Jeremy Clarkson is best known for his role as a presenter on the hit BBC show Top Gear - and his outspoken and often politically incorrect views on a range of issues.
His comments have won him both admirers and detractors, although Clarkson maintains he should not be taken too seriously.
Now aged 54, he was born in Doncaster where his parents ran a business selling tea cosies, and then Paddington Bear toys.
Their success enabled Clarkson to go to Repton public school, from which he was apparently expelled for bad behaviour.
He took a job in the family business but in 1984 branched out on his own, forming the Motoring Press Agency, with journalist Jonathan Gill.
This led to him writing pieces for Performance Car and his acerbic wit later gained him contracts from The Sun and The Sunday Times.
In October 1988, Clarkson was invited to be one of the presenters on Top Gear. It was taken off air between 2000 and 2002, but since its return has become one of the most watched TV shows on BBC Two.
The show owes much to Clarkson's co-presenters James May and Richard Hammond, but his strong presence and uncompromising views have undoubtedly made him the driving force, as well as an icon for 'petrol heads'.
His disparaging comments - about Norfolk, workers at Hyundai, global warming, speeding, cyclists and Wales among others - have often landed him in hot water and led to calls for him to be sacked.
So far they have been resisted by the BBC, but there are fears the corporation may have no choice but to let him go after the latest episode in which he is alleged to have thrown a punch at one of Top Gear's producers.
The show is one of the BBC's biggest money spinners, pulling in millions of pounds from a devoted - and international - audience.
Its success - and Clarkson's vital part in it - saw BBC TV boss Danny Cohen compare him to a top-flight footballer, telling reporters last year that "no one is bigger than the club".
In an interview with Sky News, former ITV boss Michael Grade described him as the "Kevin Pietersen of broadcasting", adding: "You can't live with him or without him," he said.
Last year, Top Gear was censured by regulator Ofcom for breaching broadcasting rules after Clarkson used a "racial" term during the programme's Burma special, which had aired in March 2014.
The year ended with the show's crew having to flee Argentina after trouble erupted when it emerged they were using a Porsche with the registration number H982 FKL, which many saw as a reference to the Falklands conflict of 1982.
Top Gear's executive producer Andy Wilman described 2014 as "an annus horribilis" for the show after the claims of racism and the near-riot in Argentina.
It is difficult to find exact figures, but it is safe to say the show has made Clarkson and Wilman multi-millionaires.
The 2012 annual report and accounts of BBC Worldwide - the corporation's commercial arm - show it got a dividend of £4.5m in 2012 from a company called Bedder 6.
The company, which is registered at the west London base of BBC Worldwide was set up by Clarkson and Wilman.
The BBC then owned 50%, with Clarkson reportedly owning around 30% - meaning his dividend would have been around £2.7m in that year, on top of his BBC salary. He has since sold his stake to the corporation.
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