Knighted tax-exile Jim Ratcliffe has been slammed for his “colonised by immigrants” comments, blaming them for the UK's problems. It's not the only reason he's drawn flak
Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Ratcliffe has drawn widespread criticism for his anti-immigrant vitriol(Image: SKy NEws)
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From humble beginnings in a Greater Manchester council house to the tax haven of Monaco, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has become one of the UK’s most successful - and richest - businessmen. But he's courted controversy along the way.
According to the 2025 Sunday Times Rich List, Ratcliffe’s net worth is estimated at £17.05bn, a decline of £6.5bn from the previous year. The 73-year-old is currently Britain's seventh-richest man. The Manchester United co-owner has been condemned for his “colonised by immigrants” comments, blaming them for Britain’s problems. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has called them “offensive and wrong” while Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said they were “inaccurate, insulting and inflammatory”.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe at a match with Sir Alex Ferguson
Ratcliffe watching match with Sir Alex Ferguson(Image: AP)
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In recent times he has also been criticised for massive cuts at United, including making 450 people redundant and closing the Old Trafford staff canteen and ending free lunches for non-playing staff.
But who is the billionaire behind the comments? Ratcliffe spent the first 10 years of his life in a council house on Dunkerley Avenue, in Failsworth, a small town between Manchester and Oldham. From there his family moved to Yorkshire and he attended Beverley Grammar School.
He went on to study chemical engineering at the University of Birmingham and earned an MBA, a prestigious, globally recognized postgraduate degree, from London Business School.
After spells working for industrial giants including BP and Esso. Three days after staring at BP he was fired due to his eczema, which bosses said made him unfit to work around toxic chemicals.
Ratcliffe with members of the Glazer family
Ratcliffe bought minority stake in United from the Glazer family(Image: PA)
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In 1998 he founded INEOS. He transformed a bought-out BP plant into a global giant with significant operations in petrochemicals, shale gas, and oil.
Today, the company operates 154 sites in 27 countries, generating more than £40bn annually and employing over 24,500 people worldwide.
A lifelong fan, in 2024, Sir Jim acquired a 28% stake in Manchester United, for £1.3 billion, taking control of football operations. He had previously tabled a bid to buy Chelsea for £4.25bn in 2022, but lost out to a consortium led by American businessman Todd Boehly.
United sign in Old Trafford
Manchester United's on-pitch form has been well below their more recent heady days of success(Image: Getty Images)
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As well as football, INEOS is involved in several other sports, including Formula 1, cycling and sailing. He owns INEOS Britannia (sailing), Team Sky (cycling, now INEOS Grenadiers), and football clubs OGC Nice and FC Lausanne-Sport.
Since buying a minority stake at United from the unpopular Glazer family, Ratcliffe has overseen major cost-saving measures.
As well as hundreds of job losses, free lunches at the staff canteen at Old Trafford were replaced with fruit. At the Carrington training base non-playing staff are now offered soup and bread.
United announced record revenues of £666.5m for the 2024/25 season - an increase of 0.7% - but still made a loss of £33m. The club has also announced plans for a new, 100,000 seat stadium.
Politically, Ratcliffe was a prominent backer of Brexit as the UK withdrew from the EU in 2016. In 2018 he was knighted for services to business and investment. In 2020 Ratcliffe quit Brexit Britain and moved to Monaco - a move estimated to have saved him £4 billion in tax.
He threw his weight behind Sir Keir Starmer before the 2024 general election, but has now suggested he may be “too nice” for the job. In the same interview with Sky TV where he made his “colonised by immigrants” comments, he also expressed admiration for Nigel Farage.
Ratcliffe has spoken about immigration before. In 2024 he said: “A small island like the UK can't cope with vast numbers of people coming in. It just overburdens the National Health Service, the traffic service, the police, everybody. The country was designed for 55 or 60 million people, and we've got 70 million people and all the services break down as a consequence.”
In his latest interview he claimed immigration had pushed the country's population from 58 million in 2020 to 70 million in 2026. The Office for National Statistics estimates the population of the UK was 67 million in mid-2020 and 70 million in mid-2024. It was estimated at 58.9 million in 2000.
Ratcliffe has also faced criticism in Scotland after his company closed the country’s only oil refinery, Grangemouth, last year with the loss of around 400 jobs. Back in 2013 a plan to shut the refinery was drawn up with the workforce told it would only re-open if they agreed to savage wage and pension cuts.