John Ritblat

Sir John Henry Ritblat FRICS (born 3 October 1935) is an English property developer. He is honorary president (and formerly chairman and CEO) of The British Land Company PLC, an FTSE100 London-based property company.

Sir John Ritblat
John Ritblat in 2011
Born
John Henry Ritblat

(1935-10-03) 3 October 1935
London, England
EducationDulwich College
College of Estate Management.
OccupationProperty developer, philanthropist
Spouse(s)2, including Jill Zilkha
ChildrenJamie Ritblat

Early life

Ritblat was born in 1935 in Hampstead, North London, England. He was educated at Dulwich College, The Hall School, Hampstead and the College of Estate Management.

Career

He acquired British Land from Jim Slater in 1970 for £1m, and retired as chairman in 2006.[1]

Since June 2001, Ritblat has served as the non-executive chairman of property advisory Colliers CRE. [2] [3] He also serves as the chairman of the advisory board of Delancey, the property and asset-backed investment firm founded in 1995 by his son Jamie Ritblat (born 1967), which owns the Alpha Plus group of schools of which Sir John is the chairman of the board of governors.

Political activity

He has donated to the Conservative Party.[4]

Philanthropy

He is chairman of the board of trustees of the Wallace Collection, chairman of the governing body of The London Business School and Honorary Fellow, a member of the Council of The Royal Institution and honorary president of The British Ski & Snowboard Federation, deputy chairman of The Royal Academy of Music and Honorary Fellow. Hon. Fellow of The Royal Institute of The British Architects. D.Litt. London Metropolitan University. Vice chairman of The International Students House.

The John Ritblat gallery of The British Library houses some of the finest items in their collection for public display, it is named after him since he was a major benefactor during the building of the gallery and donated one million pounds towards the gallery's display cases.

He is also vice chair of International Students House, London.

Personal life

He has been married twice. His second wife, Jill (née Zilkha), is a philanthropist.[5] He has two sons, Jamie Ritblat (b 1967) and Nick Ritblat, and a daughter, Suki Ritblat.

References
  1. Connon, Heather (16 July 2006). "Charmer who built a property megalith". The Observer. London.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 July 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Charmer who built a property megalith". The Guardian. London.
  4. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/01/-sp-tory-summer-party-drew-super-rich-supporters-with-total-wealth-of-11bn
  5. "Lady Ritblatt". Debretts People of Today.
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