Greg Jackson (businessman)
British businessman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Greg Jackson CBE (born September 1971) is a British entrepreneur and businessman who is the founder and CEO of Octopus Energy, the largest domestic energy supplier in the United Kingdom, serving 14 million accounts in 8 million households, and active in 27 countries.
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Greg Sean Jackson | |
|---|---|
Octopus CEO Greg Jackson | |
| Born | September 1971 (age 54–55) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Founder of Octopus Energy |
| Awards | |
Biography
Jackson grew up in Halifax,[1] West Yorkshire, and then Saltburn-by-the-Sea in North Yorkshire.[2] He became interested in electronics and computer coding in the early 1980s, leaving school at 16 to programme computer games.[1] He told the BBC that he remembered having his energy supply cut off when he was growing up.[3] He returned to sixth form college to study economics, before attending Pembroke College, Cambridge.[4]
According to website Move Upstream, "before the age of 30, he had owned and/or managed a number of small businesses employing 4–60 people and turning over £400k to £4m."[5] Jackson founded companies including e-commerce firm C360 and Consultant Connect,[6] a telemedicine provider, and was a director of several businesses, including Zopa, a peer-to-peer lender.[7] He is also an angel investor in companies including Xlinks, which planned to build the world's largest subsea cable to bring renewable energy from Morocco to the UK,[6] and carbon accounting company Altruistiq.[8]
He founded Octopus Energy in 2016, and by 2024 the company was valued at over $9 billion.[9] The company is now the largest energy supplier in the UK, the first company to supplant British Gas since market liberalisation in the 1990s.[10] By 2024, Octopus Energy Group had raised over $2.3bn in funding. The Financial Times reported in 2023 that "Octopus’s credentials as a disrupter have helped win the backing of investors including Generation Investment Management, chaired by former US vice-president Al Gore"[11] among further institutional investors and energy giants.
Jackson also founded software technology platform Kraken Technologies to introduce efficiencies across customer needs and operational fulfilment. A minority stake in the platform was sold for $1billion in December 2025, valuing Kraken at $9 billion.[12]
In August 2025, Jackson was appointed to a three-year term as a non-executive member of the Cabinet Office board; he said he would press government departments to use technology to implement policies more rapidly and efficiently.[13] Jackson is also a member of the government's Industrial Strategy Advisory Council.[14] In January 2026, Jackson became the first Co-Chair of the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) specialist unit CustomerFirst, seeking to modernise UK public services.[15]
Jackson lives in London and has two children.[1]
Honours and awards
In the 2024 King's Birthday Honours, Jackson was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).[16] In the same year, he was named in the 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders in Business in Time magazine's Time 100 Climate.[17] Jackson is an honorary fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge[18] and holds an honorary doctorate from Teesside University.[19] In April 2026, Jackson was named "Business Leader of the Year" at the British Business Awards,[20] and in May 2026 he was named "Personality of the Year in the City AM Awards 2026.[21]