

Contents

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, where he grows his own vegetables. [4] He owns three racehorses. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigel Farage</span> British politician and broadcaster (born 1964)

Nigel Paul Farage is a British politician and broadcaster who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton and Leader of Reform UK since 2024, having previously been its leader from 2019 to 2021. He was the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016. Farage served as a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 1999 until the UK's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) in 2020.

Hargreaves Lansdown plc is a British financial services company based in Bristol, England. It sells funds, shares and related products to retail investors in the United Kingdom. It is the largest investment platform in the UK. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Stephen Philip Lansdown CBE is an English-born Guernsey billionaire. He co-founded the British financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown with Peter Hargreaves. He is a founder of Bristol Sport and majority shareholder of Bristol Bears, Bristol Flyers, and Bristol City Football Club.

Anthony Paul Bamford, Baron Bamford, is a British billionaire businessman who is the chairman of J.C. Bamford Excavators Limited (JCB). He succeeded his father, Joseph Cyril Bamford, as chairman and managing director of the company in 1975, at the age of 30. He was knighted in 1990. Bamford has appeared in the Sunday Times Rich List, and in 2021 his net worth was estimated at US$9.48 billion. Bamford is a car collector whose collection includes two examples of the rare Ferrari 250 GTO, valued upwards of $70 million each.

The Legatum Institute is a think tank based in London, UK. Its stated aim is to advance the education of the public in national and international political, social and economic policy. The Institute has over forty donors including the Legatum Foundation. It has been called "arguably the most influential think tank in Britain pushing its free market pro-Brexit vision and enjoying privileged access to media and ministers" but it has attracted controversy as a result of its opaque, offshore funding.

Jeremy John Hosking is a British businessman and political donor. Ranked number 351 in the Sunday Times Rich List 2019, with a net worth of £375 million, he is a shareholder in Crystal Palace and a noted railway enthusiast. He has donated heavily to the Reclaim Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum</span> Referendum on leaving the European Union

The 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, was a referendum that took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar under the provisions of the European Union Referendum Act 2015 to ask the electorate whether the country should continue to remain a member of, or leave, the European Union (EU). The result was a vote in favour of leaving the EU, triggering calls to begin the process of the country's withdrawal from the EU commonly termed "Brexit".

Robert Leroy Mercer is an American hedge fund manager, computer scientist, and political donor. Mercer was an early artificial intelligence researcher and developer and is the former co-CEO of the hedge fund company Renaissance Technologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brexit</span> The United Kingdoms withdrawal from the European Union

Brexit was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Following a referendum held in the UK on 23 June 2016, Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020. The UK, which joined the EU's precursors the European Communities (EC) on 1 January 1973, is the only member state to have withdrawn from the EU. Following Brexit, EU law and the Court of Justice of the European Union no longer have primacy over British laws. The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 retains relevant EU law as domestic law, which the UK can amend or repeal.

Arron Fraser Andrew Banks is a British businessman and political donor. He is the co-founder of the Leave.EU campaign. Banks was previously one of the largest donors to the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and helped Nigel Farage's campaign for Britain to leave the EU.

Isabel Oakeshott is a British political journalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vote Leave</span> Campaign for UK withdrawal from the EU

Vote Leave was a campaigning organisation that supported a "Leave" vote in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. On 13 April 2016 it was designated by the Electoral Commission as the official campaign in favour of leaving the European Union in the Referendum.

Leave.EU was a political campaign group that was first established to support the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union in the June 2016 referendum. Founded in July 2015 as The Know, the campaign was relaunched in September of that year with its name changed to "Leave.eu" to reflect altered wording in the referendum question.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labour Leave</span> Left-wing Eurosceptic organization in the UK

Labour Leave is a Eurosceptic campaign group in the United Kingdom. The group is unofficially affiliated with the Labour Party, and campaigned for the United Kingdom to vote to withdraw from the European Union, in the June 2016 EU Referendum. The group was led by eurosceptic Labour MPs: Graham Stringer, Kelvin Hopkins, and Roger Godsiff.

A number of politicians, public figures, newspapers and magazines, businesses and other organisations endorsed either the United Kingdom remaining in the EU or the United Kingdom leaving the EU during the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.

Russian interference in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum is a debated subject and remains unproven, though multiple sources argue evidence exists demonstrating that the Russian government attempted to influence British public opinion in favour of leaving the European Union. Investigations into this subject have been undertaken by the UK Electoral Commission, the UK Parliament's Culture Select Committee and Intelligence and Security Committee, and the United States Senate. "The Russia Report" published by the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament in July 2020 did not specifically address the Brexit campaign, but it concluded that Russian interference in UK politics is commonplace. It also found substantial evidence that there had been interference in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

Since the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum, a number of demonstrations have taken place and organisations formed whose goal has been to oppose, reverse or otherwise impede that decision.

<i>Brexit: The Uncivil War</i> 2019 British television political drama film

Brexit: The Uncivil War is a 2019 British drama television film written by James Graham and directed by Toby Haynes. It depicts the lead-up to the 2016 referendum through the activities of the strategists behind the Vote Leave campaign, that prompted the United Kingdom to exit the European Union, known as Brexit. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Dominic Cummings, the Campaign Director of the officially designated Brexit-supporting group, Vote Leave. Rory Kinnear stars as Craig Oliver, one of the leaders of the officially designated Remain-supporting group, Britain Stronger in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Led By Donkeys</span> British anti-Brexit political campaign group

Led By Donkeys is a British political campaign group established in December 2018 as an anti-Brexit group, but which has also criticised other actions of the Conservative government. After the 2024 election of a Labour government, it defined itself as an "accountability project" and stated that the Labour government was also fair game.

Several allegations of unlawful campaigning in the 2016 EU referendum have been made. Some allegations were dismissed by the investigating bodies, but in other cases wrongdoing was established, leading to the imposition of penalties. Sanctions have included the levying of the maximum fine possible on Facebook for breaches of data privacy.

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. 1 2 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. 1 2 3 4 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
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.