Barry Hearn

Barry Maurice William Hearn (born 19 June 1948) is an English sporting events promoter and businessman who is the founder and chairman of promotions company Matchroom Sport, the current owner of Leyton Orient Football Club and Chairman of World Snooker.

Through Matchroom, Hearn is also involved in many sports, including pool, snooker, tenpin bowling, golf, Table Tennis and fishing. Hearn is currently the chairman of the Professional Darts Corporation, and from 2010-2014 was President of the WPBSA.

In the 1980's, Hearn was the manager of six-times snooker world champion Steve Davis (which he still is), and formed what was colloquially known as the "Matchroom stable." Steve Davis, Tony Meo, Tony Knowles, Dennis Taylor, Willie Thorne, John Virgo, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Terry Griffiths, Gary Wilkinson and Jimmy White were all part of the "stable" at some point, which boasts 12 world titles, 15 UK titles and 11 Masters titles. After the stable was virtually closed in 1998 (Steve Davis remained the only player managed by Hearn), Hearn began to work on other sports but in 2003 began managing both Jimmy White and Ronnie O'Sullivan again.

In 2006, Hearn was named Chairman of the Professional Darts Corporation, and in July 2009 was elected as President of the WPBSA and Chairman of World Snooker, which came in to practice a year later, in July 2010. He held this role until 2014, when he came second in the 2014 WPBSA Presidency Election, but was allowed to continue his role as World Snooker Chairman.