It was when Peter Lampl returned to England after 15 years in the United States and found that his old grammar school had gone private, his school friends were paying for their children's education and "Oxbridge had again become something of a finishing school for the rich" that he identified a cause on which to spend his millions.
And spend them he has - about Pounds 2 million a year - on summer schools for disadvantaged pupils at top universities, on sending poor pupils to private schools, on running pilot projects for scholastic aptitude tests and on the kind of study that revealed this week that state school pupils are under-represented not just at Oxbridge but at Britain's 13 top universities.
Lampl, the son of a Czech emigre and wealthy businessman, was educated at Reigate and Cheltenham grammar schools before studying for a BA and MA in physical chemistry at Corpus Christi College, Oxford.
He was convinced that it was becoming possible for bright children from poor backgrounds to get an equal chance at education.
After three years studying for an MBA at the London Business School and a year working as a sales and marketing executive for the Beecham pharmaceutical group, Lampl went to the US as a management consultant.
He worked for Boston Consulting Group, then the world's leading managment consulting firm, and later for International Paper, becoming the youngest person to reach a senior management position.
In 1983, he set up the Sutton Company, a private equity and management firm based in New York, London and Munich.
Four years later, he returned to London and set up the Sutton Trust to provide educational opportunities for able young people from non-privileged backgrounds.
Married, with two young children, he has said: "I am not a politician or a sociologist or an educationist. I am an entrepreneur who has been lucky enough to succeed."