Sir Alan Sugar Biography

Businessman, philanthropist and reality TV star

"Once you decide to work for yourself, you never go back to work someone else" - Sir Alan Sugar

Full name: Alan Michael Sugar
Famous for: Businessman, philanthropist and reality TV star. Founder of Amstrad, The Apprentice TV show, former chairman of Tottenham Hotspur FC
Sugar details: Born - March 24, 1947 Live - UK



Sir Alan Micheal Sugar, the son of a tailor, was born on 24 March 1947 in Hackney, London.

After leaving Brooke House School in London at 16, Sugar briefly became a civil service statistician.

It wasn't soon however before he started a business selling products such as cigarette lighters, intercoms and TV aerials out of a van he bought with his savings of £100. Sugar founded the home electronics group Amstrad (taken from his initials - Alan Michael Sugar Trading) in 1968, in the same year that he married his wife, Ann. He now has an estimated fortune of around 830 million pounds and was ranked 71st in the Sunday Times Rich List 2006.

Amstrad

In 1985 Sugar had a major breakthrough with the launch of the PCW8256 word processor which, although made of very cheap component, retailed at over £300.

At its peak Amstrad achieved a stock market valuation of £1.2 billion, but the nineties proved a troubled time. In 1997 Amstrad divided into Betacom and Viglen, as the company decided to focus more on communications as opposed to computers.

Despite being best known as a technology businessman, most of Alan Sugar's wealth today comes from property speculation rather than through business ventures.

Tottenham Hotspur FC

In 1991, Sugar along with Terry Venables bought Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

Sugar's relationship with Venables turned acrimonous and court battle ensures. Alan Sugar stated that his time spent at Spurs was a "waste of my life".

In 2001, after several death threats towards him and his family, Sugar sold most of his shares to ENIC Sports Ltd, represented by Daniel Levy - effectively the current chairman of the club. Sugar was left with a 13% share of Spurs, making him the second-largest shareholder.

The Apprentice

In 2005, Sugar entered the world of reality TV with the BBC TV series The Apprentice, in which he had the job of the boss, as Donald Trump had previously done in the US version.

This meant that he dealt with every "firing" of a certain candidate each week. Every week, he would eliminate a contestant with the utterance "you're fired!", which became a popular catchphrase in both the US and the UK.

Sugar is set to appear in the third series to be broadcast March-May 2007.

Amsair

Amsair Executive Aviation founded in 1993 is run by Sugar's son Daniel. As with Amstrad, the name Amsair is an acronym taken from the initials of Sugar's name "Alan Michael Sugar Air." Amsair operates a large Cessna fleet and offers business and executive jet charters. Through its alliances, it has access to over five thousand aircraft of all sizes and shapes, used mostly in collaborations with Blue Star Jets.

On the 14th June 2000, Alan Sugar was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II.