Johan Eliasch

Johan Eliasch (born February 1962) is a Swedish billionaire businessman, and the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Head,[1] the global sporting goods group.

Johan Eliasch
Johan Eliasch (Cool Earth)
BornFebruary 1962 (age 58–59)
Djursholm, Sweden
NationalitySwedish
British
Alma materStockholm University
Royal Institute of Technology
OccupationIndustrialist
Net worth £2.2 billion (Sunday Times Rich List, 2020)
TitleChairman and CEO of Head
Board member ofEquity Partners
London Films
Foundation for Renewable Energy and Environment
Spouse(s)Amanda Eliasch (1988-2006)
Children2 sons

Early life

Johan Eliasch was born in February 1962,[2] in Djursholm, Sweden.[3]

Eliasch is the grandson of G. A. Svensson, a leading Swedish industrialist who "made a killing in real estate".[4]

Career

Eliasch began his career in turning around companies in 1985, when he joined the London-based private equity firm Tufton Group.[4]

According to The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020 his net worth was estimated at £2.2 billion.[5]

Political activity

Eliasch, a conservative, served in the British government as a non-political special representative of the then Labour Party prime minister Gordon Brown on deforestation and clean energy from 2007 to 2010. He served in different roles for the Conservative Party between 1999 and 2007, as party deputy treasurer (2003–07), special advisor to the leaders of the opposition (William Hague and Iain Duncan Smith) and shadow foreign secretaries (Michael Howard, Francis Maude and Michael Ancram) (1999–2006). He covered Shadow Foreign Relations (2003–2006) as part of the Shadow Foreign Office team. In 2006 he and Michael Ancram set up Global Strategy Forum, a foreign-affairs think tank based in London; he remains president. He was a member of the Austrian president's delegation of State for Trade and Industry 1996–2006. He was chairman of the Young Conservatives Party in Djursholm, Sweden (1979–1982).

Other activity

He is chairman of Equity Partners,[4] on the board of directors of Aman Resorts,[6] London Films,[7] the Foundation for Renewable Energy and Environment,[8] Longleat and Pitch@Palace Global. He is an advisory board member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Polar Regions, Brasilinvest,[9] and the Stockholm Resilience Centre. He is the first president of the Global Strategy Forum,[10] and chairman of the Saatchi Gallery.[11]

He has also served on the boards of IMG (2006–13) and the British Paralympics Association (2002-2009), the sports advisory board of Shimon Peres Peace Centre (1997-2016), the advisory boards of the World Peace Foundation (1996-2002), Societe du Louvre (2005-2015), the Centre for Social Justice 2004–2015, the British Olympic Association (2003-2012) and Capstar (2013-2015). He was non-executive chairman and a non-executive director of Starr Managing Agents (2008-2015). He was non-executive chairman of Investcorp Europe (2010-2014). He was non-executive director of Acasta Enterprises (2015–17). He was a member of the Mayors of Jerusalem and Rome's International Business Advisory Councils (2010-2016). He was a trustee of the Kew Foundation (2010-2016). He chaired the Food, Energy and Water security program at RUSI (2010-2016). He was a member of the Mayor of London's (Boris Johnson) International Business Advisory Council (2008-2016).

Environmental causes

In 2005, Eliasch created the Rainforest Trust and purchased for preservation purposes a 400,000-acre (1,600 km2) rainforest area in the heart of the Amazon rainforest near the Madeira River.[12]

In 2006, he co-founded Cool Earth,[13] a charity he co-chairs, which sponsors local NGOs to conserve endangered rainforest and has over 120,000 registered members.

In 2007 he was commissioned by HM Government to undertake an independent review on the role of international finance mechanisms to preserve the global forests in tackling climate change, 'The Eliasch Review' ,[14] which was launched by the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street in October 2008. The Eliasch Review has served as a guideline for REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) as part of the international climate change convention.

Personal life

Eliasch was married to Amanda Eliasch, a photographer and filmmaker, from 1988 to 2006; and they have two sons.[15][16] Their son Charles Eliasch is an opera singer.[17]

Controversy

In June 2008, the Brazilian and international media reported that the company Gethal, owned by Eliasch, had been issued a fine of R$450 million for alleged illegal deforestation in the Amazon region by IBAMA (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources).[18][19] Gethal was investigated facing a possible fine but after the investigation ended, Gethal was not fined. Eliasch did not own Gethal at the time when the activities under investigation took place.[20]

In a press release note, Gethal stated that “the logging activity of Gethal Amazonas S/A had been out under the Forest Steward Council (FSC) guidelines, a certification that was obtained in 2000. The company was one of the first companies in Brazil to obtain such a certification”.[21]

According to Gethal, technical expert reports were produced proving that the company never caused damage to the environment. Gethal stopped the logging activities in 2005, “when it came under Eliasch's control”. In 2008, a publication of Brazilian government documents shows IBAMA never made any allegations against Eliasch and cancels R$274.2 million fines against Gethal.

References
  1. "Biographies - Johan Eliasch: Chairman, The HEAD Group". HEAD.com. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  2. "Johan ELIASCH - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  3. Caspar Opitz (10 May 2006). "Svensk räddar skog för 100 miljoner". DN.SE. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  4. Wherry, Rob (20 March 2000). "Head's up". Forbes. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  5. Times, The Sunday. "Rich List 2020: profiles 51-100, featuring Bernie Ecclestone". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  6. Rizzo, Lillian (14 March 2016). "Aman Resorts Owner Doronin Scores Legal Wins in Long-Running Dispute". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  7. "London Films International Limited - Company Information - Endole". www.endole.co.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  8. "Board of Directors". freefutures.org. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  9. "The Brasilinvest Group, created in 1975 by the businessman Mario Garnero, is the first private development agency installed in Brazil (...)", Brazilivest
  10. "Staff & Advisory Board member Biographies". globalstrategyforum.org. Archived from the original on 7 June 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  11. "Big Changes at Britain's Saatchi Gallery, as Visitor Numbers Slide". New York Times. 4 April 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  12. Maurice Chittenden, "It's my rainforest now. No logging", The Sunday Times (13 September 2006).
  13. O’Neill, Sean (7 September 2007). "Green campaigner and businessman who despaired of ineffective politics". The Times. London. p. T7. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  14. Peel, Lilly (16 October 2008). "Business big shot". The Times. London. p. T43. Factiva T000000020081016e4ag0003r. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  15. Alberto Corrado (1 April 2013). "Charles Eliasch". Vogue.it. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  16. Lutyens, Dominic (7 February 2009). "All Tamara's parties". The Observer. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  17. "20-Year-Old Charles Eliasch Makes His Opera Debut at Carnegie Hall | HuffPost". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  18. "Johan Eliasch, Gordon Brown consultant, fined for illegal Amazon logging". 7 June 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  19. "Ibama multa madeireira de milionário sueco em R$ 450 mi no Amazonas - 06/06/2008 - Poder". Folha de S.Paulo. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  20. Blick, Sportredaktion (9 April 2020). "Fairness bei BLICK". Blick. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  21. "Em nota, madeireira Gethal nega práticas ilegais na Amazônia - 07/06/2008 - Últimas Notícias". noticias.uol.com.br. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
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