Joel Woolf Barnato[note 1] (27 September 1895 – 27 July 1948) was a British financier and racing driver, one of the "Bentley Boys" of the 1920s.

The youngest son of Fanny Bees and Barney Barnato, who had made a fortune as a "Randlord" in South African diamond and gold mining, he was a relative of the Joel family of entrepreneurs.

Barnato's attitude to a new sport that took his interests, was to immerse himself in the learning process, practising endlessly and taking lessons only from the very best instructors he could find.

Inspired by the 1924 Le Mans win by John Duff and Frank Clement, Barnato agreed to finance Bentley's business.

In July 1931 two mortgage payments on the firm that were guaranteed by Barnato fell due, and accepting the inevitable, he advised the lenders that he was "unable to meet these debts."

[2] After a period where it appeared that Napier was going to acquire the business, the firm passed into the hands of Rolls-Royce in November 1931 for the sum of £125,000 after a sealed bid auction.

Barnato received around £42,000 in return for his shares in the business, having bought a sizeable stake in Rolls-Royce not long before Bentley Motors was liquidated.

[3] For the 1922 season he bought a 1921 chassis Talbot directly from its owner/driver Malcolm Campbell,[3] and for 1923 a Sir Alastair Miller customised-racing Wolseley Racing Moth.

[3] At the start of the 1924 season Barnato obtained an eight-litre Hispano-Suiza H6C chassis, which he commissioned Jarvis of Wimbledon to build a suitable racing body for.

[3] In late 1924 he obtained a prototype Bentley 3 Litre chassis, which was subsequently fitted with a boat-tail body by Jarvis for a cost of £400.

[3] Barnato used the car to win several major Brooklands races, and then partnered by John Duff set a new 3-litre 24-hour record averaging 95.03 miles per hour (152.94 km/h) at Autodrome de Montlhéry.

From 1940 to 1945, Barnato was a wing commander with the Royal Air Force, responsible for the protection of aircraft factories against Luftwaffe bombing raids.

Originally built in 1906–1909 by Ernest Newton for the Konig family, the house was the scene of many lavish motor racing-themed parties for Barnato and his friends, but was destroyed by fire on 14 March 1933.

After the loss of Ardenrun, in 1938 he built a large castellated home named Ridgemead in Englefield Green, Surrey, at a cost of more than £100,000.

It had 25 bedrooms, a heated swimming pool and was set in 25 acres (10 ha) of land overlooking the River Thames at Runnymede.

During his final marriage, he purchased an 8 acres (3.2 ha) plot named Perot's Island, in Bermuda, "as an investment after my death".

Barnato died at the London Clinic, Devonshire Place, on 27 July 1948 as a result of a thrombosis after an operation for cancer.