Simon Wolfson

The Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise
Born	Simon Adam Wolfson (1967-10-27) 27 October 1967 London, England
Occupation	Businessman

Simon Adam Wolfson, Baron Wolfson of Aspley Guise (born 27 October 1967) is a British businessman and currently chief executive of the clothing retailer Next plc and a Conservative life peer. He is the son of former Next chairman David Wolfson, Baron Wolfson of Sunningdale, also a Conservative life peer.

Early life and career

He attended Radley College, near Abingdon, followed by studying law at Trinity College, Cambridge. Wolfson joined Next as it's most highly paid sales consultant ever, in its Kensington branch in 1991 for several weeks, the year his father was granted his peerage. The following year, he was taken on as assistant to Next's chief executive, David Jones. Wolfson was elevated within the company rapidly, being appointed to the board of directors in 1997, culminating in his appointment as chief executive in August 2001 but leading at least one city analyst to make allegations of nepotism. At the age of 33, this made him the youngest chief executive of a FTSE 100 company. He was one of the first businesspeople to predict the 2008-9 economic crisis. In 2013, he waived his £2.4 million bonus and gave it to the staff of Next who had been with the company since 2010. Wolfson earnt £4.6m in 2013, a sum 459 times greater than the average pay of Next employees, who typically earn £10,000 per annum. In 2014, for a second successive year, Wolfson waived his bonus and distributed it among staff, sharing some £3.8m.

Conservative Party

He is a prominent supporter of the Conservative Party, having donated to David Cameron's campaign in the 2005 leadership election and co-chaired the party's Economic Competitiveness policy review. He was named by The Daily Telegraph as the 37th-most important British conservative in 2007. He was one of 35 signatories to an open letter calling on the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, to press ahead with the coalition government's plans to reduce the public finance deficit in one term in the face of opposition.

On 18 June 2010, Wolfson was created Baron Wolfson of Aspley Guise, of Aspley Guise in the County of Bedfordshire, and was introduced in the House of Lords on 6 July 2010.

He voted in favour of working tax credit cuts in October 2015.

Wolfson owns houses in London and in Leicester, where Next is based.

The Wolfson Economics Prize

Wolfson is the founder of the £250,000 Wolfson Economics Prize.