Sir Jim Ratcliffe net worth: Wealth & business interests of potential new Man Utd owner explained

With the Glazer family confirming their intent to 'explore strategic alternatives' and sell Manchester United in 2022, naturally fans were ecstatic and potential bidders were put on standby. After years of protests from fans to sell up, it appears the Glazers finally look set to move on from United and sell the club in 2023.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been mooted as a potential buyer in the past, alongside the likes of Michael Knighton, but what does his personal fortune stand at and how did he accumulate the wealth that makes him a candidate to inherit the Red Devils’ reins? GOAL takes a look…

What is Sir Jim Ratcliffe's net worth?

The Sunday Times 'Rich List' in 2022 had Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s personal fortune estimated at £6.075 billion ($7.4bn), listing him as the 27th richest person in the world.

With his business interests added to the pot, he is understood to be worth around £13bn ($15.6bn).

Sir Jim Ratcliffe's business interests

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The 69-year-old, who is now based in the tax haven of Monaco, has earned his fortune as the owner of multinational chemicals company Ineos.

He was the co-founder of Inspec, which made money through shale gas, but launched Ineos in 1998 and has made them the fourth-largest chemicals company in the world – with a diverse range of products including synthetic oils and plastics and solvents that are used to make insulin and antibiotics.

His vast wealth has allowed him to take on a number of sporting ventures, with the keen cyclist having acquired the Team Sky racing team before rebranding them as Ineos in 2019 – with Tour de France and Giro d’Italia titles secured under his ownership.

Ratcliffe also oversees Sir Ben Ainslie’s sailing team, Ineos Team UK, is one of the sponsors of the World Championship-winning Mercedes Formula One team and is the owner of Swiss football team FC Lausanne – who he bought in 2017 – and Ligue 1 outfit Nice.

An offer for Chelsea was put to Roman Abramovich back in 2019, before returning to that negotiating table in 2022 as the Blues changed hands and eventually fell under the ownership of a Todd Boehly-led consortium.

Is Sir Jim Ratcliffe interested in a Man Utd takeover?

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Ratcliffe, who was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list of June 2018 for his services to business and investment, grew up as a boyhood Manchester United supporter and has never shied away from the fact that he could be tempted into making a play for the club.

That remains the case at present, with a spokesperson telling The Times: "We have formally put ourselves into the process (of buying United)."

Calls for change at Old Trafford are mounting in intensity as the 13-time Premier League champions continue to regress on the field – finishing sixth in the 2021-22 campaign – while many millions of pounds have been wasted on questionable transfer business.

Despite their resurgence under Erik ten Hag in 2022-23, calls for change from fans have remained consistent through protests and chants during home games.