British businessman, and chairman of Arcadia Group, Sir Philip Green has an estimated net worth of £4.3 billion.
The Arcadiaa retail company includes Topshop, Topman, Wallis, Evans, Burton, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, and Outfit.
How did Philip become a billionaire?
Born on March 15, 1952 in Croydon, London, Green was in line to inherit his father’s successful property and retailer business at the age of 12.
After leaving boarding school at 15, Green worked for a shoe importer before travelling to the US, Europe and the Far East.
Upon his return, at age 21, he set up his first
business with a £20,000 loan backed by his family importing jeans from the Far East to sell on to London retailers.
In 1979, Green bought up the entire stock of ten designer label clothes sellers, who had gone into bankruptcy. He then had the newly bought clothes sent to the dry cleaners, got them put on hangers, wrapped them in polythene to make them look new, and then bought a place to sell them to the public.
In 1988, he became Chairman and Chief Executive of a quoted company called Amber Day, a discount retailer. The shares performed well, but then suffered a series of profit downgrades and in 1992 he resigned when the company failed to meet its profit forecast.
Green’s big break came with the turnaround of Bhs, which he bought for £200m. He quickly increased profits three-fold. However, the firm performed poorly so he sold it for just £1 in 2015.
In 2002, Green assisted Tina Green in the purchase of the Arcadia Group, which owns High Street chains such as Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Outfit, Topshop/Topman and Wallis. The company was briefly owned by Green but sold to Tina Green within 24 hours, with Philip acting as CEO.
By April 2016 BHS had debts of £1.3bn, including a pensions deficit of £571m. Despite the deficit of £571m, Green and his family collected £586m in dividends, rental payments and interest on loans during their 15-year ownership of the retailer.
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