The Man who brought the World to Wales
Sir Terry Matthews will this week be welcoming the sporting world to his Celtic Manor following a rather solitary path to global reputation enhancement.
Business people craving universal fame for either their company or themselves normally shovel money into the abyss of a top football club.
But Matthews, ever the prudent entrepreneur, did not follow Russian oil tycoon Roman Abramovich, Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour or food processing millionaire Malcolm Glazer into the Premier League.
Wales' electronics magnate will know that Abramovich, Sheikh Mansour or Glazer will have to dig deep into their collective pockets if either are to prosper with Chelsea, Manchester City or Manchester United.
And Premier League owners are all too aware that very few will enjoy a return on their substantial investments however much success their hugely-expensive squads achieve.
But Matthews is unwilling to write off such millions, despite his estimated billion-pound fortune he refuses to let his business ethics slide even in the pursuit of sporting immortality.
So instead of going football crazy, he galvanised Welsh decision-makers to bid to host the Ryder Cup in Wales for the first time.
For those who thought he was a joker, who is laughing now?
Yet despite hosting golf's most prestigious showpiece, he does not even like golf that much - he certainly does not play - but this matchplay masterpiece is a potential vehicle to increase his business profile like nothing else.
"The Ryder Cup is a good investment as I couldn't have got worldwide recognition without it," said Matthews.
"If you put a building up somewhere you typically write it off over 25 years and the Ryder Cup is just the same. But if I put a building up it wouldn't be recognised worldwide but if I put the Ryder Cup and put in investment I could have a huge return off that.
"It has put the Celtic Manor on the map worldwide... the business is doing well and because we've pulled in the Ryder Cup then Newport, Cardiff and Wales get recognised worldwide - that is the spin-off... Wales has never had such a high profile.
"This is the absolute highest-profile you could possibly get as Wales does not have the ability to stage the soccer World Cup and Olympic Games."
And the profile is not hampered by Tiger Woods, the world's most famous sportsman, turning up at your house party.
The danger when millionaires invest in sporting organisations is that in craving success so much, they lose all sense of what made them good business people in the first place.
But gambling at a project in the pursuit of happiness is not Matthews.
He was born at Celtic Manor in 1943 when it was still a maternity hospital and has spent in excess of £100m on redeveloping since buying the small manor house on the outskirts of Newport in 1980.
He expanded it into a 300-room resort hotel and transformed its grounds into three golf courses - including the Twenty Ten Ryder Cup host course - all for less than the £150m Sheikh Mansour spent on his Manchester City squad in 2010.
But despite all of his sentimental links to the old place, Wales' first billionaire insists he would sell the Celtic Manor if the price were right.
"The emotional side of it wouldn't come into it, there is no room for emotion in business," Matthews told BBC Sport.
"Selling Celtic Manor is not something that is in my mind but everything I have is for sale whether it is companies, buildings or resorts - but it would have to be at a good price.
"I've sold companies in my career before. I eventually sold 51% my first company Mitel to British Telecom at a very high price. And in 2000 I sold another company Newbridge Networks and it was sold for $7.3bn at the height of the market - but it was a hell of a good price.
"I never built anything to sell. But I'm not stupid, if something is built and it has a lot of value for somebody and they say I want to buy that then I'd reply 'what are you thinking of? - put your money where your mouth is.
"If somebody said here's £1bn to buy the Celtic Manor I wouldn't hesitate on doing the deal. But If they say here's a £100m - then I'd say you've got to be a little nuts."
He says his interest in golf is purely commercial.
"A lot of people I work with in business, like customers and consultants, enjoy golf.
"For me, the game of golf began as a way to attract some of the decision-makers in business to my backyard - and it is still that way.
"The Celtic Manor is one of the highest-quality five star hotels in the UK and every year we are rated as one of the best conference and best spa venues - and that is pretty important for bringing in businessmen to us from around the world.
"Golf helps my business [but] my main business, make no doubt about it, is electronics.
source: www.bbc.co.uk all rights reserved.
