S ir Terence Matthews is a Welsh-Canadian technology entrepreneur who is one of the most prolific and successful figures in the history of the telecommunications industry. He is renowned for having founded or funded over 100 companies in the high-tech sector. Born in Wales, he co-founded his first major success, Mitel, in 1972 in Canada. Mitel became a global leader in the manufacturing of telephone switchboards (PBX systems). After leaving Mitel, he embarked on his second, and much larger, success.

In 1986, he founded Newbridge Networks, which he built into a dominant global supplier of networking equipment for data and telecommunications networks. In 2000, at the peak of the dot-com bubble, he sold Newbridge to the French telecom giant Alcatel for $7.1 billion, a deal that made him a multi-billionaire and the first billionaire from Wales. He now manages his extensive portfolio of technology investments through his private, Ottawa-based investment firm, Wesley Clover International. He also owns the Celtic Manor Resort in Wales, a luxury hotel and golf course that hosted the 2010 Ryder Cup.