Born in Northamptonshire in September 1954. A former employee of the Beggars Banquet retail chain, Ivo Watts-Russell founded Axis (2) / 4AD Records in 1979 with Peter Kent.
Kent left 4AD in 1980 to set up the Beggars-funded and owned Situation Two
In 1999, Watts-Russell sold his share in 4AD to the Beggars Group (a conglomeration of labels borne out of Beggars Banquet, and including Mo'Wax, Matador, XL and Too Pure), to give himself time to further his interests in book publishing. Since then his involvement in 4AD has mostly been on a consultancy level, for catalogue releases. Ivo currently lives near Santa Fe in New Mexico with his dogs.
Younger brother of Perry Watts-Russell.