Michael Anthony P. Ashcroft, Baron Ashcroft, KCMG, PC (born 4 March 1946) is a businessman and politician. He is a former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. Ashcroft founded Michael A. Ashcroft Associates in 1972 and is the 74th richest person in the UK, as ranked by the Sunday Times Rich List 2015, with an estimated fortune of £1.32 billion.
He sat on the Conservative benches of the House of Lords until 2015, having been ennobled as a life peer in 2000. His peerage was controversial due to his status as tax exile. The Cabinet Office stated that he would take up permanent residence in the UK for tax purposes, however it was revealed a decade later that he had not done so.
Ashcroft holds dual British and Belizean nationality, and is a belonger of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
| The Right Honourable The Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC |
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Michael Ashcroft
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| Born | Michael Anthony Ashcroft 4 March 1946 Chichester, West Sussex, England |
| Residence | London, Maidenhead, Belize |
| Citizenship | British Belizean |
| Education | Norwich School Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe |
| Alma mater | Anglia Ruskin University |
| Occupation | Businessman, politician |
| Known for | Hawley Goodall ADT British Car Auctions Flooved Piggate Tax avoidance |
| Net worth |  £865 million (US$1.48 billion, April 2015) |
| Political party | Conservative Party |
| Spouse(s) | Susan Anstey (m. 1986) |
Biography[edit]
Ashcroft’s bust In the lobby of the Lord Ashcroft Building at the business school of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, from where he earned Higher National Diploma in business studies.
Born in Chichester, West Sussex, as his father Eric was a British colonial civil servant, Ashcroft spent some of his early years in British Honduras (now Belize) and Malawi.
He was educated at Norwich School, Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, and Mid-Essex Technical College (now Anglia Ruskin University), where he obtained a Higher National Diploma in Business studies.
Business career
After a period in Belize after completing his education, Ashcroft returned to hitch hike around Europe, and then for a short period of time became the manager of a rock and roll band. In 1967, Ashcroft joined Carreras Tobacco as a management trainee.
He left in 1969, joining Pritchard Group Services, after some months on the dole. Pritchard Group was a cleaning and business services company and Ashcroft worked his way up quickly to become an assistant in the company’s head office accounting department, part of a large acquisitions team.
In 1972 at age 26, he started his own business, Michael A. Ashcroft Associates. His first acquisition was Uni-Kleen – a loss-making cleaning company with one thousand employees, which he purchased for just £1 in 1974, with a £15,000 bank loan (or £176,780 in 2014-inflation adjusted terms). He worked to turn the company around, selling it just three years later for £1.3 million.
Michael Ashcroft Net Worth: Michael Ashcroft is a British-native businessman, philanthropist and politician who has a net worth of $1.4 billion. Now holding dual British and Belizean nationality, Michael Ashcroft draws his fortune from both founding and selling numerous companies. One of his most bankable deals is the home security giant ADT, which he gave to Tyco International for $6.7 billion in 1997. Born Michael Anthony Ashcroft on March 4, 1946 in Chichester, West Sussex, England, he first attended Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, and then studied at Anglia Ruskin University. Upon graduation, he made a hiatus and spent some time on the dole before landing a job at Pritchard Group Service. Within the three years in the company he made a quick way up to a managerial position and that made him start his own business, Michael A. Ashcroft Associates. He set it up in 1974 when he bought the loss-making cleaning company, Uni-Kleen, for just £1. He needed three years to turn the company around, selling it for £1.3 million. His second significant acquisition was the Hawley-Goodall, after which many other followed. Aside from his business, Michael Ashcroft has also served as the Conservative Party’s treasurer and its deputy chairman. Not being on good terms with the media, he won a court fight against U.K.’s Independent newspaper, suing it for libel in 2009. He has a rare collection of 180 Victoria and George crosses, the highest honor Britain grants to its military and honorary civilians. Additionally, he is a trustee for the Imperial War Museum in London. Having established himself as a great philanthropist as well, Michael Ashcroft signed the Giving Pledge in May 2013.
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