Sir Nigel David Wilson (born 17 November 1956) is a British businessman. He is the group chief executive (Group CEO) of

Legal & General Legal & General Group plc, commonly known as Legal & General, is a British multinational financial services and asset management company headquartered in London, England. Its products and services include investment management, lifetime mortg ...

, a British multinational financial services company.

Early life

Wilson earned a degree in economics from the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the ancient arms attributed to the Kingdom of Es ...

and a PhD from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

Career

He has been CEO of Legal & General Group since 30 June 2012, having joined as group chief financial officer on 1 September 2009. He was knighted in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 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 ...

for services to the finance industry and regional development. In September 2022, Wilson turned down the position as Minister for Investment in the British government.

Media Commentator

During his period as CEO of Legal & General, Wilson has often been quoted in the media on a range of subjects, usually commenting on government policies which he perceives to be anti-business. His frequently outspoken views led

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

to describe him as ‘Marmite’. Controversial opinions expressed by Wilson have included several attempts to encourage the government to allow developers to build housing on

Green Belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which ...

land. He has also been an outspoken critic of government environmental policy, commenting in relation to

wind farms Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few h ...

that ‘The government is deluding itself that it is saving the world with these ugly modern windmills’. Wilson went on to claim that Legal & General, one of the UK’s largest investors, ‘would not put a single penny into wind farms’ (although several years later Legal & General did in fact invest circa £700m in large windfarm developments at

Walney Walney Island, also known as the Isle of Walney, is an island off the west coast of England, at the western end of Morecambe Bay in the Irish Sea. It is part of Barrow-in-Furness, separated from the mainland by Walney Channel, which is spanned b ...

and

Hornsea Hornsea is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The settlement dates to at least the early medieval period. The town was expanded in the Victorian era with the coming of the Hull and Hornsea Railway in 18 ...

). Wilson has made a number of outspoken political interventions, being described as ‘one of the highest profile supporters of Brexit in the Square Mile’. He also spoke in favour of

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped down ...

’ controversial plans for widespread tax-cuts, plans which later played a major part in Truss's ill-fated mini-budget.

Personal life

Wilson has five daughters. He has won several national masters athletics championships.

References

1956 births Living people Alumni of the University of Essex Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni British chief executives British corporate directors Knights Bachelor {{UK-business-bio-stub