After graduating with a law degree from St Anne’s College, Oxford, Mike Danson began his career as a management consultant before striking out on his own. Mike Danson used four credit cards to fund the launch of Datamonitor in 1990. He sold the market intelligence provider for £502m in 2007, buying back part of the business to start his new venture, GlobalData.

The company, headquartered in London, employs over 3,700 people and serves thousands of clients worldwide, positioning itself as a challenger to established data. Danson retains significant ownership and serves as CEO, guiding the company’s strategy of online subscription-based analysis, live data services and thematic research.