Well-known self-made millionaire businessman, philanthropist and entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter will deliver the second in a series of ‘Carnegie Lectures’ at the Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum. 

Sir Tom was born in Ayrshire in 1961 and set up his first business after graduating from the University of Strathclyde with a £5,000 loan from his grocer father, Campbell, and matching funds from a bank. He sold trainers from the back of a van and built the business into Europe’s largest independent retailer, eventually selling it for £252 million.

He came to realize that making money was only ‘half the equation’ and adopted the sentiment of his acknowledged hero Andrew Carnegie that 'a man who dies rich, dies disgraced'. Sir Tom and his wife Marion, Lady Hunter, established the Hunter Foundation in 1998 with a £10 million cheque and after discussions with the late Vartan Gregorian former head of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, went on to donate in excess of £50 million supporting educational and entrepreneurial projects in Scotland.

In October 2013 Sir Tom was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. The medal recognizes those who use their private wealth for public good and is awarded biannually to global figures leading the way in this field. Sir Tom was knighted in 2005 for services to philanthropy and education in Scotland.