Sir Jim Ratcliffe: Britain's richest man is a Man United fan making bid for club

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim Bin Al Thani are the main contenders to take over with the second round of bidding reaching the deadline.

Advertisement

The Glazer family, who have owned United since May 2005, have extended the submission date for the latest offers to buy the club.

Ratcliffe was the first person to publicly declare interest in taking over the Red Devils and is now going head-to-head with Sheikh Jassim.

Who is Sir Jim Ratcliffe and how much is he worth?

Advertisement

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is Britain's richest man.

Ratcliffe is the chairman and CEO of chemicals company INEOS and has a net worth of around £13billion.

The 70-year-old has a history of owning football clubs as his company are the current owners of Ligue 1 side Nice and Swiss team FC Lausanne-Sport.

He was also among the bidders for Chelsea before ultimately losing out to a consortium led by Todd Boehly last year.

Advertisement

Ratcliffe is involved in other sports too, taking over cycling giant Team Sky in 2019 and rebranding them to Team Ineos.

Advertisement

The billionaire was born in Failsworth, Great Manchester and lived in a council house with his parents.

Ratcliffe has been a United fan since his childhood, with his bid for the club being not only a business move but a personal one.

Advertisement

In 1998, Ratcliffe founded INEOS and the company has gone on to hand him his riches.

Speaking about his chemicals company, he told The Times: "We'd look at businesses that were unfashionable or unsexy, facilities owned by large corporations where you'd know they would be sloppy with the fixed costs.

"We'd run them a bit better, reduce the costs, make them busy, and over the cycle they are very profitable."

20 years after beginning his company, Ratcliffe was knighted by the Queen for his services to business and investment.

Advertisement

Earlier this year, INEOS' bid for United become public as a spokesperson said: "We have formally put ourselves into the process".

Ratcliffe's business was the first to make their interest in the takeover known with a battle looking set to ensue.

He has reportedly been working with two investment banks in Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan who are prepared to help out with his offer by providing loans and bonds.

Advertisement

Billionaire Ratcliffe will now fight it out with Sheikh Jassim as both parties look to submit their second bid for Manchester United.