Fed up with the workaholic world of trading , Henry Engelhardt decided to launch a new career in insurance - and founded the world-renowned Admiral Group
TRAILBLAZER
An Admirable Man : Henry Engelhardt
JOB TITLE : CEO AND FOUNDER
COMPANY : ADMIRAL GROUP
Fed up with the workaholic world of trading , Henry Engelhardt decided to launch a new career in insurance - and founded the world-renowned Admiral Group
The son of a Chicago meat-packer , Henry Engelhardt once aspired to be a journalist - even studying the subject at the University of Michigan - before eventually pivoting in favour of entrepreneurship .
Of course , things then were very different to the early 1990s , when he was a freshfaced 30-year-old with no idea he was on the precipice of changing the face of insurance in the UK .
Today , according to Forbes , he is ranked number 1,730 on the billionaires list , with an estimated wealth of US $ 1.5bn .
Back in the 1980s , though , he was still living in Chicago with his Frenchborn girlfriend , Diane ( who would later become his wife ), and desperately hated his job as a trader on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange . The first few years were fun but , according to Henry , the dynamics and personalities of the firm suddenly changed and it was a less pleasant place to work .
It was a key moment and would come to shape his future management style at Admiral .
Engelhardt discovers insurance Disillusioned with the status quo and thirsty for new adventures , Henry and Diane - who had met as students - quit their jobs and travelled around Asia for six months to reassess their future plans .
Henry then enrolled on a Master of Business Administration ( MBA ) course in Paris and , following a stint in London as a management consultant , he applied for a job in car insurance .
The prospect wasn ’ t one he relished . Speaking of that time , he says : “ And I literally thought : Oh no , how boring , what could be worse than
20
Number of years working in the industry car insurance ?”
However , Engelhardt was sure that he didn ' t want to be a management consultant any more , so he applied for the job , which
16 May 2022