Ruffer started as a stockbroker, before becoming a barrister. He is now a Bencher of the Middle Temple. He worked in corporate finance for Schroders, an accepting house bank. He worked for Dunbar, a private bank, from 1980 to 1985. He was also on the board of directors of one of its subsidiaries, Dunbar Fund Management, from 1981 to 1985. He was then on the board of CFS from 1985 to 1994. He was on the board of Odey Asset Management, founded by Crispin Odey, from 1992 to 2005; Fuel Tech from 1994 to 1998; and Electric & General Investment Trust from 2001 to 2011. In 1994, he co-founded Ruffer Investment Management Limited, an investment management firm with Robert Shirley, 14th Earl Ferrers and Jane Tufnell. The firm was renamed Ruffer LLP in 2004 and is now based at 80 Victoria Street in London. Ruffer was its chief executive officer from 1994 to 2012 and has been its chairman since 2011. The firm managed £15.4 billion on behalf of its clients in 2012–2013. In 2014, it had 199 employees, and additional offices in Edinburgh and Hong Kong. He is a research fellow at St John's College, Durham. He has published articles in The Spectator. According to the Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, Ruffer is worth an estimated £159 million pounds, an increase of £8 million from the previous year.
Philanthropy
Ruffer credits William Rathbone VI as a source of inspiration for his philanthropy. He believes nobody needs more than £20 million. However, he is critical of William Temple's Christian socialism. He served as the chairman of the Good Shepherd Mission in Bethnal Green from 1998 to 2008. He has also supported the Church Urban Fund. in Bishop Auckland, County Durham. He expressed an interest in reviving County Durham through philanthropy in 2012. That same year, he donated £1 million to the Durham Foundation. A year later, in 2013, he donated £15 million to preserve Auckland Castle, the historical palace of the Bishop of Durham, through the Auckland Castle Trust, of which he is the chair. This included the preservation of 12 paintings by Francisco de Zurbarán, present in the palace since 1756. In 2013, he donated £18 million to restore the Bishop's Palace and create a museum on the history of Christianity and faith in Britain, which had been expected to open in 2018. The restoration project was completed in 2019 and the Castle was scheduled to re-open to visitors in November; three new restaurants for visitors were added, with one in operation by early November 2019. Nonetheless, the Scotland Wing still houses the offices of the Bishop of Durham. In 2019, he worked with Sotheby's James Macdonald to assemble a collection displayed at the Spanish Gallery. In 2014, Ruffer donated the endowment to create Kynren, a night show telling the history of England, in nearby Bishop Auckland to aid in wider regeneration. He has endowed the Jonathan Ruffer curatorial grants at The Art Fund, which give £75,000 to curators every year.
Art collection
Ruffer collects Spanish old masters. He also owns paintings by Thomas Gainsborough.
Personal life
Ruffer is married to Jane Sequeira, a doctor, and palliative care specialist. They have a daughter. She is a descendant of Isaac Henrique Sequeira, a Portuguese Jewish doctor, who was painted by Thomas Gainsborough, one of his patients, and that oil painting now hangs in Madrid's Museo del Prado. An Anglican, he has been described by the Financial Times as "a committed evangelical Christian" and The Yorkshire Post as "a devout Christian." He is a member of the Athenaeum Club and the Beefsteak Club. As of 2014, he had an estimated wealth of £380 million.
