Who is under-fire Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe?

Billionaire Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has faced fierce criticism over comments about immigration into the UK.

The founder of chemical giant Ineos said the “UK is being colonised” by immigrants and called for the Government to act.

In an interview with Sky News he said: “You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in.

“I mean, the UK is being colonised. It’s costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants.”

However, the comments sparked controversy and were heavily criticised by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and football campaign group Kick It Out.

The 73-year-old later apologised that his language “offended some people in the UK and Europe”.

Sir Jim was born on a council estate in Failsworth on the edge of Manchester in 1952, growing up as a passionate Manchester United fan.

Ratcliffe’s family eventually moved to Hull before he went on to study chemical engineering at Birmingham University, then gained an MBA from London Business School.

He began his career at Exxon Chemicals but saw his career trajectory shift after stepping into the world of private equity by joining US giant Advent International.

Sir Jim started to make major deals and ultimately led a deal to buy BP’s chemicals division in Hythe near Southampton with fellow businessman John Hollowood for around £40 million in 1992.

The business then snapped up more chemicals operations and floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1994.

However, in 1998 he left the business to set up his own enterprise, Ineos, starting the group with a deal to buy a Belgian chemicals site for £89 million.

He rapidly grew the business through a series of bolt-on deals, expanding into different areas of petrochemicals and products used across the oil and gas sector.

The business currently employs more than 26,000 staff across 27 countries.

In 2018, Ratcliffe was knighted for his services to business and investment.

The group runs numerous sites across the UK, including the Grangemouth chemical plant in Scotland, which received £120 million from the Government to preserve hundreds of jobs.

However, over the past year the group stopped oil refining activities at Grangemouth and cut a fifth of jobs at its chemicals plant in Hull.

Sir Jim has regularly criticised Government policies for industry, warning last year that taxes on carbon emissions were “killing manufacturing” in Britain.

Ineos reported underlying profits of £375 million euros (£326.5 million) in its most recent quarter.

Sir Jim has been no stranger to controversy, attracting criticism in 2016 after Ineos imported the first shipment of shale gas derived from fracking into the UK.

He also faced scorn after moving to Monaco from the UK in 2020, in a move which has seen him avoid roughly £4 billion in taxes.

The most recent Sunday Times Rich List saw his fortune estimated at £23.52 billion, ranking him as the seventh richest individual in the UK.

Nevertheless, it came after his wealth dropped by £6.47 billion compared with 2024. He previously led the list in 2018.

Sir Jim is perhaps best known in the UK for his sporting enterprises, particularly as co-owner of Manchester United.

He bought a 27.7% stake in the Old Trafford club for £1.25bn in 2024, and has since slightly increased his holding.

Having taken charge of football operations, he has since presided over a controversial cost-cutting exercise as he attempts to revive United’s fortunes.

His sporting portfolio through Ineos also includes other football clubs OGC Nice in France and Switzerland’s Lausanne, and the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team.