Charles Saatchi's Biography

The Saatchi family including Charles and his brother Maurice left for England when Charles was just 4 years old.

Charles Saatchi studied at Christ's College in Finchley, North West London, but left at 17 with just two 'O' Levels.

The Observer quotes Saatchi on how he got his breakthrough in the world of advertising:

"I answered a situations vacant ad in the Evening Standard for a voucher clerk, pay £10 weekly. It was in a tiny advertising agency in Covent Garden, and a voucher clerk had to traipse round all the local newspaper offices in Fleet Street – of which there were hundreds at the time – and pick up back copies of papers in which the agency's clients had an advert appearing ... One of the advantages of it being a tiny agency was that one day they got desperate when their creative department (one young man) was off sick, and they asked me if I could try and make up an ad for one of their clients, Thornber Chicks."

Saatchi's reputation as a copywriter grew and Charles and his younger brother, Maurice established their own advertising agency in 1970.

Saatchi & Saatchi were hired by the Conservative party in 1978.

Soon the agency grew to be the biggest in the world, however in the 1980s, the Saatchis were ousted and set up a new ad agency, M&C Saatchi.

Meanwhile Charles Saatchi was becoming notable as a major collector of modern art.

Charles and his first wife, Doris, staged exhibitions at the Saatchi Gallery in St John's Wood.

Charles and Doris divorced in 1990. His second wife was Kay Hartenstein.

Saatchi continued to make significant art purchases, for example, of the works of Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin.

He opened his new Saatchi Gallery in 2003 - the same year that he married his third wife, Nigella Lawson.

2009 saw the publication of My Name is Charles Saatchi and I am an Artoholic: Everything You Need to Know About Art, Ads, Life, God and Other Mysteries and Weren't Afraid to Ask; and the release of the TV reality series, School Of Saatchi, in which Charles Saatchi himself is not seen on TV but he masterminds the nationwide search to discover the next generation of artistic talent.

In June 2013, Charles Saatchi was cautioned by the police for assault after photos of him gripping his wife, Nigella Lawson, by the neck appeared in the media.

Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi were granted a divorce on 31 July 2013.