Richard Farleigh
Richard Farleigh | |
|---|---|
| Born | Richard Buckland Smith November 9, 1960 Kyabram, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation(s) | Private investor, television personality |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Known for | Dragons' Den (UK) |
Richard Bruce Farleigh (originally named Richard Buckland Smith; born 9 November 1960) is an Australian-born private investor and television personality known for his participation in reality business programming. He featured in the third and fourth seasons of the BBC series Dragons' Den and currently lives in London, England.
Personal life
Farleigh was born in Kyabram, Victoria, Australia, and took the surname of his foster family. As a sixth-generation Australian, he spent his early years in foster care from the age of two and was one of eleven children. Raised by a family based in Peakhurst, Sydney, he attended Narwee Boys' High School, where he demonstrated exceptional skill in competitive chess. He subsequently earned an economics scholarship to the University of New South Wales.
Following his graduation with honours during the early 1980s, Farleigh commenced his career at the Reserve Bank of Australia before moving to Bankers Trust Australia. There, he worked as an investment banker and trader for a decade.
Between 2012 and 2018, Farleigh held the position of Chancellor at London South Bank University. From 2018 onwards, he has acted as a patron for Their Future Today, a charitable organisation dedicated to supporting orphaned and abandoned children in Sri Lanka.
Business
In the 1990s, Farleigh relocated from Australia to Bermuda after being appointed to manage a hedge fund, moving there with his family. During this period, he collaborated with chess grandmaster David Norwood. After three years, Farleigh retired at age 34 and moved to Monte Carlo. Together with Norwood, he investigated commercial applications for research conducted at the University of Oxford and co-founded IndexIT to finance these initiatives; this enterprise was eventually sold to Beeson Gregory for £20 million. Concurrently, Farleigh invested in various British technology companies.
In 1999, he contributed £2 million towards restoring the former French Embassy mansion located in London's Portman Square, which was converted into the exclusive private members' club Home House.
Farleigh authored Taming the Lion: 100 Secret Strategies for Investing (ISBN 1-897597-62-2), published in 2005.
He was ranked 876th on the Sunday Times Rich List in 2006 with an estimated fortune of £66 million and appeared on Australia's Business Review Weekly Rich 200 list in 2010.
His investment portfolio includes companies such as ClearSpeed, Evolution Group, IP2IPO, Proximagen, Home House, and Wolfson Microelectronics.
Dragons' Den
Farleigh participated as an investor on the UK business television programme Dragons' Den during its third and fourth series (2006–2007), appearing alongside Deborah Meaden. They took over from previous investors Rachel Elnaugh and Doug Richard. Through his involvement on the show, Farleigh sought to discover promising business ventures and identify potential breakthrough opportunities. He departed from the series in 2007 and was replaced by James Caan.
Chess
Farleigh represented Bermuda at the 31st Chess Olympiad held in Moscow (1994) and later played for Monaco at the 34th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul (2000).
ABC
In 2014, ABC News broadcast a documentary titled There But For Fortune, profiling Farleigh's life as part of its Australian Story series.