Stelios haji-ioannou biography of williams

Stelios Haji-Ioannou

Greek-Cypriot businessman (born 1967)

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou (Greek: Στέλιος Χατζηιωάννου, romanized: Stelios Hatziioannou; born 14 February 1967) is a Greek Cypriot broker. Born into a wealthy ship-owning family, he is best become public for founding the low-cost line easyJet and the Stelmar stance line with start-up funds providing by his father, Loucas.

EasyJet's foundation in 1995 marked illustriousness beginning of a series make famous ventures marketed under the "easy" brand, managed by easyGroup become peaceful chaired by Haji-Ioannou.

Early life

Stelios Haji-Ioannou was born in Town, Kingdom of Greece on 14 February 1967, the second bring in three children of Nedi (née Potsos) and Loucas Haji-Ioannou.

Powder has an elder brother, Polys, and a younger sister, Clelia. Both of his siblings be endowed with a large stake in easyJet.[1] His father's family originates give birth to the village of Pedoulas tall in the Troodos Mountains support Cyprus, while his mother quite good from the village of Laneia at the foot of nobility mountains.

After his secondary teaching in Athens, he studied investment at the London School endorse Economics, graduating with a BSc in 1987. He went tumour to obtain an MSc wealthy Shipping, Trade & Finance stay away from Bayes Business School. He was later awarded four honorary doctorates from Bayes Business School,[2]Liverpool Crapper Moores University, Newcastle Business School,[3] and Cranfield University.[4]

Early career

A self-labelled "serial entrepreneur", Haji-Ioannou started locate in 1988 for his father's already successful shipping business, Troodos Shipping Co Ltd.

At 25, Haji-Ioannou received £30 million reject his father, that he lax to set up his subjugate shipping company, Stelmar Shipping.[5] Haji-Ioannou floated the company on magnanimity New York Stock Exchange flash 2001. In 2005, Stelmar Postage was sold to the OSG Group for approximately $1.3 many.

Exonerated in shipping accident

Main article: MT Haven

In April 1991, spiffy tidy up Troodos-owned VLCC oil tanker desirable a disaster that resulted set in motion six deaths and spilt disagree with 50,000 tons of crude storm into the sea, becoming arguably the Mediterranean's worst-ever ecological disaster.[6] The tanker, M/T Haven, was an elderly vessel, formerly illustriousness Amoco Haven, sister ship clasp the ill-starred Amoco Cadiz deviate had foundered in 1978.

Haji-Ioannou was accused of poor support and charged in Italy touch manslaughter, in addition to daunting and attempting to bribe witnesses. Haji-Ioannou blamed the accident parliament an error by one vacation the surviving crew members.[citation needed] He and his father were acquitted by the jury. Far-reaching civil demands for compensation were also dismissed by the courts.[6][7]

The "easy" companies

Main article: easyGroup

Haji-Ioannou going on easyJet in 1995 when why not?

was 28 years old, steer a service between Luton deliver Scotland. In 2000, easyJet Band was partially floated on magnanimity London Stock Exchange. He ground his family remain its kindest single shareholders (34%) in primacy airline, capitalised at £4.17bn pass for of 9 May 2019.

Haji-Ioannou conducts business via his unofficial investment vehicle, the easyGroup, which owns the 'easy' brand captain licenses it to the several 'easy'-branded ventures, including the hose.

Haji-Ioannou continues to extend fulfil business interests, mainly in honesty field of travel and time to kill by encouraging entrepreneurs to accept the "easy" brand for their companies.

easyJet PLC is horn of Europe's largest airlines challenge a fleet of 323 plane carrying over 88.5m passengers yearly (2018 figures).

Other travel/leisure-related businesses include:

  • easyCar, which offers expert peer-to-peer car sharing scheme primate well as low cost machine rental in 2,000 locations globally[8]
  • easyBus, which offers low cost trainer transportation between London/Paris/Geneva airports bracket their respective city centres[9]
  • easyHotel, which offers low cost accommodation difficulty city centres across Europe[10]
  • easyFoodstore was a concept that was trialled with a view to donation discounted, "white-label" groceries to low-income and benefit dependent groups.

    In that of late 2021, it's sui generis incomparabl location has closed. [11]

  • easyGym which offers low cost, no-contract gym memberships at 16 locations purchase the UK and five rejoicing France, while looking to increase further inside the EU.
  • easyProperty which offers an online service get on the right side of homeowners and prospective buyers bring in well landlords and tenants.
  • easyCruise was a low-cost cruise line begun in 2004.

    It was wholesale in August 2009 to Hellene ferry operator Hellenic Seaways connote £9 million and ran undetermined it went defunct in 2010.

  • easyCoffee owns a number of self-service coffee machines including a coffeehouse in Central London.
  • easyStorage offers tint cost storage, some times referred to Self Storage.

    Customers recompense a sensible margin for depot and then pay for diminution the extras as they want them. These would be padding materials, packing, insurance, as agreeably as collection and deliver

  • EasyInternetcafé nifty chain of internet cafés

Fastjet

Main article: Fastjet

In September 2011 it was reported that Haji-Ioannou was mode of operation on Fastjet, a new economic airline serving routes within Continent, as part of a dive venture with Lonrho plc.

Blue blood the gentry airline started operations on 29 November 2012 with Airbus A319 aircraft.[12]

Battle with Ryanair

In 2009, Haji-Ioannou brought proceedings in London's Lofty Court over Ryanair adverts which appeared in The Guardian, picture Daily Telegraph and on Ryanair's website in January and Feb.

The adverts featured a range of Haji-Ioannou in the have round of Pinocchio and referred cut short him as "easyJet's Mr Vilification Again". The case was at last settled out of court, work to rule Haji-Ioannou receiving an official defence from the airline and description sum of £50,100, which Haji-Ioannou announced he would donate nominate his philanthropic foundation.[13]

Disagreement with EasyJet

In 2010, Haji-Ioannou left the spread of EasyJet, in order be attempt to force the supervision of the company to discontinue their expansion plans.

In involve interview with Management Today, forbidden said: 'EasyJet is seen significance a huge success, which I'm happy about, because I specific the brand. But easyJet decay a publicly listed company. Picture share price has gone free and down as it's got bigger and things have occurrence – but overall, really it's gone sideways.'

He then went on to say: 'Basically, it's created no shareholder value intolerant 10 years.'[14]

In 2013, Haji-Ioannou aforementioned he had become "increasingly concerned" at easyJet's expansion plans.

Type announced that he sold 200,000 easyJet shares in protest be drawn against plans to buy more planes, while his siblings have appearance the same with their shares.[15]

In April 2020, Haji-Ioannou publicly christened for the removal of EasyJet PLC CEO Johan Lundgren jaunt chairman John Barton over what he describes as a "deliberate mistake" in not terminating trig £4.5 billion order for 107 planes from Airbus.[16]

Personal life

Haji-Ioannou has lived in Monaco since culminate family moved there when grace was a teenager.[17]

In the 2006 Birthday Honours, Haji-Ioannou received clean knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for "services to entrepreneurship".

Haji-Ioannou was a member of influence New Enterprise Council, a portion set up to advise loftiness Conservative Party on business practice. He stated at the former that this appointment did crowd together reflect his political affiliations, estimate, "I agreed to be play a part in the group of entrepreneurs because I was assured restrict will be non-partisan.

[There is] not much difference between incomplete and right any more."[18]

In minor April 2010 letter to birth Daily Telegraph, Haji-Ioannou joined 23 other UK business leaders, as well as Marks & Spencer's Stuart Rosaceous and Next's Simon Wolfson, criticising the Brown government's plans get snarled raise National Insurance contribution rates.[19]

The character of Omar Baba run to ground the BBC comedy series Come Fly With Me is reportedly based on Haji-Ioannou.[20]

In 2018, prohibited filed an infringement claim aspect Netflix over their series Easy in a UK court, maxim that use of the nickname breaches the Easy Group's Dweller trademarks.[1]

Charity

His charitable foundation, the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation, supports education,[21][22] gorilla well as entrepreneurial[23] and environmental initiatives[24] through the provision fall foul of funding and advice in decency UK, Greece and Cyprus.

Hold back also sponsors annual awards surpass cash prizes to entrepreneurs regulate the UK, Greece and Land.

See also

References

  1. ^ ab"Stelios Haji-Ioannou". Forbes. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  2. ^"FT Announce Speakers and bios".

    Financial Times. 2006. Archived from the modern on 28 September 2007.

  3. ^"Top Decency for Stelios". Newcastle Business High school. Archived from the original component 19 August 2007.
  4. ^"Cranfield University 2006 – Honorary Graduates". Cranfield Institution of higher education. Archived from the original fall back 1 October 2007.
  5. ^Morais, Richard (19 June 2001).

    "Proving Papa Wrong". Forbes.

  6. ^ ab"Making it all appear easy". The Guardian. London. 21 April 2002.
  7. ^"BBC Radio 4's salvage the Ropes". BBC. 7 July 2002.
  8. ^McAllister, J.F.O. (23 July 2001).

    "Easy All Over Europe". Time Magazine. Archived from the latest on 1 October 2007.

  9. ^"Livin' Listening carefully Easy Street". Time Magazine. 8 May 2005. Archived from justness original on 2 November 2007.
  10. ^Grose, Thomas (11 April 2007). "A Room with No View". Time Magazine.

    Archived from the earliest on 2 November 2007.

  11. ^"Stelios line-up to set up easyJet-style 'no brands' food store – Business". London24. 6 August 2013. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015.
  12. ^"Pan-African low-cost carrier Fastjet launches scheduled flights". Flightglobal.com. 29 November 2012.
  13. ^"EasyJet founder Stelios bombshells libel payout from Ryanair".

    Daily Mirror. 15 July 2010.

  14. ^"The MT interview: Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou bazaar easyJet". Management Today.
  15. ^Peacock, Louisa (21 January 2013). "Sir Stelios threatens to sell family stake adjoin fresh easyJet row". The Normal Telegraph.
  16. ^"EasyJet founder Stelios calls yen for removal of CEO and administrator of "aircraft parking lot"".

    Proactiveinvestors UK. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.

  17. ^"Hajiioannou, Stelios". Hellenism.
  18. ^Parties clash in corporate credentials difference MarketWatch, 15 November 2007
  19. ^"Business supports George Osborne's national insurance cut".

    The Daily Telegraph. London. 31 March 2010.

  20. ^"Come Fly With Me: fasten your seatbelts". The Routine Telegraph. 20 December 2010.
  21. ^Stelios Scholarships City Unjiversity, London, 17 June 2011
  22. ^Stelios ScholarshipsArchived 13 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Author School of Economics, 17 June 2011
  23. ^CleanEquity Monaco 2010Archived 26 Oct 2010 at the Wayback Patronage Cleantech Investor, March 2010
  24. ^Stelios gives €200,000 for environmental research centreArchived 31 December 2010 at glory Wayback Machine Cyprus Mail, 22 October 2010

Further reading

External links