Twice homeless millionaire tops UK black power list

A man who was twice homeless as a teenager before becoming a multimillionaire entrepreneur has topped a list celebrating influential black Britons. Dean Forbes, who, after failing to make it as a professional footballer, began his career in a call centre, is now the boss of a software company. He worked his way up from abject poverty on an estate in south-east London to become chief executive of Forterro, a Swedish software firm. Forbes said topping the Powerlist 2025 was a professional and career high. He told the BBC that although he grew up in a single-parent family on a housing estate in Lewisham, his disabled mum always encouraged her children to be positive, and gave them hope.