Alex Chesterman

Alexander Edward Chesterman OBE (born 9 January 1970)[1] is a British Internet entrepreneur. He is co-founder of ScreenSelect, and is the founder and former CEO of online used car platform Cazoo.[2]

Career

Chesterman served as the executive vice president of Planet Hollywood until 1998.[3] He founded ScreenSelect (later LoveFilm), which was subsequently sold to Amazon for £200 million.[4][5][6]

In 2007, he founded Zoopla, a property website.[3][7] In June 2014, he floated Zoopla, which was later renamed to ZPG, on the London Stock Exchange for nearly £1bn.[8] In 2018, ZPG was sold to US private equity group Silver Lake for £2.2bn.[9][10] He served as chief executive officer until the end of September 2018, when he stepped down but remained on the board.[11]

He is considered to be one of the UK's most active tech angel investors and mentors.[12] He has backed early stage digital startups, including: Farewill, Graze, Secret Escapes, SportPursuit, UniPlaces, CarWow, Swoon, and Farmdrop. He was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2013.[13] He was awarded an OBE for services to digital entrepreneurship in 2016.[14] In 2017, Chesterman was named on Debrett's 500.[15]

In December 2018, Chesterman announced a funding round of over £30m for his next venture, Cazoo.[16][17] He then went on to raise another round of £50m pre-launch for Cazoo.[18] As of 2020, he raised a total of £180m for Cazoo.[19][20][21]

In 2021, Chesterman led investment rounds in checking and digital onboarding platform Thirdfort and DIY and refurbishment platform Lick.[22][23]

Chesterman stepped aside as Cazoo's chief executive in January 2023 and left the company the following December. Five months later, in May 2024, Cazoo collapsed into administration.[24]

Personal life

Chesterman attended St Paul's School, London and has a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from University College London.[1][3] He is married and has two sons.[1]

In July 2016, Chesterman was said to be behind a legal challenge to stop Brexit should the British government not allow Parliament to vote on the deal.[25] He donated £300,000 to the Liberal Democrats in the 2019 United Kingdom general election.[26]

In 2021, his net worth was estimated by the Sunday Times Rich List as £750 million.[27]

References

  1. ^ a b c Kelly, Liam (22 September 2019). "Interview: Cazoo's Alex Chesterman". The Sunday Times.
  2. ^ "The tech tycoon turned used car salesman on his final excursion". Evening Standard. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Company Overview of ZPG Plc: Alex Chesterman OBE". Bloomberg. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  4. ^ "Zoopla chief executive Alex Chesterman in line for £19m bonus - Business News - Business". The Independent. 19 March 2014. Archived from the original on 14 August 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  5. ^ Press Association (12 August 2015). "Zoopla founder cements agreement with new pay deal | Business". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  6. ^ Pooley, Cat Rutter; Williams, Aime (11 May 2018). "Alex Chesterman cashes in with £2.2bn ZPG sale". Financial Times. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  7. ^ "Our Brands". www.zpg.co.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  8. ^ "London Stock Exchange welcomes Zoopla Property Group Main Market IPO". London Stock Exchange Group. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Silver Lake Agrees to Buy Property Portal ZPG for $3 Billion". Bloomberg. 11 May 2018.
  10. ^ Pooley, Cat Rutter; Williams, Aime (11 May 2018). "US tech fund to buy UK property website Zoopla owner for £2.2bn". Financial Times. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  11. ^ "Zoopla confirms restructure as number of key seniors depart in wake of takeover". Property Industry Eye. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  12. ^ "The coolest tech investors in the UK". Business Insider. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  13. ^ "ZPG Founder & CEO: Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 | Property Portal Watch". Property Portal Watch. 1 July 2013. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  14. ^ Quinn, James (10 June 2016). "City financiers knighted among business leaders recognised in Queen's Birthday Honours". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  15. ^ "Debrett's 500 List: Entrepreneurs". The Telegraph. 2017. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  16. ^ insider.co.uk (2 December 2018). "Zoopla founder raises £30m for new car website venture Cazoo". businessInsider. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  17. ^ "Cazoo secures £30 million Pre-Seed investment led by DMG Ventures". www.am-online.com. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  18. ^ "Cazoo launches online used car retail platform with £80m backing". www.am-online.com. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  19. ^ "Cazoo raises a further £100m to boost online car retail ambitions". www.am-online.com. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  20. ^ "Online car seller Cazoo raises £100m despite virus turmoil". Sky News. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  21. ^ "Cazoo, the used-car sales portal, raises another $116M". TechCrunch. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  22. ^ "Alex Chesterman is back with more cash to disrupt property sales". The Negotiator. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  23. ^ "Chesterman returns to property with latest start-up investment". The Negotiator. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  24. ^ Race, Michael (21 May 2024). "Online car retailer Cazoo enters administration". BBC News. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  25. ^ Morrison, Caitlin (4 July 2016). "Boss of property website Zoopla revealed to be behind Brexit legal action bid". City A.M. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  26. ^ "View donation". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  27. ^ "Alex Chesterman net worth — Sunday Times Rich List 2021". The Times. The Sunday Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
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