Real life of Man United investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe - James Bond moniker, wives, lavish lifestyle and Brexit

When he met journalists at Old Trafford last month, Sir Jim Ratcliffe joked: “We hope they don’t find anything dodgy in our CV!” Thankfully for him, they didn't.

The Premier League has now confirmed Ratcliffe's acquisition of 25% of Manchester United has been approved following the completion of the Owners' and Directors' Test. It means it is just a matter of time before Ratcliffe is ratified.

It's been an ambition of the boyhood United fan to invest in the club ever since his Ineos Group branched out into sport—something of a pipedream for the local lad, whose Manchester roots are often overplayed.

James Arthur Ratcliffe was born on October 18, 1952, and was the son of a joiner. He lived in a council home on Dunkerley Avenue in Failsworth for the first decade of his life, and he would count the chimneys from his bedroom window as he overlooked the industrial north.

Sir Jim says: “You should see a picture of the council house where I started out. I just played football, really. That’s all I was interested in.”

His dad, who started out as a carpenter, worked his way up to run a factory making furniture for science labs. His mum worked as a secretary.

Sir Jim recalls a fondness for Failsworth and how he used to cross Oldham Road and walk to school unaccompanied, and he also remembers collecting frogs with friends. There were also numerous visits to the local blacksmith, who would weld his ‘smashed up’ push bike back together so he could go out on it again.

At the age of 10, he moved to East Yorkshire with his family and attended Beverley Grammar School. He later studied chemical engineering at Birmingham University and attained an MBA from London Business School.

The story goes that on his first day at university, he was