Net Worth:: $1.1 billion Born in a familt of strong tradition of philanthropy, he set up the Gatsby Charitable Foundation as an endowed grant-making trust in 1967, just four years after graduating from King’s College, Cambridge, having read History and Psychology. He began his professional career when he joined the UK retailer J Sainsbury plc in 1963. He gained an MBA from the Columbia Graduate School of Business in New York in 1971 before becoming J Sainsbury’s Finance Director in 1973, holding the position for 17 years. In 1997 he became the Lord Sainsbury of Turville, post which he was appointed as the Minister of Science and Innovation in the UK Government. In November 2006 he left the Government after 8 years’ service to concentrate on his business interests and philanthropy. He was appointed as Chancellor of Cambridge University in 2011.

Miscellenous

The Gatsby Charitable Foundation is an endowed grant-making trust established in 1967 by David Sainsbury which acts as the enabler for projects across a small number of selected fields- The main areas we cover are economic development in Africa, science and engineering education, plant science, neuroscience, and the Arts.