— By Andru Shively — 

As children, we learned from our bedtime stories that you don’t become a gazillionaire by spending like one. You do this by being tight with your own wallet while loose with everyone else’s. Jim Ratcliffe, the British multi-billionaire, founder of petrochemical company Ineos, owner of various football clubs, Formula 1 sponsor, off-road vehicle manufacturer, and enfant terrible of political incorrectness, knows just how to do this. As we all know, he’s been living in Monaco for years now to save potentially billions in taxes.

His latest coup: the French government has promised him EUR 300 mn in subsidies for the green conversion of his cracker complex in Lavera. The miserly masterstroke: Ratcliffe himself is investing a mere EUR 250 mn. The lesson: financial self-optimisation also means sniffing out the subsidy coffers so that your own piggy bank remains intact.