Stelios Haji-Ioannou
Born 1967 · Age 59
Greek-Cypriot entrepreneur, founder of easyJet and the easy family of brands; chair of easyGroup and founder/chair of the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation.
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Life & Career Timeline
Birth in Athens, Greece
Born in Athens to Nedi (née Potsos) and Loucas Haji‑Ioannou, second of three children.
Summer affected by Turkish invasion of Cyprus
Family did not visit Cyprus in summer 1974 because of the Turkish invasion; formative childhood memory cited by Stelios.
Completed secondary education at Doukas High School (Athens)
Finished secondary education in Athens (attended Doukas High School until 1984).
Graduated London School of Economics (BSc Economics)
Completed BSc in Economics at the London School of Economics.
MSc in Shipping, Trade & Finance (City / Bayes Business School)
Obtained an MSc in Shipping, Trade & Finance from Bayes (City University Business School).
Started working at Troodos Shipping Co Ltd
Began work in his father's shipping business, Troodos Shipping, gaining shipping industry experience.
Family moved to Monaco / Stelios began living in Monaco
Stelios has lived in Monaco since his family moved there when he was a teenager; sources place permanent residence from c.1990.
MT Haven tanker disaster (Troodos-owned)
April 1991 Troodos-owned VLCC M/T Haven suffered a catastrophic accident causing six deaths and ~50,000 tonnes crude oil spill; Stelios later accused and criminally charged in Italy but he and his father were acquitted; civil claims dismissed.
Received capital from father to start own shipping company (Stelmar)
At age 25 Stelios received funds from his father (reported figures vary — commonly cited £30m) to found his own shipping business, Stelmar Shipping.
Founded Stelmar Shipping
Founded the tanker/shipping business Stelmar Shipping (often cited as his first independent company).
Claimed start of easy brand / early easyJet planning (source conflict)
Stelios.org states he created the easy family beginning with easyJet in 1994 at age 27 — source conflicts with some accounts that list 1995 as founding year.
Founded easyJet (launched Luton–Scotland route)
Founded low-cost airline easyJet and initially ran a service between Luton and Scotland; widely cited founding year is 1995.
Founded easyGroup (private investment vehicle and brand owner)
Established easyGroup to own and license the 'easy' brand and to incubate easy-branded businesses.
easyJet partial flotation on London Stock Exchange
easyJet PLC was partially floated on the LSE in 2000 to fund expansion (company at that time comprised c.16 Boeing aircraft per some accounts).
Stelmar Shipping listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Stelmar Shipping floated on the NYSE in 2001 as a public tanker company.
Founded easyCruise (low-cost cruise brand)
Launched a low-cost cruise line, easyCruise, expanding the easy brand into cruises.
Sale of Stelmar Shipping to OSG Group (~$1.3bn)
Stelmar Shipping was sold to Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) for approximately $1.3 billion.
Received honorary doctorate(s)
Awarded honorary degrees from Bayes Business School and others (Liverpool John Moores University, Newcastle Business School, Cranfield University—dates cited by sources).
Knighted (Knight Bachelor) by Queen Elizabeth II
Received knighthood in 2006 Birthday Honours for services to entrepreneurship (became Sir Stelios).
easyGroup expands easy-brands across travel & leisure
easyGroup extended 'easy' to multiple sectors including easyHotel, easyBus, easyCar, easyStorage, easyGym, easyProperty, easyCoffee and others (ongoing expansion milestone).
easyCruise sold to Hellenic Seaways (£9m)
Sold easyCruise to Greek ferry operator Hellenic Seaways in August 2009 for c.£9 million; easyCruise later became defunct in 2010.
easyInternetcafé and easyCruise defunct / business restructuring
Some early easy-brands, notably easyInternetcafé (once Europe's largest chain) went defunct in 2009; easyCruise became defunct in 2010.
Reported founding of Stelios Philanthropic Foundation (sources conflict)
Sources conflict on foundation start date: Welcome magazine states the Stelios Foundation was founded in 2009; other sources (stelios.org, Wikipedia) place official establishment c.2011. Foundation supports education, entrepreneurship and environment.
Appointed Honorary Consul General of Cyprus in Monaco (reported)
Sources indicate Stelios has served as Honorary Consul General of Cyprus in Monaco since around 2009.
Left the board of easyJet
Stepped down from easyJet's board in 2010 amid disagreements with management strategy and expansion plans.
Ryanair libel dispute initiated (advertisements)
Brought legal action against Ryanair over adverts portraying him as 'Pinocchio'; later settled with apology and payment of £50,100 which he donated to his foundation.
Signed public letter opposing National Insurance rise
Joined 23 other business leaders in a Daily Telegraph letter criticising the UK government's planned National Insurance increase.
Stelios Philanthropic Foundation active (official site records update)
Stelios.org and other sources show a formal philanthropic vehicle active from about 2011 supporting scholarships and entrepreneurship awards.
Reported to be working on Fastjet (African low-cost carrier JV)
September 2011 reports that Stelios was working on Fastjet as part of a joint venture with Lonrho plc to create a low-cost carrier in Africa.
Fastjet starts operations (Airbus A319)
Fastjet launched scheduled flights on 29 November 2012 operating Airbus A319 aircraft on intra-Africa low-cost routes.
Sold 200,000 easyJet shares in protest at expansion plans
In 2013 Stelios publicly sold 200,000 easyJet shares to protest management plans to buy more aircraft; siblings also sold shares.
Signed the Giving Pledge
Joined the Giving Pledge in 2017, committing to donate at least half his wealth to charitable causes (via Stelios Foundation).
Filed trademark infringement claim against Netflix over 'Easy'
Filed a legal claim in UK court alleging Netflix's series Easy infringed easyGroup European trademarks.
Birth of daughter Aria in Monaco
Stelios and his partner Orla Murphy had a daughter, Aria, born in Monaco (reported 2018).
easyJet market capitalisation & family stake reported
As of 9 May 2019 easyJet capitalisation reported at £4.17bn and Stelios/family the largest single shareholders (Wikipedia cites 34% at that snapshot).
Publicly demanded removal of EasyJet CEO & Chairman over aircraft order
In April 2020 Stelios called for CEO Johan Lundgren and Chairman John Barton to be removed, criticising failure to cancel a £4.5bn order for 107 Airbus aircraft amid COVID-19; noted easyJet sought a £600m government loan.
Received Monaco's Ordre de Saint-Charles
Reportedly received Monaco's highest honour (Ordre of Saint-Charles) from Prince Albert II in 2023 (reported on stelios.mc).
easyCruise relaunched as cruise selling website via partnership (reported May 2024; ongoing)
In May 2024 easyCruise became a cruise selling website following a partnership with Supercruises.com and easyCruise.com (reported on easy.com).
easyGroup charitable giving milestone reported
Stelios.org and other sources report Stelios and easyGroup have given more than €100 million to charity to date (cumulative figure reported).
Stelios.org CV updated (public profile refresh)
Official Stelios biography/CV updated 6 November 2024 summarising career, easy brand stats and philanthropic commitments.
Net worth estimate ~USD 1.2 billion (public reporting)
Multiple public sources (news/profile sites) estimate Stelios Haji‑Ioannou's net worth at about USD 1.2 billion as of January 2025.
easyJet scale cited in public profiles (fleet & passengers totals)
Public profiles (stelios.org / Wikipedia updates) cite easyJet operating 323–340+ aircraft and carrying c.88.5–100 million passengers annually; cumulative >1 billion passengers since inception reported by easyGroup.
Ongoing brand/licensing activity via easyGroup (100+ active brands)
easyGroup continues to license the 'easy' brand to many ventures (official sites list c.100 most active easy brands at easy.com).
Key Achievement Ages
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