How James built the fortune
Sir James Dyson's fortune comes from Dyson, the technology company he owns outright with his family. The story began in the late 1970s, when he became frustrated that his vacuum cleaner lost suction as its bag filled with dust. Inspired by the cyclone separators used in industrial sawmills, he set out to build a vacuum that spun dust out of the air instead of trapping it in a bag. Over about five years he built more than 5,000 prototypes in a workshop at his home.
British and European manufacturers showed little interest in licensing the design, so he first licensed it in Japan, where a pink cyclonic cleaner called the G-Force went on sale in the mid 1980s. The royalties helped fund his own company, and in 1993 Dyson launched the DC01 vacuum cleaner in the United Kingdom, made at a factory in Wiltshire. Despite a high price, it became the best selling vacuum in the country within a few years, and Dyson won a patent infringement case against Hoover in 2000.
The company later moved its manufacturing to Southeast Asia, mainly Malaysia, which lowered costs and placed production close to suppliers. Dyson used the profits from vacuums to develop new products built around its own digital electric motors, including the Airblade hand dryer, bladeless fans, the Supersonic hair dryer and the Airwrap styler. Because it is privately owned, the profits from these products accrue to the Dyson family.
Research spending has been central to the business model. Dyson employs thousands of engineers and scientists, and it files large numbers of patents to protect its motors, filters and airflow designs. The company has repeatedly gone to court against competitors it accused of copying its technology, and it has invested in its own battery and robotics research to support cordless vacuum cleaners and future products.
Companies and holdings
Dyson's main holdings are:
- Dyson Ltd and its global group, which sells vacuum cleaners, air purifiers, fans and heaters, hair care tools, lighting and headphones in many countries, with its global headquarters in Singapore since 2019 and major research centres in England.
- Dyson Farming, one of the largest farming businesses in England, which owns tens of thousands of acres in Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and other counties.
- Property, including historic houses in England and France.
The company spent several years developing an electric car, but cancelled the project in 2019 after concluding it could not be made profitable. Some of the engineering work was redirected into batteries, robotics and other areas of research.
Early life and career
Dyson was born in 1947 in Cromer, Norfolk. His father, a teacher at Gresham's School, died when James was nine. He attended Gresham's, then studied at the Byam Shaw School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London, where he moved from furniture and interior design to engineering.
While still at the Royal College he worked on the Sea Truck, a fast flat hulled landing craft, which was developed with the engineering company Rotork, where he then worked. In 1974 he launched the Ballbarrow, a wheelbarrow with a ball instead of a wheel, which sold well but led to a dispute with the investors in his company, who took control of it. That experience convinced him to keep full ownership of his next business, a decision that shaped the structure of Dyson.
Philanthropy and public life
Dyson set up the James Dyson Foundation in 2002 to encourage young people to study engineering. It has funded design and engineering education in schools, the James Dyson Award for student inventors, and buildings and research at universities, including Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge. In 2017 he founded the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology at the company's campus in Malmesbury, where undergraduates earn a degree while working at Dyson.
He was knighted in 2007 and appointed to the Order of Merit in 2016. Dyson was a prominent supporter of Brexit, and the later move of the company's headquarters to Singapore drew criticism in the British press. He has also spoken often about the need for Britain to train more engineers and has written books about his life and his approach to invention.