Martin Naughton
$2 B
After more than 40 years at the helm, Martin Naughton stepped down as president of Glen Dimplex the largest global manufacturer of water and electric space heating, in April 2016. The company, which makes everything from washing machines and hair dryers to radios and decorative fires, called it an “evolution not revolution” as Naughton became chairman of a newly formed supervisory shareholder board, and his youngest son Fergal took over as CEO. As a student, Naughton spent months in hands-on aeronautical and mechanical engineering training. He founded Glen Electric with a handful of people in 1973, selling oil-filled radiators. He then acquired the much larger British heating company Dimplex just four years later, renaming his company Glen Dimplex. He became Glen Dimplex’s sole owner in 2003. Naughton enjoys collecting art and serves as a trustee emeritus at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, where he helps fund a student exchange fellowship between the university and leading Irish universities. He was knighted by Prince Charles in 2016.
Irish entrepreneur Martin Naughton has an estimated net worth of over $1.81 billion as of April 2016 according to Forbes. He is known to be the founder of Glen Electric.
Martin Naughtin is a graduate of De La Salle College Dundalk. He is currently based in County Meath with his wife and three children. By the time Glen Electric was founded in 1973, it was just a small manufacturing facility that hires only 10 people in Northern Ireland. Four years later, the company acquired a manufacturing facility which was considered as the leading brand of electric heating products in the UK market. This led to the creation of the Glen Dimplex Group.
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