“Rich, powerful, ruthless…” Once named Britain’s richest man, billionaire Jim Ratcliffe built his chemical empire Ineos from nothing into a £65bn business. He’s aggressively pro-Brexit and pro-fracking, he humiliated the Unite union in the Grangemouth industrial dispute… and now he wants to buy Manchester United. What drove the lad from a Failsworth council estate to become so powerful? How did he turn Ineos into a giant? And what can Man United expect from him if his bid is successful?

Michael Crick talks to some people who know the tycoon’s methods well: former Scottish First Minister Sir Alex Salmond, Labour’s former leader in Scotland Richard Leonard MSP, and former Dean of the London Business School Prof Sir Andrew Likierman, who taught Ratcliffe.

• “The INEOS site represents 10% of Scotland’s GDP in one man’s hands – and that man’s a tax exile in the South of France with his HQ in Switzerland.” – Richard Leonard
• “This was clearly somebody who was ambitious and capable and who was going to get on… We just didn’t realise just how capable he was.” – Andrew Likierman
• “I found Jim quite a straightforward ruthless capitalist… You mustn’t expect him not to be hard-nosed – but my feelings towards him are quite positive.” – Alex Salmond
• “For Manchester United fans, I’m not sure whether Jim Ratcliffe is the Devil or the deep blue sea.” – Richard Leonard

Written and presented by Michael Crick. Produced by Neil Fearn. Audio production by Alex Rees. Music by Jade Bailey. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Mugshots is a Podmasters Production.

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