Richard Simon Sharp (born 8 February 1956) is the current
Chairman of the BBC, a role he has held since February 2021. A former banker, he worked at
JP Morgan for eight years, and then for 23 years at
Goldman Sachs. Sharp was an advisor to
Boris Johnson during his tenure as London Mayor, and to
Rishi Sunak as Chancellor. Sharp worked for
JP Morgan for eight years.
[6] He then worked for
Goldman Sachs for 23 years, rising to chairman of its principal investment business in Europe, before leaving in 2007.
[7] He was
Rishi Sunak's boss when they both worked for Goldman Sachs,
[6] was an advisor to
Boris Johnson when he was
Mayor of London, and acted as an unpaid adviser to Sunak on the UK's economic response to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
[8] He was a member of the Bank of England's
Financial Policy Committee from 2013 to 2019.
[7] In 2014, he joined the property investment company RoundShield Partners, where he was a senior member until February 2021, when
The Guardian approached the firm for comment. RoundShield advised and managed a fund that provided a £50m loan to Caridon, which has been accused of "cramming homeless and low-income families into former office blocks".
[9]
Sharp was chairman of the
Royal Academy of Arts from 2007 to 2012.
[7] In January 2021, it was announced that he would be the next chairman of the BBC, succeeding
David Clementi who is due to leave the position in February 2021.
[7][8] Speaking shortly after his appointment, Sharp told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee that he planned to give his £160,000 BBC salary to charity.
[10] Controversy surrounded his appointment as it was revealed that not only had he donated more than £400,000 to the
Conservative Party, but that he was also formerly the director of the
Centre for Policy Studies, a think tank with historical links to the Conservative Party. Critics have pointed out that a person who holds such a position as that of BBC chairman should be politically impartial.
[11][12] The appointment followed that of
Tim Davie, a former Conservative Party councillor, to the role of
Director-General.
[13]