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| Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou KBE (Greek: Στέλιος Χατζηιωάννου), born 14 February 1967 in Cyprus, is a Greek Cypriot-born British entrepreneur best known for setting up easyJet, a low-cost airline. |
| Location | http://www.easy.com/ |
| Biography | Haji-Ioannou, who prefers to be called by his first name, Stelios, is the second of three children of Loucas and Nedi Haji-Ioannou. His father's side has its roots in Pedoulas village (a village on the mountains of Cyprus), and his mother is from the Potsos family with roots in Lania village (just outside the city of Limassol). He was educated in Athens at the Doukas High School and in 1984 continued his education at the London School of Economics, graduating with a BSc Econ in 1987. He followed that up with an MSc in Shipping, Trade and Finance from Cass Business School at City University, London. Haji-Ioannou has also been awarded a total of four honorary doctorates from Liverpool John Moores University, Cass Business School, Newcastle Business School and Cranfield University. |
| A serial entrepreneur, Haji-Ioannou started his professional career in 1988 working for his father's shipping company, the Troodos Shipping Co Ltd. Aged 25, he negotiated a $30 million payout from his father and used the funds to set up his own shipping company, Stelmar shipping. Haji-Ioannou floated Stelmar Shipping on the NYSE in 2001 and in 2005 it was sold to the OSG Shipping Group for approximately $1.3 Billion.
Haji-Ioannou is also a known philanthropist, donating scholarships for ten undergraduate students each year over the course of ten years to study at his alma mater, The London School of Economics and Political Science, and ten postgraduate students at his other alma mater, City University, London. |
| Haji-Ioannou started easyJet PLC when he was 28. In 2000 easyJet PLC was partially floated on the London Stock Exchange however Stelios remains the largest single shareholder.
Nowadays, acting through his private investment vehicle, the easyGroup, which owns the easy brand and licenses it to the various easy branded ventures, including the airline. He continues to extend the brand, with mixed success, by creating new 'easy' branded ventures in the areas of travel, leisure, telecoms and personal finance.
easyJet PLC which is Europe's largest low cost airline by revenues with a fleet of 122 jets and growing, carried 33 million passengers in 2006. The travel related businesses also include: easyCar; easyCruise; easyBus; easyHotel. |
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