Peter Jones - Entrepreneurs, Timeline and Personal Life

Peter Jones was born in Berkshire, England, on March 18, 1966, in a family that wasn't very economically sound. His father owned a small business, and since a tender age, Peter was also interested in following his father’s footsteps.

The young boy initially attended a private school, before joining the 'Desborough College', an institution for secondary education, located at Maidenhead, Berkshire. He eventually completed his higher education from the 'Windsor Boys' School', where he developed an interest in both Economics as well as Tennis.

He then approached an English teacher, John Woodward, who also taught tennis in his spare time. Jones took up a job at Woodward's tennis coaching centre, where he taught the game and even learnt how to run a business at the same time.

He soon became a coach at his own establishment, after clearing the 'Lawn Tennis Association' examinations. By the time he was in his twenties, he had founded an enterprise that made and sold computers. Though the business was successful for some time, it soon had to be abandoned due to lack of customers.

Jones then ran a restaurant that was mainly known for serving cocktails, but that too didn't do well and Peter was forced to sell his business at a loss of £200,000. Having been drained of all his wealth, he not only had to give up his home and car, but also had to start working for the company, 'Siemens Nixdorf'.

After working for some time with 'Siemens', where he climbed the corporate ladder quite quickly. Jones got back his confidence and established the firm 'Phones International Group', in 1998.

His new enterprise flourished, and generated a turnover of £44 million in a span of just two years. This thriving venture aimed to provide mobile phone services to different kinds of customers. The supply channel used was rather simple, and was called 'Single Brand Distribution'.

During 2004-08, the accomplished entrepreneur expanded his business, establishing the subsidiary firm, 'Generation Telecom', the recruitment consultancy, 'Celsius', and the online company 'Wines4Business.com'.

In January 2005, Peter starred in a British TV show, 'Dragon's Den', based on a Japanese programme, where contestants fight it out to sell their ingenious business plans to a team of judges.

The same year, along with businessman Theo Paphitis, Jones purchased entrepreneur Rachel Elnaugh's gifting solutions firm, 'Red Letter Days'.

Another series, 'American Investor', which was a collaborative effort between producers Simon Cowell, ‘FremantleMedia’, and 'Peter Jones Television', was telecast in 2006. This show too starred Jones as one of the judges, in episodes shown the following year, on the 'ABC' network.

The same year, the successful businessman also produced 'Tycoon', a television series broadcast by 'ITV' network.

In 2009, the 'Peter Jones Enterprise Academy' was established, in a bid to train young UK students to become successful businessmen. The educational institution is spread across various campuses located in places like Manchester, Sheffield, Oxford, and Amersham.

This brilliant entrepreneur has also appeared in an episode of the show 'Hustle', alongside businessmen, Deborah Meaden and Duncan Bannatyne, aired in January, 2010. The same year, he also appeared in television programmes like 'Celebrity Juice', 'James Corden's World Cup Live', and 'Never Mind the Buzzcocks'.

In recent times, he has replaced Gordon Ramsay, former brand ambassador of telecommunications giant, 'BT Business' and has also been seen on shows such as 'The Magicians', as well as 'Top Gear'.

In 2011, this impressive businessman earned £38 million from the sale of 'Wireless Logic', a subsidiary of his 'Phones International Group'. Two years later, he took over the retailing firm, 'Jessops Europe Limited' and served as its CEO.

'Phones International Group' is the most successful business venture taken up by Jones. The company started out with the goal of providing cell phone services to their clients. It went on to generate revenue of £44 million in two years and has been identified as one of the fastest developing enterprises by 'The Sunday Times'.

In 2002, Jones was presented the 'Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award' by the famous multi-national firm, 'Times/Ernst & Young'.

This celebrated entrepreneur was given the title of 'Commander of the Order of the British Empire', by the government, in 2009.

Jones was married to Caroline, and the couple were blessed with a daughter, Anabelle, and a son named William, before getting seperated.

Since 1997, Peter has been in a relationship with Tara Capp, and they have three children, namely Tallulah, Natalia, and Isabella.

He has founded the charitable organization, 'Peter Jones Foundation', which strives to motivate the youth to think creatively and develop the right mentality for contributing to the economy of the society. It also stresses on the importance of teaching school students about the nitty-gritties of running a business.

Peter has a net worth of £475million, most of which was earned from his company, 'Phones International Group'. It’s said that the annual turnover of the firm is more than £150 million. The rest of his earnings can be attributed to his appearances on television shows and the revenue earned from other smaller yet significant undertakings.

This famous entrepreneur is passionate about cars, his first marque being 'Alfa Romeo Alfasud'