Anthony Paul Bamford, Baron Bamford (born 23 October 1945), is a British

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

businessman A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...

who is the

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of J.C. Bamford Excavators Limited (JCB). He succeeded his father, Joseph Cyril Bamford, as chairman and managing director of the company in 1975, at the age of 30. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1990. Bamford has appeared in the '' Sunday Times Rich List'', and in 2021 his net worth was estimated at US$9.48billion. Bamford is a car collector whose collection includes two examples of the rare

Ferrari 250 GTO The Ferrari 250 GTO is a grand tourer produced by Ferrari from 1962 to 1964 for Homologation (motorsport), homologation into the FIA's Group 3 (racing), Group 3 Grand Touring Car category. It was powered by Ferrari's Ferrari Colombo engine#250, ...

, valued upwards of $70 million each.

Early life and education

Bamford was born on 23 October 1945 to Joseph Bamford and Marjorie Bamford (née Griffin). He was educated at Ampleforth College, then an all-boys

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

public school (i.e.

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

). He then studied at the

University of Grenoble The (, ''Grenoble Alps University'', abbr. UGA) is a Grands établissements, ''grand établissement'' in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 researchers. Es ...

Business career

In 1974, Bamford sued the then MP

Jeffrey Archer Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist and former politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Louth (Lincolnshire) from 1969 to 1974, but did not seek re-election after a fina ...

for bankruptcy after Archer failed to repay a £172,000 loan. Archer had lost the money in a fraudulent share scam. Archer later repaid the money from his earnings as a novelist and Bamford subsequently withdrew the bankruptcy notice. In 2000, JCB was fined £22 million by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

for

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

breaches. Bamford said the decision was "disappointing and wrong". A six-year legal battle ensued, which resulted in the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...

upholding the penalty. Outside of business, Bamford is a well-known collector of early vintage

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

s, and is the only individual to own two

s. He was once the owner of a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 Grand Prix car raced by the five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina, and in August 2006, he expressed an interest in purchasing

Jaguar Cars Jaguar (, ) is the sports car and luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational corporation, multinational automaker, car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that ...

but backed out when he was told the sale would also involve

Land Rover Land Rover is a brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR builds Land Rovers in Brazil ...

, which he did not wish to buy. A few months before Bamford joined the House of Lords, he shut down a company he had owned that was registered in the British Virgin Islands, a tax haven according to the

Panama Papers The Panama Papers () are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) published beginning April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. These document ...

. The company was called Casper Ltd. and was formed in 1994. Bamford was the sole shareholder. A spokesman for Bamford told ''The Guardian'' in 2016 that Casper Ltd. never owned any assets, had a bank account or engaged in any activity during its entire existence. In 2014 Bamford was elected an Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

Politics

Bamford is a major donor to the UK Conservative Party, with JCB and related Bamford entities giving the party £8.1m in cash or kind between 2007 and 2017. He donated £1 million before the 2010 General Election, and Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

recommended him for a

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

that same year, however Bamford withdrew his name from consideration days before the members were announced. Between 2001 and 2010, JCB Research, a reportedly "obscure" and little known company that was incorporated by Bamford in 1961, donated over £4.5 million to Conservative politicians, although it was only reportedly worth £27,000 at the end of 2010. In 2012, Bamford was later outspoken on the need for the UK Government to champion manufacturing in the UK and commissioned a report in 2012 on the subject which was sent directly to

. In June 2016, Bamford wrote a letter in support of voting to leave the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

to his employees. In October 2016, he led his company to leave the CBI over the organisation's anti-Brexit stance. JCB also donated £100,000 to Vote Leave, the official pro-Brexit group. In May 2021, Bamford rejected an invitation to rejoin the CBI, after previously having called it a "waste of time" that "didn't represent my business or private companies". During the 2019 general election campaign, Bamford donated £3,935,984 to the Conservative Party. In 2023

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

named Bamford the 33rd most powerful right-wing political figure in the UK, writing that he "collects othcars and politicians".

House of Lords

In August 2013, it was announced that Bamford was to be elevated to the House of Lords. On 3 October 2013, he was made Baron Bamford ''of Daylesford in the County of Gloucestershire and of Wootton in the County of Staffordshire''. On 10 June 2014, he made his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

in the Lords during a debate on the

Queen's Speech A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or their representative, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened. The address sets fo ...

. He spoke a further four times: once on manufacturing, once on Brexit, and twice on green hydrogen. Lord Bamford retired from the House of Lords in March 2024.

Personal life

Bamford owns mansions in several countries; in England, they include Daylesford House and Wootton Lodge. In 2004 Bamford bought Sloane House in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...

from oil trader Ely Calil for £45 million. Although he was linked to offshore tax havens in the

through sole ownership of Casper Ltd., his spokesman said the company was inactive for its entire existence before being dissolved in 2012. Bamford is married to Carole Whitt and they have 3 children, Joseph "Jo" Cyril Edward, George, and Alice. Jo Bamford is also a businessman who founded a green hydrogen investment fund after working at the family company. In 2019 Jo purchased Northern Irish company Wrightbus, which manufactures buses, including London's double-deckers. Bamford is close to King

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

as well as former prime ministers

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

and

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

. He provided Daylesford House for Johnson's wedding party in July 2022, along with £23,853 towards costs. With his wife, Bamford was invited to ride in the King's procession at Royal Ascot 2023.

Tax investigation

In 2023, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) launched a probe into "alleged aggressive tax avoidance measures" by Bamford and his brother Mark. The inquiry concerns shares held offshore in Bermudan family trusts.

Ghislaine Maxwell connection

In February 2025, US Attorney General

Pam Bondi Pamela Jo Bondi ( ; born November 17, 1965) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who has served as the 87th United States attorney general since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, she served as the 37th attorney general of Fl ...

released files relating to convicted British sex trafficker

Ghislaine Maxwell Ghislaine Noelle Marion Maxwell ( ; born 25 December 1961) is a British-French-American former socialite and convicted sex offender. She was found guilty of child sex trafficking and other offences in connection with the deceased financier and ...

. Bamford and his wife were listed on the fourth page of Maxwell's contact book.

Car collection

Bamford is a prolific car collector with an interest in rare vintage Ferraris. His car collection is valued in excess of £260 million and includes: *

s/n 3767 * Ferrari 250 GTO s/n 4399 * Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa * Ferrari F12tdf * Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR (Uhlenhaut Coupé) * Aston Martin DBR2 * Aston Martin DB4 GT * Porsche 911 992 GT2 RS * Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS

Arms

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bamford, Anthony 1945 births British car collectors Deputy lieutenants of Staffordshire English billionaires English manufacturing businesspeople JCB (company) Knights Bachelor Conservative Party (UK) life peers Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite Living people People educated at Ampleforth College People from Staffordshire Grenoble Alpes University alumni British Eurosceptics Conservative Party (UK) donors Life peers created by Elizabeth II Honorary Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 Bamford family Businesspeople awarded knighthoods 20th-century English businesspeople British chairpersons of corporations