Richard founded his first company, ITAL Computers in 1985, which sold services that integrated computer-aided design and manufacture systems to the southern California aerospace industry.

ITAL Computers was sold in a private transaction in 1991 and the profits were used to found his second company, Visual Software.

[6][7][8] Richard turned around the fortunes of Micrografx by shifting its focus from consumer software to business and technical marketplaces.

[14] Also in 2001, Richard co-founded Library House with a group of entrepreneurs and angel investors from the Cambridge Cluster.

It was a mobile software company offering free text and interactive messaging across the internet, prior to the introduction of smart phones.

In late 2004, Richard was approached by the BBC to join a new reality TV show called Dragons' Den.

Richard was joined by Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne, Rachel Elnaugh and Simon Woodroffe as the first 'Dragons'.

He voluntarily stepped down after the end of the second series after accepting a position as a venture partner with the hedge fund Tudor Investments.

Recent programs include: In January 2015, the Daily Mirror reported that Richard had been arrested on suspicion of rape involving a 13-year-old girl.

[35] On 25 January 2016, Richard appeared at the Old Bailey, where he admitted sexual activity did occur but said it was consensual, believing her to be 17 at the time.

[36] The court heard that the girl in question provided Richard her ID on a number of occasions showing that she was 17.