Theo Paphitis was born in Cyprus and built a business empire from retail.
Paphitis was born in Limassol, Cyprus, in 1959 and moved to the United Kingdom with his family when he was a child. He developed his career in retail and became associated with several major British consumer brands, including Ryman and lingerie retailer La Senza.
His commercial success led to a place on Dragon's Den, where he invested in entrepreneurs and evaluated businesses from a retailer’s perspective. The programme made him widely known to British television audiences, but his retail career was established before his television role.
This question concerns Paphitis’s birthplace and business background rather than a particular deal on the programme. Other dragons also had prominent retail careers, so the combination of Cyprus and the Ryman-led retail portfolio identifies Paphitis specifically.