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British businessman From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Greg Jackson, CBE (born September 1971) is a British entrepreneur and businessman who is the founder and CEO of Octopus Energy.
Jackson grew up in Halifax,[1] West Yorkshire, and then Saltburn-by-the-Sea in North Yorkshire.[2] He became interested in electronics and computer coding in the early 1980s, leaving school at 16 to programme computer games.[1] He told the BBC that he remembered having his energy supply cut off when he was growing up.[3] He returned to sixth form college to study economics, before attending Pembroke College, Cambridge.[4]
According to website Move Upstream, "before the age of 30, he had owned and/or managed a number of small businesses employing 4–60 people and turning over £400k to £4m."[5] Jackson founded companies including e-commerce firm C360 and Consultant Connect,[6] a telemedicine provider, and was a director of several businesses, including Zopa, a peer-to-peer lender.[7] He is also an angel investor in companies including Xlinks, which is building the world's largest subsea cable to bring renewable energy from Morocco to the UK,[6] and carbon accounting company Altruistiq.[8]
"After experiencing my bills jump frequently when I was paying them myself as an adult, I knew that something had to be done to change this", Jackson told Energy Digital.[9] He founded Octopus Energy – a subsidiary of Octopus Group – in 2016, and by 2021 the company was valued at over $5 billion.[7] The company is now the second largest energy supplier in the UK, and has expanded to other markets including Japan and Australia.[10][11][12]
The Financial Times reported in 2023 that "Octopus’s credentials as a disrupter have helped win the backing of investors including Generation Investment Management, chaired by former US vice-president Al Gore".[11]
Jackson lives in London and has two children.[1]
In the 2024 King's Birthday Honours, he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).[13]
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