Sir Damon Marcus Buffini (born 1962) is a British businessman and governor of the Wellcome Trust. He was formerly head of the private equity company Permira.

Education and early life

Born in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

in 1962, the son of an African-American serviceman and a British woman, he was educated in Leicester and graduated with a degree in Law from

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, and has an MBA from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

Career

Buffini worked for

L.E.K. Consulting L.E.K. Consulting is a global strategy consulting firm based in London and Boston. Founded in 1983 by three partners from Bain & Company, L.E.K. focuses on corporate strategy, marketing and sales, mergers and acquisitions, and operations. It pr ...

, and under the firm's scholarship scheme undertook an MBA from Harvard Business School. On return to the UK he joined Imperial Group working as a management consultant, before being recruited by

Jon Moulton Jon Moulton (born 15 October 1950) is a British venture capitalist. He is the founder and managing partner of the private equity firm Better Capital, and is the former managing partner of the private equity firm Alchemy Partners. He is an active ...

(now head of rival firm

Better Capital Better Capital is a British Private equity firm founded by Jon Moulton in 2009. Investments Better Capital has had investments in the following companies: * City Link (in administration, December 2014) * Everest * Fairline Boats (sold to Wessex ...

), in 1988 to join Schroders leveraged buyout team, known then as Schroder Ventures Europe. Buffini became a partner in 1992, and was promoted to managing partner of the UK business in 1999, and managing partner in 2000, just before he led a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

group and renamed the firm Permira. Buffini took home £3.2 million plus bonuses in 2004.

Other

Buffini was also a non-executive board member of

SVG Capital SVG Capital () was a leading British private equity and investment management business. Headquartered in London, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The business was established in 1996 to acquire the private equity interests of ...

plc and chairman and co-founder of the

Social Business Trust Social Business Trust (SBT) is a registered UK charity established in December 2010 by Damon Buffini and social entrepreneur Adele Blakebrough MBE. The organisation provides grants and business advice to social enterprises based in the UK, in o ...

. Buffini established The Buffini Chao Foundation with his wife, Lady Deborah Buffini, in 2005. He is a main board member of the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

and a trustee of the Royal Anniversary Trust, which administers The Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education. In September 2012 Buffini was appointed to the board of governors at The Wellcome Trust. In July 2020, the UK Government announced Buffini as chair of the Culture Recovery Board, an administrative body tasked with managing the £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund intended to protect UK arts and heritage assets during the Covid-19 crisis.

Recognition

Buffini was ranked first in the men's Top 10 of the 2007 '' Powerlist'', a publication ranking the most influential Black Britons. Buffini's influence has also been recognised in Business, having ranked number three by the Times Power 100 for people who hold sway over British Business. Boasting power and influence, together with a personal fortune of between £100m and £200m. Buffini was appointed to then Prime Minister Gordon Brown's business advisory panel. Buffini was

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

in the 2016 Birthday Honours for voluntary and charitable services.

Personal life

Married to a solicitor, Deborah ( Chao), the couple have three children and a family home in Weybridge and a city flat in Wandsworth. Buffini plays tennis and golf, football for a local amateur side, and supports

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buffini, Damon Marcus 1962 births Living people Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge British businesspeople English people of African-American descent English people of American descent Harvard Business School alumni People from Leicester Private equity and venture capital investors Knights Bachelor Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Schroders people