Sir John Arnold Clark (27 November 1927 – 10 April 2017) was a Scottish

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

businessman. Clark opened a showroom in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1954 and found some success selling cars. He expanded his business and

Arnold Clark Automobiles Arnold Clark is a car dealer based in Glasgow, Scotland. , the company has 193 dealerships across the United Kingdom. History The company was founded by Arnold Clark, who opened his first showroom in 1954 in Park Road in Glasgow. In 1963, Arno ...

became a nationwide chain of motor dealerships and the largest privately owned business in Scotland. Clark kept his business family owned for more than sixty years, remaining the chairman and chief executive. In 2016, he became the first billionaire car dealer in Britain.

Early life

John Arnold Clark was born in a tenement in

Townhead Townhead ( gd, Ceann a' Bhaile, sco, Tounheid) is an area of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated immediately north-east of Glasgow city centre and contains a residential sector (redeveloped from an older neighbourhood in the mid 20th ...

on 27 November 1927. His father was a Clydeside shipworker. He attended Dennistoun Primary School and left home aged fourteen with no qualifications. During the war, he moved to Arran. He was conscripted to the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(RAF) towards the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

aged seventeen, and worked as a Motor Mechanics Instructor. He reached the rank of Corporal and would later remark that during this period his self discipline developed; as did leadership qualities.

Car salesman

Clark left the RAF in the early 1950s, but was unable to find employment. He used his demob money to purchase a 1933 Morris Ten-Four for £70, and after restoring it, sold it for a profit. Clark started buying and selling cars, opening his first showroom in 1954 in

's Park Road. He secured his first retail franchise for

Morris Motors Morris Motors Limited was a British privately owned motor vehicle manufacturing company formed in 1919 to take over the assets of William Morris's WRM Motors Limited and continue production of the same vehicles. By 1926 its production represent ...

in 1959, then during the early 1960s established showrooms in Bothwell Street and also in Paisley and

Bearsden Bearsden () is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow. Approximately from Glasgow city centre, Glasgow City Centre, the town is effectively a suburb, and its housing development coincided with t ...

. He launched a finance company in 1963, meaning people no longer needed to involve their bank manager when purchasing vehicles from him. In the 1960s, Clark also expanded into the rental vehicle market. In 1968, took over Grant, Melrose and Tennant giving the company an accident repair centre. By the late 1980s, Arnold Clark had branches across Central Scotland and one in England. By September 2002, Arnold Clark had 97 dealerships and with annual sales expected to reach £1 billion, it was considered Scotland's largest private company. In May 2006, the company acquired the Harry Fairbairn BMW and Mini dealership. The company opened a car showroom in the regenerated Glasgow Harbour, which at the time was Europe's largest. The following year Clark's company was approaching a £2 billion turnover. At the age of 80, Clark was still a director of his company, receiving a salary of £1.3 million. He remained as chairman and chief executive, thus being the company's highest paid director and was receiving almost £2 million a year by 2012. In September 2014, the company’s turnover reached almost £3 billion. By 2014, his wealth was estimated at £675 million, ahead of Britain's other car dealers. The Sunday Times Rich List 2016 estimated that the fortune amassed by Clark and his family to be more than £1 billion, making him Britain's first billionaire car dealer. He appeared on

The World's Billionaires ''The World's Billionaires'' is an annual ranking by documented net worth of the wealthiest billionaires in the world, compiled and published in March annually by the American business magazine ''Forbes''. The list was first published in March ...

list compiled by

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

for the first time in March 2017.

Awards and honours

In the

2004 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2004 were appointments by some of the Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

, Clark was created a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

, for services to the motor industry, and for his community work in Scotland. The

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

bestowed an honorary degree upon him in 2005. He was presented with Car Dealer Magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.

Personal life

Clark married twice, and had ten children — six sons and four daughters. Clark had four sons from his first marriage, although his son Norman died in 1995 in

Helensburgh Helensburgh (; gd, Baile Eilidh) is an affluent coastal town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local governm ...

at the age of 33. His second marriage was to Philomena and they had six children together. Clark settled in the village of

Killearn Killearn (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cill Fhearann'', from orig. ''Ceann Fhearann'', "Head/End of (the) Land/Territory" – until the 15th century when ''Ceann'' was replaced by ''Cill''; denoting the presence of a house of worship) – is a smal ...

and was a church elder. He died on 10 April 2017, aged 89.

Car collection

Clark had an "extensive collection of classic cars", including a Ford Model T Town Car (1915), a Ford Model T Coupé (1924), a Citroën Cloverleaf (1926), a Rolls Royce Park Ward Single Tourer 20 hp (1928), an Austin Heavy 12 (1929).

Yacht

Clark bought the Maxi yacht ''

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

'' from

Simon Le Bon Simon John Charles Le Bon (born 27 October 1958) is a British singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the new wave band Duran Duran and its offshoot Arcadia. Le Bon has received three Ivor Novello Awards from the British ...

in 1988. The 78 foot craft is sailed with a crew of 22. That year, Clark led the annual Tobermory race, before Drum was involved in a collision with a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

submarine, around five miles off the

Mull of Kintyre The Mull of Kintyre is the southwesternmost tip of the Kintyre Peninsula (formerly ''Cantyre'') in southwest Scotland. From here, the Antrim coast of Northern Ireland is visible on a calm and clear day, and a historic lighthouse, the second ...

. He loaned it back to Le Bon in 2005 and the yacht was often loaned to other organisations to raise money for charitable work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Arnold 1927 births 2017 deaths People from Townhead Scottish chief executives Knights Bachelor Scottish sailors Scottish billionaires British car collectors 20th-century Scottish businesspeople 21st-century Scottish businesspeople Businesspeople from Glasgow Automotive industry in the United Kingdom