Born in 1946 in Clitheroe, Lancashire, Peter Hargreaves attended the local grammar school and went on to train as an accountant. He remains the single largest shareholder of Hargreaves Lansdown - the FTSE100 financial services firm he co-founded in 1981. He stepped down as Chief Executive in 2010 and retired from the Board in 2015.
Together with his children, Robert and Louisa, the Hargreaves family will help transform young lives through sport and education via The Hargreaves Foundation.
The Foundation will be funded through a transfer of shares held by Peter Hargreaves totalling around £100m, with the intention of further meaningful grants over time. The shares must remain invested for at least 2 years with the dividend income - likely to be in the region of £2,000,000 per annum - available for disbursements.
I have been very fortunate in my life to have had a successful career, helping to build an exceptional company and one that has transformed the opportunities for individuals to save and invest for their futures.
While I am proud of my professional achievements, my family and I now wish to establish a more formal and sustainable structure to enable us to make a positive and significant contribution outside the world of work. Having spent the last few years in retirement, I have had time to reflect and discuss with my family how best to make that contribution and to which causes.
Our focus, through the Foundation, will be on seeking to improve the lives of young individuals, whether with disabilities or from underprivileged backgrounds, and to assist them in leading the fullest and happiest lives possible. As a family, we have all benefited from education and our love of participatory sport. We will seek to support people, programmes and initiatives to achieve these goals and make a meaningful difference to many young people’s lives.
Peter Hargreaves, 2020