Dean Forbes

Forbes grew up on a housing estate in Lewisham, south-east London, raised by his mother in a single-parent family; he said she taught him and his two brothers to “raise our expectations” and never to see themselves as victims. He became homeless twice as a teenager. He won a place at the Crystal Palace academy but did not become a professional footballer; he regards that failure as a key turning point in his later success, saying that the disappointment and rejection put him on a path beyond his wildest dreams.⁠[1][1][1][1][1]

He had borrowed money to “keep up appearances” with friends, including the then-footballer Rio Ferdinand, and was eventually left with £88,000 of debt. To start clearing it, he took a job in a Motorola call centre, where he quickly worked his way up.⁠[1][1][1]

Forbes later joined the Philadelphia-headquartered US software company Primavera Systems in a senior leadership role and took an equity stake in the company. On October 8, 2008, Oracle announced that it had agreed to acquire the project portfolio management (PPM) software provider, without disclosing the financial terms. After the acquisition he served at Oracle as global vice president for sales and marketing for the PPM division; after the company was sold, he made his first millions.⁠[2][3][3][1]

Forbes went on to become chief executive of KDS, a Paris-headquartered SaaS software company, leading its growth and international expansion. At the end of August 2016, American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) announced that it would acquire KDS, without disclosing the terms, and said it expected to complete the deal in the fourth quarter of 2016; KDS’s core product, Neo, offered a door-to-door travel booking tool and an integrated travel expenses calculator. Forbes said KDS looked forward to using GBT’s support and assets to better serve GBT customers while continuing to serve its existing customers and partners.⁠[2][4][5][5][5]

After KDS, Forbes became chief executive of the HR and payroll software company CoreHR, leading its expansion across Europe; he took equity stakes at both KDS and CoreHR. On March 5, 2020, it was announced that CoreHR, based in Cork, Ireland, would be acquired by the British software group The Access Group, with financial terms not disclosed; CoreHR’s software then served more than 270 customers and more than 1 million users. Access combined CoreHR with its other human capital management assets to form the Access People division, with Forbes as its president.⁠[2][1][6][6][7]

On February 17, 2021, Forterro, a group of companies providing enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to small and medium-sized businesses, announced the appointment of Forbes as chief executive and Paul Smolinski as chief financial officer, with the new Europe-based leadership succeeding the previous US-based team led by former chief executive Jeff Tognoni. Forbes was tasked with driving the growth strategy in Europe, working with the group’s primary business units in France, Germany, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland. He said the company would keep investing in the market-leading positions of local and niche ERP software businesses across Europe and would grow aggressively, both organically and through further acquisitions.⁠[2][2][2][2][2][2]

On March 1, 2022, Forterro announced that the private markets firm Partners Group, acting on behalf of its clients, had acquired the company from Battery VenturesBattery VenturesBattery Ventures is a global venture capital and private equity firm focused on technology companies, investing from seed-stage startups through growth investments and buyouts.Open the full entry for €1 billion, with completion subject to the necessary clearances. Founded in 2012, Forterro then had more than 1,200 employees in over 40 office locations and provided specialized ERP software to more than 10,000 small and mid-size manufacturers. Forbes said management had spent the previous year developing growth strategies and investing in people and infrastructure for a new vision it called “Forterro 3.0,” and that finding an investor who shared that vision was “the final piece of the puzzle”; he said the company would work with Partners Group toward becoming a unified, subscription-based, cloud-ready ERP platform.⁠[8][8][9][8][8]

In July 2024, Forbes was interviewed by Arlan Hamilton in the fourth episode of the ABC7 program “Our America: In the Black Conversations,” describing his path from homelessness to leading Forterro. He said people ought to have a “craft”: for some it is influence and personal charm, for others it is more technical and scientific, and his was sales. He also said that a talent pool drawn from varied backgrounds thinks differently and has more perspective, and that helping people from these communities into the workplace benefits everyone.⁠[10][10][10][10][10][10]

On October 25, 2024, Forbes was named number one on the Powerlist 2025 of the most influential Black people in the UK (having ranked second the previous year), succeeding the former British Vogue editor Edward Enninful at the top of the list; the Powerlist has been published annually since 2007 to provide role models for young Black people. Forbes called it a “professional and career high.” He holds an equity stake in Forterro and said the company made more than €300 million in revenue a year.⁠[1][1][1][1][1]

Forbes and his wife Danielle co-founded the philanthropic organization Forbes Family Group, which works to give people in underserved communities opportunities and to break the cycle of poverty and disadvantage; as of October 2024 he had channeled more than £1.2 million through it into active capital, small business investments, and mentoring and career development programs. He said there is a great deal of talent in these communities and “you just need to open the door a crack.” At the same time, he was a partner in the Growth and Value Creation team of the investment firm Corten Capital.⁠[1][1][11][11][1][11][12]

On September 23, 2025, The Venture RoomThe Venture RoomThe Venture Room is a UK entrepreneurial media brand centered on the YouTube channel @theventureroom. Through long-form interviews with founders and street interviews such as “Asking Millionaires How They Got Rich?”, it presents entrepreneurs’ stories and advice to aspiring business owners, and runs an entrepreneur community and brand partnerships.Open the full entry released a street-interview video filmed in Atlanta, United States, in which Forbes was one of the interviewees. He said on the program that his first million came from shares he held as an executive at a private-equity-backed software company that was sold to Oracle for 550 million (Oracle did not disclose the price at the time); he said he came from an ordinary background in South London and had been homeless twice, and that a couple of years earlier the company he leads as chief executive had been sold for a billion euros.⁠[13][13][13][3]

Asked about the biggest risk he had taken, he said that while a sale of a company was being negotiated, he used all of his and his wife’s cash to buy the shares and stock options available to them; the deal then broke down, and the couple lived with very little cash for a long time until the deal was back on track and the exit was completed for 125 million. The host described him in the video as one of the most influential Black men in the UK.⁠[13][13][13]

On February 11, 2026, Forterro reported its 2025 results: cloud bookings grew 30% year over year, overall sales and recurring revenue each grew 16%, recurring revenue rose to 74% of the total from 50% in 2021, and total revenue reached €375 million; during the year the company integrated acquired businesses including Orgadata, BM Group, TARGIT, and Inology.⁠[14][14][14][14]

As of October 2026, Forbes remained chief executive of Forterro. Forterro’s results for the first nine months of 2026 showed cloud bookings up 42% and recurring revenue up 14%, accounting for 79% of total revenue, with an EBITDA margin of 33%; Forbes said that although market conditions were mixed across parts of Europe, the company continued to see strong demand for cloud solutions.⁠[15][16][16]

On compound interest: “The rich understand compound interest. An investment growing at 12% a year doubles in five or six years; if it is passive, why wouldn’t you do it? Be patient with returns that look less exciting.” (at 09:10 in the video)⁠[13][13][13]

On new opportunities: “AI is the new frontier. After the computer and the cloud, now it is AI; figuring out smart ways to embed AI in your products and services is the next wave.” (at 08:38 in the video)⁠[13]

On gaps in his industry: “Manufacturers are always looking for an extra percent, or even an extra half a percent, of margin. Anywhere you can use technology and AI to help them optimize and become more efficient is an opportunity.” (at 08:50 in the video)⁠[13]

Forterro: Official website: https://www.forterro.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[15]

Forbes Family Group: Official website: https://forbesfamilygroup.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[17]

Corten Capital: Official website: https://www.cortencapital.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[12]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deforbes/ (opens in a new window)⁠[17]