Richer than all his clients

Family values: Jonathan Ruffer, 64, was brought up in Stokesley not far from Bishop Auckland. Married to Jane, with one daughter. Education and career: Marlborough College then read English at Sidney Sussex, Cambridge, before training as a barrister. Set up his Ruffer investment company in 1994.

Working habits: Prays each morning between 5am and 6.30am, then has porridge ‘When I think I am going bonkers about Kynren, praying gives me the je-m’en-foutisme (French for ‘I couldn’t care less’) to think: “So what if I lose money?” Easy come, easy go.’ Lives in his house in London from Sunday evening to Wednesday afternoon and the rest of the time in Bishop Auckland. Attends dinners with the Archbishop of Canterbury then stays up talking until after midnight at Lambeth Palace. Motto: ‘Money changes people. Unless you are a s**t – if you start out as a s**t, you stay a s**t, but with money.’ Vice: Swearing, but in a posh way. Pet hate: ‘None of us wants to be servants, even though we work in the financial services industry. I am richer than almost any client I look after. In that position, you feel like a big cheese, and that is completely unacceptable.’ The secret of his success? ‘To be good at investment means seeing things differently from other people, it is like going to a party and falling in love with a buffalo. You might think “Oh, I ought to do better than a buffalo, but that’s the way it is.”’