Theo Paphitis (Born 24 September 1959, Limassol, Cyprus) is a Greek Cypriot entrepreneur based in England.
In the Sunday Times Rich List 2006 he was ranked 444th with an estimated wealth of £125 million.
Paphitis came to England with his parents when he was six years old. He went on to attend the local comprehensive school in North London where they failed to detect his dyslexia, but began his entrepreneurial activities by running his school tuckshop, at the age of 15.
Paphitis took a job as a tea boy and filing clerk at a City of London insurance broker. He then discovered his passion for retailing and sales, working as a sales assistant for Watches of Switzerland. He became involved in commercial mortgage sales and eventually decided to go it alone. He made his money during the commercial property boom of the 1980s, later developing a taste for company turnarounds.
Now known for turning failing companies into highly successful and profitable businesses, his ventures include a variety of business organisations: Ryman, Contessa, and Partners. He co-owns Red Letter Days with fellow dragon Peter Jones. He recently sold his lingerie chain, La Senza.
As chairman, Paphitis took Millwall out of administration, saw their first ever official appearance at Wembley Stadium, and saw the Lions win promotion to Division One as champions. He is perhaps most famous for his work to diminish football hooliganism, and appointing Dennis Wise as Millwall manager, who would guide the club to their first appearance in the FA Cup Final in 2004. Paphitis left Millwall on 21 July 2006 and was succeeded as Chairman by Peter de Savary, who in turn, was succeeded by the current chairman, Stewart Till.
Paphitis now holds a large percentage of Ryman League side Walton & Hersham
Paphitis became one of the "dragons" in the second series of the BBC Two entrepreneurship series Dragons' Den in 2005, and appeared in the fourth series.
Known to be somewhat of a "petrol-head" he owns a Navy Blue/Purple Maybach 57 with the personalised licence plate RYM4N, after his business Ryman the Stationers. As well as many other vehicles.
Paphitis attributes his success to his natural ability for common sense - his motto: KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid
His view on business is:
There are three reasons to be in business. To make money, to have fun – and to make money.[1]