Sir Jim Ratcliffe, billionaire businessman: Making Manchester United great, again
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 22 April 2025
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dan Roan, the BBC’s sports editor, speaks to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, billionaire businessman and co-owner of Manchester United Football Club. In this conversation, Sir Jim discusses the changes he’s implementing both on and off the pitch, as well as his vision to transform the iconic club into one of the world’s most profitable businesses. Born into a modest family, he’s been a lifelong Manchester United supporter. After studying chemical engineering at university he set up his chemicals business, INEOS, in 1998. He is still the Chairman and Chief Executive. INEOS has invested in cycling, Formula One motor racing and sailing. He’s been running Manchester United for just over a year and he himself admits its been a challenging 12 months. In this interview, you’ll hear how he is applying his business skills to turn the club – currently struggling both on the pitch and financially – into a success. With a substantial debt estimated at around one billion pounds, the club has seen job cuts and ticket price increases. Sir Jim acknowledges that the anger directed at him is understandable but remains focused on his goal: to make Manchester United the most profitable club in the world. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC. You can listen on the BBC World Service, Mondays and Wednesdays at 0700 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out twice a week on BBC Sounds, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presenter: Dan Roan Producers: Clare Williamson, Mantej Deol & Gabriel May Editor: Sam Bonham Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello, I'm Dan Rowan, sports editor for BBC News, and this is the interview from the BBC World Service, |
| 0:06.8 | the best conversations coming out of the BBC, people shaping our world from all over the world. |
| 0:13.4 | I will come back to Russia. I will participate in the elections. |
| 0:19.0 | There's an increase in violence, according to the coca crop. There's no increase in violence according to the coca crop. |
| 0:23.0 | There's no place in the world where women are equal. |
| 0:25.3 | I will give away the vast majority of my money. |
| 0:28.2 | It's my full-time focus for the rest of my life. |
| 0:32.1 | For this interview, I meet Sir Jim Ratcliffe, |
| 0:35.0 | the billionaire businessman and co-owner of Manchester United Football Club. |
| 0:39.4 | He invested more than a billion dollars for almost a 30% stake just over a year ago, |
| 0:44.9 | with the club in a poor stake, according to many, both on and importantly off the pitch. |
| 0:50.4 | The American Glazer family have owned it since 2005, |
| 1:00.0 | but Sir Jim's Ineos group has now taken control of both the men's and women's football operations. |
| 1:13.7 | The club's legendary former manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, who guided them to the Premier League title 13 times, stepped down in 2013 after 27 years in charge. Those glory days seem a long time ago. |
| 1:19.4 | Initially, supporters welcome to the arrival of a boyhood fan, hoping Sir Jim's involvement would lead to the team returning to their winning ways. But the changes he's implemented haven't gone |
| 1:24.4 | down well. Over the last year, he's cut hundreds of jobs and raised |
| 1:28.3 | some ticket prices mid-season. I am prepared to be and I can deal with being on popular for a period |
| 1:34.4 | of time. Manchester United has come off the rails. We need to get it back on the rails and I believe |
| 1:39.5 | what we're doing will put it back on the rails. He tells me his aim is simple. He's going to make United a successful and profitable football club. |
| 1:48.1 | Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Petrochemicals company Ineos Group is also involved in other sports. |
| 1:52.9 | In recent years it's invested in cycling along with Formula One motor racing and sailing. |
| 1:59.3 | He's a disciplined fitness enthusiast himself. He's made expeditions |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.