Ronald Cohen

Sir Ronald Cohen was born in Cairo in 1945 to a Syrian Jewish banker and a British mother of Syrian Jewish origin; the family lost everything and fled Nasser's persecution of Egypt's Jews after Suez, arriving in England in 1957 with almost nothing. He co-founded Apax Partners, which grew into one of the world's largest private equity firms, and is called the father of British venture capital. He then turned to social impact investing, founding Big Society Capital and chairing the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment, and co-founded the Portland Trust to build the Palestinian and Israeli private sectors.