Alan Sugar
A brash, self-made electronics mogul from London's East End who turned business into mass entertainment as the blunt star of 'The Apprentice.'
Born 1947 (age 79)·British business and TV personality·Birthday: March 24·Baby Boomers
Biography
Alan Sugar's story is a classic post-war climb. He started selling car aerials and electrical goods out of a van in 1968, building Amstrad into a home electronics empire that put computers, hi-fis, and satellite dishes into ordinary British homes. His genius was for spotting affordable, mass-market technology and selling it with relentless, no-nonsense hustle. In the 2000s, he traded the boardroom for the television studio, becoming the UK's answer to Donald Trump as the star of 'The Apprentice.' His catchphrase 'You're fired!' and his gruff, impatient demeanor with contestants made him a household figure, demystifying business for a generation while cementing his persona as the ultimate pragmatic dealmaker. Knighted and later made a peer, Lord Sugar remains a towering, often controversial, symbol of entrepreneurial grit.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Alan was born in 1947, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Alan Was Born
The biggest hits of 1947
#1 Movie
The Egg and I
Best Picture
Gentleman's Agreement
Alan's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1947Born
India gains independence; the Dead Sea Scrolls found
Gas: $0.23/galHome: $6,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Near You" — Francis CraigBest Picture: Gentleman's Agreement
1952Started school
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1960Became a teenager
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1963Could drive
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1965Could vote
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1968Turned 21
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1977Turned 30
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1987Turned 40
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1997Turned 50
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 60
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 70
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2026Age 79 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Founded Amstrad (Alan Michael Sugar Trading) in 1968, which became a major force in home computers and consumer electronics in the 1980s.
- Launched the Amstrad CPC 464 and the PCW word processor, bringing computing into millions of European homes and small businesses.
- Served as the iconic host and lead judge on the UK version of 'The Apprentice' since 2005, shaping popular understanding of business.
- Was appointed a Life Peer in 2009, taking the title Baron Sugar of Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney.
Did You Know?
He is the former chairman of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, which he owned from 1991 to 2001.
His first business at age 12 was selling beetroot he had grown in his family's garden.
He sold Amstrad's PC business to BSkyB in 2007 for £125 million.
He holds a private pilot's license.
“The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them.”
