A billionaire’s expensive act of revenge and a rebellion born over a pint

History has seen no shortage of ego projects, but few were born from defiance as pure as the INEOS Grenadier. When Jaguar Land Rover decided in 2016 to retire the old school Defender, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the British chemicals tycoon, did not see the end of an era. He took it as a personal insult. After failing to buy the rights to continue producing the Defender, the billionaire chose the more extravagant response. If nobody would sell him the toy, he would build a factory and make his own, this time properly.