Alan Sugar facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
The Lord Sugar
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Sugar at the 2009 BAFTAs
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| Enterprise Champion to the Business Secretary | |
| Assumed office 25 May 2016 |
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| Prime Minister | David Cameron Theresa May Boris Johnson Liz Truss Rishi Sunak Keir Starmer |
| Business Secretary | Sajid Javid Greg Clark Andrea Leadsom Alok Sharma Kwasi Kwarteng Jacob Rees-Mogg Grant Shapps Kemi Badenoch Jonathan Reynolds |
| In office 5 June 2009 – 11 May 2010 |
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| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
| Business Secretary | The Lord Mandelson |
| Member of the House of Lords | |
| Life peerage 20 July 2009 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Alan Michael Sugar
24 March 1947 Hackney, East London, England |
| Political party |
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| Spouse |
Ann Simons
(m. 1968) |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Rita Simons (niece) |
| Occupation |
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Alan Michael Sugar, also known as Lord Sugar, is a famous British businessman, TV star, and author. He was born on 24 March 1947.
He is best known for starting the electronics company Amstrad. He also used to own the football club Tottenham Hotspur. Today, many people know him as the "Boss" on the TV show The Apprentice. On this show, he challenges people to prove their business skills.
Lord Sugar has also been involved in politics. He was made a life peer in the House of Lords in 2009. This means he became a Lord and helps make laws for the country. In 2015, he became a billionaire, meaning he has over a billion pounds!
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Early Life
Alan Michael Sugar was born in Hackney, East London, on 24 March 1947. He grew up in a Jewish family. His father, Nathan, worked as a tailor. His grandparents came from Russia and Poland.
When Alan was young, his family lived in a council flat. Because of his curly hair, people called him "Mop head," a nickname he still uses today. He went to Northwold Primary School and then Brooke House Secondary School. To earn extra money, he worked at a greengrocers. After leaving school at 16, he worked briefly for the government as a statistician.
Amstrad: Building an Electronics Empire
In 1968, when he was 21, Alan Sugar started his company, Amstrad. He began with just £100 he had saved. He started by selling car radio aerials and other electrical items from a van.
The name "Amstrad" comes from his initials and the word "trading": Alan Michael Sugar Trading. At first, it imported and exported goods. By 1970, Amstrad began making its own products. They made things cheaper by using a special way to mould plastics for hi-fi covers. This helped them sell products for less than their rivals. Later, they also made audio amplifiers and radio tuners.
In 1980, Amstrad became a public company on the London Stock Exchange. Throughout the 1980s, Amstrad's profits and value grew very quickly each year.
Entering the Computer World
In 1984, Amstrad saw a chance in the home computer market. They launched the Amstrad CPC 464, an 8-bit computer. This computer was popular, even though it competed with other well-known computers like the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. Amstrad sold three million CPC units worldwide over eight years.
In 1985, Sugar had another big success with the Amstrad PCW 8256 word processor. It cost over £300, but it was much cheaper than other word processors at the time. In 1986, Amstrad bought the rights to the Sinclair computer range. They then made new ZX Spectrum models. They also created the PC1512, a PC compatible computer, which became very popular in Europe.
The 1990s were harder for Amstrad. Some of their business PCs had problems with their hard disks. This hurt Amstrad's reputation in the computer market. Amstrad then focused more on portable computers. In 1990, they tried to enter the gaming market with the Amstrad GX4000. However, it did not sell well because it had few games and newer Japanese consoles like the Mega Drive and Super NES were much better.
In 1993, Amstrad released the PenPad, a small handheld computer called a PDA. They also started focusing more on phones and communication. They released devices like the e-m@iler and e-m@ilerplus, which combined phone and email features.
On 31 July 2007, a company called BSkyB bought Amstrad for about £125 million. Alan Sugar said he wanted to stay involved with the business. However, on 2 July 2008, he stepped down as chairman of Amstrad to focus on his other businesses.
Tottenham Hotspur: A Decade in Football
In June 1991, Alan Sugar became the owner of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. He teamed up with the club's manager, Terry Venables, to buy it. His investment helped the club with its money problems. However, some fans did not like that he treated the club more like a business than a football team.
During Sugar's nine years as chairman, Tottenham Hotspur did not finish in the top six of the league. They won only one trophy, the League Cup in 1999.
In 1993, Sugar fired Terry Venables as the club's chief executive. This led to a legal fight, which Sugar won. Many Tottenham fans were angry about Venables being fired. Sugar later said, "I felt as though I'd killed Bambi."
In 1992, Sugar was the only owner from the top five football clubs to vote for Sky to get the TV rights for the Premier League. The other four clubs wanted ITV to get the rights. At the time, Sugar's company Amstrad was making satellite dishes for Sky.
Player Transfers and Fan Reactions
In 1994, Sugar helped pay for three players from the 1994 FIFA World Cup: Ilie Dumitrescu, Gica Popescu, and Jürgen Klinsmann. Klinsmann was a big success and was named the best player in English football in his first season. However, because Spurs did not qualify for European competitions, Klinsmann left the club in 1995.
Sugar was upset and said he would "not wash his car" with Klinsmann's last Spurs shirt. He also called foreign players who came to the Premier League for high wages "Carlos Kickaballs." Klinsmann replied by calling Sugar "a man without honour." He said Sugar only talked about money and not the game.
Another player, Teddy Sheringham, wrote in his book that Sugar was the reason he left the club in 1997. Sheringham said Sugar accused him of faking an injury. He also said Sugar refused to give him a five-year contract because he thought Sheringham would be too old at 36. Sheringham later returned to Tottenham and played until he was 37.
Sugar hired seven different managers during his time at Spurs. One surprising choice was the unknown Swiss manager Christian Gross in 1997. Gross lasted nine months. Sugar then hired George Graham, who used to play for and manage Arsenal, Tottenham's biggest rivals. Graham won a trophy for Spurs, but fans never fully accepted him because of his Arsenal past.
In February 2001, Sugar sold most of his shares in Tottenham to a group called ENIC. He sold his remaining shares in June 2007 for £25 million. This ended his 16 years with the club. He later said his time at Tottenham was "a waste of my life." Sugar then gave £3 million from the sale to help fix up the Hackney Empire in his hometown.
The Apprentice: The Boss on TV
Alan Sugar became the host of the BBC reality show The Apprentice in 2005. He plays the same role as Donald Trump did in the US version. In the show, he gives business tasks to a group of people. Each week, he "fires" at least one person until only one winner is left.
Until 2010, the winner would get a job in one of Sugar's companies. Since 2011, the winner gets a partnership with Sugar and £250,000 to start their own business.
Sugar wanted the show to be more about business and less about just entertainment. He also wanted the people on the show to be more serious about business.
The Celebrity Apprentice Australia
In September 2020, it was announced that Alan Sugar would be the new "CEO" on The Celebrity Apprentice Australia. This show is for celebrities in Australia.
Young Apprentice
Young Apprentice was a spin-off show for younger people, aged 16 and 17. It was first called Junior Apprentice. Twelve young people competed to win a £25,000 prize from Sugar. The show ran for two series. The first winner was Arjun Rajyagor, and the second was Zara Brownless.
Other TV Appearances
Alan Sugar has appeared on other TV shows. In May 2008, he was on An Audience Without Jeremy Beadle to remember his friend Jeremy Beadle. In January 2009, a BBC Two documentary called The Real Sir Alan was made about him. He also appeared in TV ads talking about apprenticeships.
In May 2011, he presented Lord Sugar Tackles Football, a documentary about money problems in English football. He also made cameo appearances as himself in the Doctor Who episode "The Power of Three" and a special EastEnders episode for Children in Need.
Other Businesses
Alan Sugar has several other businesses.
Amsair
Amsair Executive Aviation was started in 1993 by Sugar's son, Daniel. Like Amstrad, the name "Amsair" comes from Alan Sugar's initials: Alan Michael Sugar Air. Amsair offers private jet charters for businesses and executives.
Amsprop
Amsprop is a company that invests in property. It is owned by Sugar and managed by his son Daniel.
Viglen Ltd
Sugar used to own Viglen Ltd, a company that provides IT services, mainly to schools and public organizations. He sold Viglen in 2014.
Amscreen
Sugar is the Chairman of Amscreen, a company run by his son Simon. Amscreen sells advertising space on digital screens found in shops, medical centers, and leisure places. These screens use special technology to try and guess the age and gender of people looking at them.
YouView
In 2011, Sugar joined the board of YouView, a TV project backed by the BBC and other TV channels and internet providers.
Political Involvement
From 1997 to 2015, Alan Sugar was a member of the Labour Party. He was one of their biggest donors, giving £200,000 in 2001.
In June 2009, he was given a life peerage and became Baron Sugar, of Clapton, in the London Borough of Hackney. This meant he joined the House of Lords and became a Lord. He said his role was to help businesses and entrepreneurs, not to be political. He gave his first speech in the House of Lords in November 2009.
In 2015, Sugar announced he was leaving the Labour Party. He said he felt the party's policies were becoming "anti-enterprise" and not good for businesses.
Before the 2016 London mayoral election, Sugar encouraged people not to vote for the Labour candidate, Sadiq Khan, who eventually won. In May 2017, he supported the Conservative Party in the general election.
Lord Sugar has sometimes been critical of political figures on social media.
Personal Life
Alan Sugar says he is an atheist, but he is proud of his Jewish heritage. He married Ann Simons in 1968. They have two sons, Daniel and Simon, and a daughter, Louise.
Sugar enjoys flying. He owns a four-seat Cirrus SR22 aircraft and a larger 13-seat Embraer Legacy 650 jet. In 2008, he had a minor incident when landing his Cirrus plane in bad weather, but no one was hurt. He also owns multiple boats.
In 2015, Lord Sugar's wealth was estimated to be over £1 billion.
Honours
Sugar was made a Knight in the year 2000. This was for his services to the home computer and electronics industry. He has also received two honorary Doctorates of Science from universities.
He supports charities like Jewish Care and Great Ormond Street Hospital. In 2009, he was made a life peer as Baron Sugar, of Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney. In 2017, he was named the most powerful person in Essex.
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See Also
In Spanish: Alan Sugar para niños
- What You See is What You Get: My Autobiography, Sugar's autobiography
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