David Sullivan (businessman)

David Sullivan
Sullivan giving the "Hammers sign", Broadhall Way, Stevenage, July 2014
Born	(1949-02-05) 5 February 1949 (age 68) Cardiff, Wales
Residence	Theydon Bois, Essex, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Publisher/Businessman
Years active	1970–present
Known for	The Daily Sport Sunday Sport
Net worth	£1 billion (2016)
Title	Joint chairman of West Ham United (2010–present)
Partner(s)	Emma Benton-Hughes
Children	2 sons

David Sullivan (born 5 February 1949) is a Welsh businessman and former pornographer. He graduated in Economics from Queen Mary College, University of London. From 1986 to 2007, he owned the Daily Sport and Sunday Sport which he sold for £40 million. In April 2016, Sullivan was named by The Sunday Times as Britain's 117th equal richest man, with assets valued at £1bn. He is the Joint-Chairman and largest single shareholder of Premier League football team West Ham United F.C. He was previously Joint-Chairman of Birmingham City F.C. Sullivan has made significant charitable donations in recent years.

Born in Cardiff, the son of an RAF serviceman, Sullivan grew up living in a Penarth council house. When Sullivan was 10 years old his father was posted to Aden, Yemen where they lived for a year before moving to England to live in Hornchurch. He attended the Abbs Cross school and gained ten O Levels. After his family moved to Hertfordshire he attended Watford Boys Grammar School obtaining three A levels. He read Economics at Queen Mary College, narrowly missing a first.

With his partner, David Gold, Sullivan's first business venture was selling soft pornography photos. They expanded into sex shops, adult magazines and several low-budget blue movies, making Sullivan a millionaire by the age of 25. By the late 1970s, he was in control of half of the adult magazine market, including major titles such as Playbirds and Whitehouse, 80% of the adult mail order market, and 150 shops.