Adrian Beecroft

Adrian Beecroft (Paul Adrian Barlow Beecroft) is a venture capitalist and the chairman of Dawn Capital, which owns Wonga.com, the online short-term high-interest loans company. He is worth an estimated wealth £100m and is a Conservative Party donor. Beecroft was previously senior managing partner at Apax, where he 'played a major part' that saw it grow internationally with over $20 billion under management and 150 professionals in eight countries. powerbase

For many years Adrian was Apax’s Chief Investment Officer, and recently retired from his position as Senior Managing Partner. He was Chairman of the British Venture Capital Association in 1991/92 and has represented Apax on the boards of over 20 private and public companies. He was elected to the BVCA Hall of Fame in 2009. [1]

"After five years working in the emerging computer industry at ICL, the Oxford physics graduate attended Harvard Business School before joining BCG in 1976 where he thrived, becoming a worldwide vice-president in 1982. It was skills learned there that facilitated his transition to a leading player in the emerging private equity industry. Apax Partners had just £10m under management when he joined. As of 30 June last year its multitudinous funds had raised £23bn. Mr Beecroft played a major role in that expansion as chief investment officer and latterly as managing partner." [2]

• Former Chairman of the British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) in 1991/92