‘I wouldn’t have succeeded in business if I thought that I had to win everything’ – The Big Interview: Pat Ryan

Multibillionaire insurance tycoon Pat Ryan is proud of both his Irish roots and his alma mater Northwestern University in Illinois, and is thrilled to be able to back the visit of its American football team to Dublin next August

Pat Ryan, founder of Ryan Specialty: ‘I decided to build it with a clean sheet of paper. There’s something really beautiful when you have 45 years of experience, a lot of energy, and no legacy systems. It’s like starting to paint.’ Picture: Bloomberg

In brief:

Name and role: Pat Ryan, founder of Ryan Specialty, founder and retired chairman and chief executive of Aon

Lives: Chicago

Age: 84

Family: married to Shirley with three sons, Corbett, Rob and Pat

In depth:

The house, just north of Chicago, is big but not audacious: it feels like a home, despite being kept in pristine condition by staff. By any reasonable logic, its 84-year-old owner should be taking it easy, but Pat ...