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Richard Farleigh

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For the American convicted murderer, see Richard Farley.

Richard Farleigh
Richard Farleigh in 2008
Born
Richard Buckland Smith

(1960-11-09) 9 November 1960 (age 64)
Kyabram, Victoria, Australia
CitizenshipAustralian
Alma materUniversity of New South Wales
Websitewww.farleigh.com

Richard Bruce Farleigh (born Richard Buckland Smith, 9 November 1960)[1] is an Australian private investor and reality television personality. He was a member of the Business Review Weekly Rich 200 list, a list of the 200 wealthiest Australian individuals.[when?] Farleigh featured in series 3 and 4 of BBC's Dragons' Den. He currently resides in London, England.[2]

Personal life

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He was born Richard Buckland Smith in Kyabram, Victoria, Australia. His foster family gave him the surname Farleigh. He is a sixth generation Australian.[3][4] His father was a labourer and sheep shearer. His parents sent him and his other siblings to foster homes when he was aged two. He was one of eleven siblings. Richard was taken into foster care by a family from Peakhurst, Sydney. He attended Narwee Boys' High School, played competitive chess, and then won a scholarship to study economics at the University of New South Wales.[1][4][5]

After graduating with honours in the early 1980s, he worked at the Reserve Bank of Australia, then joined Bankers Trust Australia in Sydney when 23 as an investment banker and trader, where he stayed for ten years.[6]

Between 2012 and 2018 he was Chancellor of London South Bank University.[7]

Since 2018, Farleigh has served as a patron of Their Future Today, a charity supporting orphaned and abandoned children in Sri Lanka.[8]

Business

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Farleigh left Australia in the nineties.[9] He was then hired to run a hedge fund in Bermuda and moved there with his wife and baby son.[10] There, he became friends with David Norwood, a chess grand master, and three years later, he decided to retire, aged 34, and moved to Monte Carlo. He then spent much time with Norwood investigating research from the University of Oxford in the UK that had potential commercial applications. IndexIT was the company formed to fund some of these ventures; it was later sold to Beeson Gregory for £20M. At this time he invested his own capital in British technology companies.[11]

In 1999, Farleigh invested £2M in the renovation of the old French Embassy mansion in London's Portman Square, turning it into the private members club Home House.[12]

In 2005, he published a guide to personal investing entitled Taming the Lion: 100 Secret Strategies for Investing (ISBN 1-897597-62-2).

The Rich 200 list estimated his personal wealth at around A$160,000,000.[when?] He is ranked as the 876th on the Sunday Times Rich List 2006[13] with an estimated net worth of £66 million.[14]

Several companies Farleigh invested in include: ClearSpeed, Evolution Group, IP2IPO, Proximagen, Home House and Wolfson Microelectronics.[15]

Dragons' Den

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Farleigh was selected in 2006 and 2007 to appear as an investor on the British version of the business-related TV programme Dragons' Den for the show's third and fourth series. Farleigh said he would be seeking further investments through the show, saying he was looking to "hopefully uncover the next big thing".[16] It was announced on 21 May 2007 that Richard Farleigh had left the series.[17] He was replaced by James Caan.

Chess

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Farleigh played for Bermuda in the 31st Chess Olympiad in Moscow 1994[18] and for Monaco in the 34th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul 2000.[19]

ABC

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In 2014, as part of their series Australian Story, ABC News aired a documentary on Farleigh's life, There But For Fortune.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Richard Farleigh - Biography". farleigh.com. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  2. ^ a b "There But For Fortune". www.abc.net.au. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  3. ^ "Honesty is the biggest problem. Honestly". farleigh.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021.
  4. ^ a b Jane Martinson (23 February 2007). "Interview: multimillionaire investor Richard Farleigh". The Guardian.
  5. ^ Hohler, Emily (22 November 2007). "Richard Farleigh: from 'backward' child to top investor". moneyweek.com.
  6. ^ "Australian trader turned Business Angel for Delta Index Annual Conference in Dublin". Finfacts.ie. Archived from the original on 9 July 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  7. ^ "South Bank celebration marks Sir Simon Hughes becoming new Chancellor of LSBU". London South Bank University. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  8. ^ "Our Patrons". Their Future Today. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  9. ^ "Fame and Fortune: Look down under for potential – The Sunday Times". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014.
  10. ^ Martinson, Jane (22 February 2007). "Australian dragon fired up by success". The Guardian. London.
  11. ^ Kirby, James (23 April 2006). "Trade secrets from our man on the Riviera". Melbourne: The Age. Retrieved 27 September 2006.
  12. ^ Home House Archived 9 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine, UK.
  13. ^ Sunday Times Rich List 2006 Archived 8 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Sunday Times
  14. ^ "Media Celebrity Services Ltd – Experts – Richard Farleigh". Mediacelebrityservices.co.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  15. ^ "Companies – Richard Farleigh". Richard Farleigh.
  16. ^ "BBC - Press Office - Two New Dragons enter the Den". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2006.
  17. ^ Dowell, Ben (18 May 2007). "I'm out: dragon dropped from den". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  18. ^ "31st Chess Olympiad, Moscow 1994, Bermuda". OlimpBase. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  19. ^ "34th Chess Olympiad, Istanbul 2000, Monaco". OlimpBase. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
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