Biography
James Ratcliffe is among the world's most closely watched billionaires from UNITED KINGDOM, with an estimated fortune of $18.1B. The bulk of James Ratcliffe's wealth comes from Chemicals, closely tied to Chemicals. Sir James Ratcliffe, born in 1952, is a British billionaire and the visionary founder and CEO of INEOS, a global powerhouse in the chemicals industry. With a net worth of $18.4 billion as of March 2024, Ratcliffe's wealth stems primarily from his chemical manufacturing empire. His career began in chemical engineering, and after a brief period, he joined Advent International, a private equity firm, where he honed his business acumen before founding INEOS in 1998. INEOS quickly grew through strategic acquisitions, transforming into one of the world's largest chemical companies. Beyond his core business, Ratcliffe has expanded into sports ownership, including a significant stake in Manchester United, and has made Monaco his tax residence, reflecting his strategic business moves. Key career milestones include Founded INEOS (1998); Acquired Innovene (2005); Knighted (2018); Acquired OGC Nice (2019). This profile documents verified holdings, career milestones, and multi-year net worth history drawn from Forbes rankings, company filings where available, and our editorial methodology. Readers use it to understand how public markets, private company stakes, and major business bets shape one of the largest personal fortunes on record. Wealth estimates move with stock prices, funding rounds, and disclosed transactions—figures on this page are research estimates, not cash balances. We publish year-by-year net worth history when verified data exists, link to primary sources, and update profiles when Forbes Real-Time Billionaires or major filings change the picture materially. For investors and researchers, the most useful reading pairs the headline number with ownership structure, geography, sector exposure, and the multi-year history chart on this page—especially during volatile markets when single-day moves can shift rankings without any operational change at the underlying companies.