Stelios Haji-Ioannou

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou is a Greek-Cypriot entrepreneur born on February 14, 1967, in Athens, Greece. He is best known for founding the low-cost airline easyJet in 1995, revolutionizing European budget aviation. The son of shipping magnate Loucas Haji-Ioannou, he earned a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics (1987) and an MSc in Shipping, Trade and Finance from City University. At age 25, he founded Stelmar Shipping with £30 million, selling it for $1.3 billion in 2005. Through easyGroup, his private investment vehicle established in 1995, he owns and licenses the easy brand to numerous ventures including easyHotel, easyBus, and easyCoffee. Knighted in 2006 for services to entrepreneurship, he is a Monaco resident, billionaire philanthropist, and member of the Giving Pledge. His Stelios Philanthropic Foundation has donated €122 million since 2010.