Evolutionary Inventor and Entrepreneur
Malmesbury, Wiltshire
James Dyson, the eponymous inventor of the bagless vacuum, now employs 650 engineers and scientists at the large Dyson research center in southwest England which now has more than 560 patents. The $2 billion (sales) company increased R&D spending by 40% to $160 million in 2014. Dyson himself is a tinkerer. He went through 5,127 prototypes before perfecting the G-Force, the upright vacuum powered by centrifugal force that made him famous. It was introduced in England in 1993. Outside of his Dyson ownership, the entrepreneur now also owns 25,000 acres throughout the U.K. He has created the James Dyson Foundation to encourage design engineering innovation amongst young people.
