Simon Justin Nixon (born August 1967)[1] is a British billionaire businessman, the co-founder of and former deputy chairman of Moneysupermarket.com.[2]
Simon Nixon | |
|---|---|
| Born | Simon Justin Nixon August 1967 (age 57) Stamford, Lincolnshire, England |
| Education | St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, Flint |
| Alma mater | University of Nottingham (dropped out) |
| Occupation(s) | Co-founder and Deputy Chairman, Moneysupermarket.com |
According to The Sunday Times Rich List in 2021, Nixon is worth £1.8 billion.[3]
In 2023, his wealth was reported as £1.825 billion in the Sunday Times Rich List.[4]
Early life
editNixon was born in Stamford, Lincolnshire in 1967. He was educated at St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School in Flint, followed by the University of Nottingham, but dropped out because he found his accountancy degree "boring".[5]
Career
editMoneysupermarket was established in 1993 by Nixon, at the time a student at the University of Nottingham, and Duncan Cameron as a provider of off-line mortgage information to independent financial advisors under the name Mortgage 2000.[6] and in 1999 launched moneysupermarket.com providing on-line mortgage information.[7] Since then the business has been developed to provide credit card and personal loan information.[7] Nixon is currently the second largest shareholder in the company, behind Capital Group.[8]
In December 2015, The Guardian reported that his next share sale, on which he avoided British capital gains tax at 28% having moved to Jersey in 2013, would make him a billionaire.[9] In 2016 Nixon sold his remaining 6.9% stake for £124m.[10]
Nixon runs an international luxury holiday rental website, Simon Escapes, offering holiday homes in some of his favourite destinations.[11]
Nixon has said that backing fast-growing businesses helped him become a billionaire. He has invested over £100m into startups including organic food and drink website The Food Market and Kabbee, a price comparison and booking app for London minicabs.[12]
Personal life
editIn 2013, Nixon had been living in Chester, and was considering moving abroad, because the British weather is so "bloody awful", but added that "I will always keep my roots in Chester. I would never sell my house in Chester - it’s where my family and friends are."[13]
In 2013, Nixon moved to Jersey.[9] He has a "long term girlfriend", and also owns homes in Cornwall, Lake Windermere, Deia, Majorca, and Barbados.[13]
References
edit- ^ "Moneysupermarket.com Group plc". Companies House. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ "Simon Nixon offloads his remaining shares in Moneysupermarket.com | Business | The Guardian". theguardian.com. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
- ^ "The Sunday Times Rich List 2021". www.thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ "The Sunday Times rich list 2023: The five richest people in Wales". www.walesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ McCarthy, James (5 June 2013). "Wales' 4th richest man makes another £170m after selling stake in price comparison website". walesonline. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ Moneysupermarket founder Simon Nixon moves to Jersey over tax The Telegraph, 16 November 2012
- ^ a b Moneysupermarket.com:History
- ^ "Moneysupermarket founder Simon Nixon nets £98m from share sale". Telegraph.co.uk. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
- ^ a b Davies, Rob (1 December 2015). "Share sale to make Moneysupermarket co-founder a billionaire". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ "Moneysupermarket founder Simon Nixon sells out with £124m windfall". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
- ^ "Chester multi-millionaire Simon Nixon talks about his remarkable success story". Chester Chronicle. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ^ Chopra, Shruti Tripathi (18 April 2017). "How this college dropout became a billionaire". Retrieved 12 September 2017.
- ^ a b "Chester-based millionaire entrepreneur Simon Nixon seeks the sun". chesterchronicle. 7 February 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2015.