Peter Hargreaves

Born|

Peter Kendal Hargreaves

(1946-10-05) 5 October 1946 (age 77)

Clitheroe, Lancashire

Nationality| British
Education| Clitheroe Royal Grammar School
Occupation| Businessman
Known for| Co-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown
Chairman of Blue Whale Capital
Website| www.bluewhale.co.uk

Peter Kendal Hargreaves CBE (born 5 October 1946)[1] is an English co-founder with Stephen Lansdown of Hargreaves Lansdown, one of the United Kingdom's largest financial services businesses. He is a shareholder of Hargreaves Lansdown[2] but no longer a director or employee. He is a partner in Blue Whale Capital, an investment boutique that was launched in 2017.[3]

## Early life

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Hargreaves was born in Clitheroe and educated at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School in Lancashire.[4][5][6]

## Career

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Trained as an accountant,[6] Peter Hargreaves initially worked as a computer salesman.[6] He then started Hargreaves Lansdown trading from a bedroom in 1981; in 2010, he stood down as chief executive and, in the same year, received £18 million in payouts from dividends. He was succeeded as CEO by Ian Gorham. His wealth was reported at £2,315 million according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2017, making him the 51st richest person in the UK.[7] Hargreaves joined the board of ITM Power in February 2004 as a non-executive director:[8] he has invested heavily in ITM Power.[9] In March 2016 he joined the Leave.EU movement to campaign for the UK's exit from the European Union.[10] He was the top donor to the Brexit campaign contributing over £3 million to the Leave campaign.[11] In September 2017, Hargreaves announced a £25 million backing in Blue Whale Capital – a new asset management company set up by previous colleague, Stephen Yiu.[12][13]

It was announced in August 2020 that Hargreaves would receive £63.4 million in dividends after Hargreaves Lansdown's profits increased by 24% to £378.3 million in the 12 months leading up to 30 June 2020.[14][15]

According to The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020 his net worth was estimated at £2.4 billion.[16] In 2021, he came ninth in a list of the top ten biggest taxpayers in the UK, having paid a tax bill of £91.4 million that year.[17]

## Honours

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Hargreaves was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to business innovation, financial services, and the City of Bristol.[18]

## Politics

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Hargreaves financially supported the Leave.EU campaign in 2016,[19][20] donating £3.2m to the Leave.EU campaign founded by Arron Banks and wrote to 15 million UK householders asking them to support the leave campaign in the European Union membership referendum.[21][22]

In May 2016, Hargreaves said that Brexit will lead to insecurity, which will turn out to be very effective.[23] Hargreaves said that Theresa May should reassure the three million EU nationals already in the UK that their current rights would be maintained.[24]

Hargreaves donated £1m to the Conservatives’ election fund in 2019.[25]

## Personal life

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In 1986 he married Rosemary; they have one son and one daughter.[26] They live in a Georgian property in the West Country, where he grows his own vegetables.[4] He owns three racehorses.[6]

## References

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1. ^ Duke, Simon (10 September 2017). "Interview: Peter Hargreaves and Blue Whale Capital's Stephen Yiu". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021.
2. ^ "Richard Branson Reveals Virgin Has Lost A Third of Its Value Since Brexit". HuffPost. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
3. ^ Lynch, Andrew (3 September 2017). "Tycoon Peter Hargreaves back in the swim with Blue Whale Capital". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
4. ^ a b Wachman, Richard (30 June 2011). "Peter Hargreaves, the modest multimillionaire". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
5. ^ Andrew Lynch (22 March 2009). "Fame and Fortune: Peter Hargreaves". Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
6. ^ a b c d Bristol’s deadly duo hit the City The Times, 6 May 2007
7. ^ "The Sunday Times Rich List 2017". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2 July 2017.[dead link]
8. ^ "ITM Power: People". Archived from the original on 1 September 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
9. ^ Peter Hargreaves: My First Million Financial Times
10. ^ "Peter Hargreaves Joins the Leave.EU team". Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
11. ^ Savage, Michael (7 May 2017). "Biggest Brexit donor urges May to guarantee EU nationals' rights". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
12. ^ "How fund Hargreaves is putting £25m into will invest". FTAdviser.com. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
13. ^ Collinson, Patrick (27 November 2017). "Does Peter Hargreaves have a whale of an opportunity for UK investors?". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
14. ^ O'Dwyer, Michael (7 August 2020). "Hargreaves Lansdown founders to share £82m payout". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
15. ^ "Hargreaves Lansdown sees business soar during coronavirus crisis". Evening Standard. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
16. ^ "Rich List 2020: profiles 51-100, featuring Bernie Ecclestone". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
17. ^ "Peter Hargreaves and Leonie Schroder were two of the UK's biggest taxpayers - reports". www.investmentweek.co.uk. 29 January 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
18. ^ "No. 60728". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2013. p. 8.
19. ^ Michael Yong (31 March 2016). "Bankrolling Brexit: How two Bristol businessmen put in millions of pounds". Bristol Post. Retrieved 1 April 2016.[permanent dead link]
20. ^ Howard Mustoe (18 March 2016). "EU referendum: Founder of FTSE 100 broker backs EU exit". BBC News. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
21. ^ Damian Fantato (23 March 2016). "Peter Hargreaves signs 15m letters backing Brexit". FTAdviser. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
22. ^ Dylan Lobo (29 March 2016). "Hargreaves Lansdown distances itself from founder's leave campaign". citywire.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
23. ^ 'Like Dunkirk': Brexit donor trumpets 'fantastic insecurity' of leaving EU, The Guardian 12 May 2016
24. ^ Savage, Michael (7 May 2017). "Biggest Brexit donor urges May to guarantee EU nationals' rights". The Guardian.
25. ^ "Tories receive £1m funding boost from billionaire Brexiter". The Guardian. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
26. ^ Fame & Fortune: Peter Hargreaves The Times, 22 March 2009

## External links

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* Peter Hargreaves biography page on the Hargreaves Lansdown website.
* Peter Hargreaves biography page on the Blue Whale Capital website.