Matt Ridley
A provocative science writer who champions human progress and free markets, his tenure as a bank chairman ended in a historic financial collapse.
Born 1958 (age 68)·British journalist and businessman·Birthday: February 7·Baby Boomers
Biography
Matt Ridley occupies a unique and often contentious space at the intersection of science, economics, and public life. Trained as a zoologist, he forged a career as a lucid and optimistic explainer of complex ideas, authoring bestsellers that argue for the power of innovation and exchange in driving human advancement. His writing, from 'The Red Queen' to 'The Rational Optimist', is characterized by a deep faith in bottom-up solutions and a skepticism of top-down control. This worldview faced a severe real-world test when, as the chairman of Northern Rock, he presided over the first run on a British bank in over a century. The bank's subsequent nationalization cast a long shadow over his business career, making him a figure of controversy. Undeterred, he continues to write and speak, a Viscount in the House of Lords who remains a steadfast advocate for his vision of a world improved through spontaneous order.
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.
Matt was born in 1958, 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 Matt Was Born
The biggest hits of 1958
#1 Movie
South Pacific
Best Picture
Gigi
#1 TV Show
Gunsmoke
Matt's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1958Born
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1963Started school
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
1971Became a teenager
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1974Could drive
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1976Could vote
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1979Turned 21
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1988Turned 30
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1998Turned 40
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
2008Turned 50
Barack Obama elected first Black US president; financial crisis
Gas: $3.27/galHome: $153,100Min wage: $6.55/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Low" — Flo RidaBest Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
2018Turned 60
Royal wedding of Harry and Meghan; Parkland shooting
Gas: $2.72/galHome: $211,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"God's Plan" — DrakeBest Picture: Green Book
2026Age 68 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Authored popular science books including 'The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature' and 'The Rational Optimist'.
- Served as the chairman of Northern Rock bank from 2004 until its government bailout and nationalization in 2007.
- Has been a regular columnist for The Times and other major publications.
- Sits in the House of Lords as the 5th Viscount Ridley.
Did You Know?
He conducted his doctoral research on the mating habits of pheasants.
His father was a coal miner who later became a peer, and his mother is a historian.
He worked as the science editor for The Economist for nine years.
He is a founding trustee of the charity 'The Mind and Life Institute', which facilitates dialogues between science and Buddhism.
“Innovation is the child of freedom and the parent of prosperity.”
