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Peter Hargreaves

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Not to be confused with Peter Hargraves.

Peter Hargreaves
Born
Peter Kendal Hargreaves

(1946-10-05) 5 October 1946 (age 78)
Clitheroe, Lancashire
NationalityBritish
EducationClitheroe Royal Grammar School
OccupationBusinessman
Known forCo-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown
Chairman of Blue Whale Capital
Websitewww.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, where he retains a 14 per cent shareholding.[2][3] He is a partner in Blue Whale Capital, an investment company that was launched in 2017.[4]

Early life

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Hargreaves was born in Clitheroe and educated at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School in Lancashire.[5][6][7]

Career

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Trained as an accountant,[7] Peter Hargreaves initially worked as a computer salesman.[7] 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.[8] Hargreaves joined the board of ITM Power in February 2004 as a non-executive director:[9] he has invested heavily in ITM Power.[10] In March 2016 he joined the Leave.EU movement to campaign for the UK's exit from the European Union.[11] He was the top donor to the Brexit campaign contributing over £3 million to the Leave campaign.[12] 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.[13][14]

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.[15][16]

According to The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020 his net worth was estimated at £2.4 billion.[17] 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.[18]

In April 2025, Hargreaves nominated himself as a non-executive board member of Hargreaves Lansdown, which he is able to do as a shareholder.[3][19] He also nominated his son as a board observer.[3][19]

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.[20]

Politics

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Hargreaves financially supported the Leave.EU campaign in 2016,[21][22] 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.[23][24]

In May 2016, Hargreaves said that Brexit will lead to insecurity, which will turn out to be very effective.[25] Hargreaves said that Theresa May should reassure the three million EU nationals already in the UK that their current rights would be maintained.[26]

Hargreaves donated £1m to the Conservatives’ election fund in 2019.[27]

Personal life

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In 1986 he married Rosemary; they have one son and one daughter.[28] They live in a Georgian property in the West Country.[5] He owns three racehorses.[7]

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. ^ a b c Powell, Emma (21 April 2025). "Hargreaves Lansdown co-founder to rejoin the board after takeover". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ a b Wachman, Richard (30 June 2011). "Peter Hargreaves, the modest multimillionaire". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  6. ^ Andrew Lynch (22 March 2009). "Fame and Fortune: Peter Hargreaves". Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  7. ^ a b c d Bristol’s deadly duo hit the City The Times, 6 May 2007
  8. ^ "The Sunday Times Rich List 2017". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2 July 2017.[dead link]
  9. ^ "ITM Power: People". Archived from the original on 1 September 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  10. ^ Peter Hargreaves: My First Million Financial Times
  11. ^ "Peter Hargreaves Joins the Leave.EU team". Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  12. ^ Savage, Michael (7 May 2017). "Biggest Brexit donor urges May to guarantee EU nationals' rights". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  13. ^ "How fund Hargreaves is putting £25m into will invest". FTAdviser.com. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  14. ^ Collinson, Patrick (27 November 2017). "Does Peter Hargreaves have a whale of an opportunity for UK investors?". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  15. ^ O'Dwyer, Michael (7 August 2020). "Hargreaves Lansdown founders to share £82m payout". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Hargreaves Lansdown sees business soar during coronavirus crisis". Evening Standard. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  17. ^ "Rich List 2020: profiles 51-100, featuring Bernie Ecclestone". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  18. ^ "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.
  19. ^ a b Dunkley, Emma (21 April 2025). "Peter Hargreaves to join Hargreaves Lansdown board following £5.4bn takeover". Financial Times. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  20. ^ "No. 60728". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2013. p. 8.
  21. ^ 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]
  22. ^ Howard Mustoe (18 March 2016). "EU referendum: Founder of FTSE 100 broker backs EU exit". BBC News. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  23. ^ Damian Fantato (23 March 2016). "Peter Hargreaves signs 15m letters backing Brexit". FTAdviser. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  24. ^ Dylan Lobo (29 March 2016). "Hargreaves Lansdown distances itself from founder's leave campaign". citywire.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  25. ^ 'Like Dunkirk': Brexit donor trumpets 'fantastic insecurity' of leaving EU, The Guardian 12 May 2016
  26. ^ Savage, Michael (7 May 2017). "Biggest Brexit donor urges May to guarantee EU nationals' rights". The Guardian.
  27. ^ "Tories receive £1m funding boost from billionaire Brexiter". The Guardian. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  28. ^ Fame & Fortune: Peter Hargreaves[dead link] The Times, 22 March 2009
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