In 2005, he sold 57% of the business to private-equity giant Apax for over £1bn, helping to make him one of the richest people in the UK, with a personal fortune of more than £430m.
How did he make his millions? Dorfman opened his first bureau de change in Southampton Row, central London, in 1976, after tiring of banking. In 1986, the firm's first giant leap involved breaking into the then new Terminal 4 at London's Heathrow airport at just the right time - before the euro and just as mass tourism was taking off. Travelex is now in 105 airports worldwide.
The secret of his success? Dorfman has worked tirelessly ('knocked down doors', as he puts it) to get Travelex into airports and foreign markets. His acquisition of arch-rival Thomas Cook's global and financial services division for £440m in 2001 sealed Dorfman's reputation as a world-class deal-broker.
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