After leaving school in Hackney aged 16, Alan Sugar (Lord Sugar) started selling car aerials and electric goods out of a van he bought for £50. In 1968, he founded Amstrad, and now, over 40 years later, he has an estimated worth of £730 million, and was ranked 85th in the 2010 Sunday Times Rich List.
A former Chairman of Tottenham Hotspur FC, Lord Sugar sold his Amstrad empire to Sky in July 2007. Lord Sugar's other companies include AMSCREEN, which offers digital screen media advertising networks, AMSAIR, which offers business and executive jets to a number of high profile clients around the world, AMSPROP, a property investment firm and VIGLEN, a manufacturer specialising in computers, networks and solutions.
In 2000, Lord Sugar was knighted for his services to business and he holds two honorary Doctorates of Science degrees, awarded by City University and Brunel University respectively. Having previously sat on the Business Council for Britain and fronted a campaign promoting the benefits of apprenticeships, in 2009 he was named as Enterprise Champion and appointed to the House of Lords as Baron Sugar of Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney.
Lord Sugar is a philanthropist for a number of charities including Great Ormond Street Hospital and Jewish Care.
