Richard Farleigh is a British-based, Australian-born entrepreneur, businessman and investor best known as an investor on the popular UK BCC2 TV show Dragons’ Den. He is currently featured on the Business Review Weekly Rich 200 list, a list of the 200 wealthiest businesspeople in Australia, with a net worth estimated to be around £66 million.
He attended Narwee Boys High School in Sydney, excelled at maths and competitive chess, later representing Bermuda and Monaco in the Chess Olympics. He then won a scholarship to study economics at the University of New South Wales. After graduating with honours in the early 1980s, he worked at the Reserve Bank of Australia, then joined Bankers Trust Australia in Sydney when 23, spending 10 years as an investment banker and trader.
Richard left Australia in the 1990s having been hired to run a hedge fund in Bermuda, moving there with his wife and baby son. He retired to Monaco aged just 34, and invested his own capital in British technology companies. He formed IndexIT to fund some of these ventures – it was later sold to Beeson Gregory for £20m.
Richard has enjoyed a range of roles in the media and education. He published his book in 2005, “Taming The Lion – 100 Secret Strategies for Investing”, which proved hugely popular. It was named by Motley Fool as ‘one of the best-ever books on investing’. He was then selected in 2006 as an investor on the British business-related TV show, Dragons’ Den for the show’s third and fourth seasons. In 2012 he took another step in following his wish to lead others along their entrepreneurial journeys, taking up the role of Chancellor at the London South Bank University.
An experienced, self-made investor, Richard is an inspiring and motivating speaker, whose business acumen is clear for all to see in every speech.