23 Facts About Terry Matthews

Sir Terence Hedley Matthews was born on 6 June 1943 and is a Welsh-Canadian business magnate, serial high-tech entrepreneur, and Wales' first billionaire.

Terry Matthews was the richest man in Wales until 2012, when he was surpassed by Sir Michael Moritz.

Terry Matthews has founded or funded over 100 companies in the high-tech communications field, most notably Mitel and Newbridge Networks.

Terry Matthews is the chairman of Wesley Clover and the Swansea Bay City Region board.

Terry Matthews owns the Celtic Manor Resort, KRP Properties, the Brookstreet Hotel, and the Marshes Golf Club.

Terry Matthews was born in Newport, South Wales, at the then Lydia Beynon Maternity Hospital.

Terry Matthews returned as an adult to include the manor house that housed the hospital within the Celtic Manor Resort.

Terry Matthews grew up in the town of Newbridge, Caerphilly.

Terry Matthews studied at Swansea University and received a bachelor's degree in electronics in 1969.

Cowpland would later form the company that became Corel, and Terry Matthews later founded Newbridge Networks.

In 1986, Terry Matthews drove Newbridge to become a leader in the worldwide data networking industry, manufacturing data communications products, especially ATM devices and routers.

Terry Matthews has invested heavily in Mitel to turn it into a broadband communications company.

Terry Matthews has made significant investments in enterprise Voice over IP telephony technology.

Additionally, Terry Matthews serves on the board of directors for a number of high tech companies including Solace, and chairs CounterPath Corporation and Benbria Corporation.

Terry Matthews spends a considerable amount of time in his native Wales, working on such ventures as the Celtic Manor Resort, a leisure complex in Newport, near the south Wales coast, chosen to host the 2010 Ryder Cup golf tournament and the 2014 NATO summit.

Terry Matthews had become friends with golf course architect, the late Robert Trent Jones Snr, whose family roots were in Aberystwyth.

In September 2014, Terry Matthews was appointed chairman of the Swansea Bay City Region Board.

Terry Matthews founded the Wesley Clover Foundation, a not-for-profit, philanthropic corporation that supports entrepreneurship, healthcare, education, and community initiatives.

Terry Matthews was knighted by HM The Queen at an investiture in Buckingham Palace.

Terry Matthews has received honorary doctorates from the University of Wales and Carleton University.

Terry Matthews was invested by the Governor General of Canada at Rideau Hall on 20 November 2018.

Terry Matthews's son Owen lives in Victoria, British Columbia, is a General Partner at Wesley Clover, and is founder and chairman of the Alacrity Foundation.

Terry Matthews's youngest son Trevor is an actor, founder and CEO of Brookstreet Pictures.