Despite stepping down as chief executive in 2010, the 67 year-old, speaking exclusively to Financial Planner, says he is still active in the business, which he called his 'baby'.
He was awarded the New Years honour to recognise his contribution to UK business.
He dedicated the award to all the people who have helped him and co-founder Stephen Lansdown build the Bristol business since forming it in 1981.
The company now has more than 800 staff.
He said: "I think the award is for them as much as anybody."
Mr Hargreaves, who was named 47th in the Sunday Times rich list last April, with estimated net worth of £1.5bn, revealed that he still spends much of his time thinking about how to improve his company.
Mr Hargreaves, who sits on the board as an executive director, said: "It's a life's work, it's my baby, it's a thing I love more than anything, after my family obviously.
"It's the thing that excites me more than anything else."
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He is at his desk each day at 8am and has the same drive now when he wakes up in the morning as earlier in his career, he said.
He revealed he sometimes wakes in the night to scribble down ideas that have come to him.
He said: "There's an enormous amount of intellectual thought that I have."
He spoke of his pride at his company's growth and performance, employing over 800 staff, and the fact that "we've never made a loss in 32 years".
Asked if the CBE was a surprise, he said: "No, not really. I created a £6.5bn company from scratch without borrowing or acquisitions. I think that's quite an achievement in itself."
He said: "I think it's good they've recognised business which I think is quite important.
"There are not many people who create a huge amount of wealth.
"Clearly we are an important part of the economy and we also pay a shed load of tax too, so it seems to me that's quite important.
"I think a lot of the criticism of the honours has been that people in the limelight get these awards whereas people who just get on and do something probably aren't regarded well enough."
As to what the crucial factor in building a successful business has been, he responded: "I think we've always been reactive to what financial investors wanted.
"We've never believed we knew what our clients wanted, we asked them."