Stelios Haji-Ioannou facts for kids

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou (born 14 February 1967) is a businessman from Greece and Cyprus. He is famous for starting the budget airline easyJet. His father, Loucas, helped him begin his first businesses.

In 1995, Stelios started easyJet. This was the first of many businesses using the "easy" brand. These companies are all part of a group called easyGroup, which Stelios leads.

Early Life and Education

Stelios Haji-Ioannou was born in Athens, Greece, on February 14, 1967. He is the middle child of three. His older brother is Polys, and his younger sister is Clelia. Both of his siblings also own a lot of shares in easyJet.

His family comes from a village called Pedoulas in Cyprus. His mother's family is from Laneia. After finishing school in Athens, Stelios studied economics at the London School of Economics. He graduated in 1987. He then earned another degree in Shipping, Trade & Finance from Bayes Business School. Later, he received several special doctorates from different universities.

Starting His Career

Stelios calls himself a "serial entrepreneur," meaning he likes to start many businesses. In 1988, he began working for his father's successful shipping company, Troodos Shipping Co Ltd.

When he was 25, Stelios received £30 million from his father. He used this money to start his own shipping company, Stelmar Shipping. In 2001, Stelios made Stelmar Shipping a public company on the New York Stock Exchange. This meant people could buy shares in it. In 2005, Stelmar Shipping was sold for about $1.3 billion.

The Haven Ship Incident

In April 1991, a large oil tanker owned by his father's company had a serious accident. This event caused a huge oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea. It was one of the worst environmental disasters there.

Stelios and his father were later cleared of any wrongdoing by the courts.

The "easy" Companies

Stelios Haji-Ioannou started easyJet in 1995 when he was 28. The airline first flew between Luton and Scotland. In 2000, easyJet became a public company on the London Stock Exchange. Stelios and his family are still the biggest shareholders in the airline, owning about 34% of it.

Stelios runs his businesses through his company, the easyGroup. This company owns the "easy" brand. It lets other businesses use the "easy" name for their services. Stelios encourages other business people to use the "easy" brand for their new companies.

easyJet is one of Europe's largest airlines. In 2018, it had 323 planes and carried over 88.5 million passengers.

Other "easy" businesses related to travel and fun include:

• easyCar: This company helps people rent cars in many places around the world. It also has a program where people can share their own cars.
• easyBus: This service offers low-cost bus rides between airports and city centers in places like London, Paris, and Geneva.
• easyHotel: This offers affordable hotel rooms in city centers across Europe.
• easyGym: These gyms offer low-cost memberships without long contracts. They have locations in the UK and France.
• easyProperty: This online service helps people buy, sell, or rent homes.
• easyCruise: This was a low-cost cruise line that started in 2004. It was sold in 2009 and stopped operating in 2010. In December 2024, it became a website for selling cruises.
• easyCoffee: This company has self-service coffee machines and a cafe in Central London.
• easyStorage: This offers affordable storage solutions. Customers pay for storage and can add services like packing or insurance if they need them.
• easyInternetcafé: This was once Europe's largest chain of Internet cafes. It closed in 2009.

Fastjet Airline

In September 2011, it was announced that Stelios was working on a new budget airline called Fastjet. This airline would fly routes within Africa. Fastjet began flying on November 29, 2012, using Airbus A319 planes.

Disagreement with Ryanair

In 2009, Stelios took the airline Ryanair to court in London. This was because Ryanair had put out advertisements that showed Stelios as Pinocchio. The ads also called him "easyJet's Mr Late Again."

The case was settled out of court. Ryanair officially apologized to Stelios and paid him £50,100. Stelios announced that he would give this money to his charity foundation.

Disagreements with EasyJet

In 2010, Stelios left the board of EasyJet. He wanted to stop the company from expanding too quickly.

He said that even though easyJet was a big success, its share price had not grown much for ten years. He felt it had not created much value for its shareholders.

In 2013, Stelios became "increasingly concerned" about easyJet's plans to buy more planes. He sold 200,000 of his easyJet shares to show his protest. His brother and sister also sold some of their shares.

In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sir Stelios publicly asked for the CEO and Chairman of EasyJet to be removed. He believed they made a "mistake" by not canceling a large order for 107 Airbus planes. This happened while EasyJet was asking the UK government for a £600 million loan, even though all its planes were grounded.

Personal Life

Stelios Haji-Ioannou has lived in Monaco since he was a teenager, when his family moved there.

In 2006, Queen Elizabeth II made Stelios a Knight Bachelor. This honor was for his "services to entrepreneurship."

Stelios was part of a group called the New Enterprise Council. This group advised the Conservative Party on business ideas. He said that this role did not mean he supported any specific political party.

In April 2010, Stelios joined 23 other UK business leaders in writing a letter to a newspaper. They criticized the government's plans to raise National Insurance contributions.

The character Omar Baba in the TV show Come Fly With Me is said to be based on Stelios.

In 2018, he filed a claim against Netflix. He said that their TV series Easy used the name "Easy" without permission, which broke his company's trademarks in Europe.

Charity Work

Stelios has a charity called the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation. This foundation helps with education, supports new businesses, and works on environmental projects. It provides money and advice in the UK, Greece, and Cyprus. The foundation also gives out yearly awards with cash prizes to business people in these countries.

See also

In Spanish: Stelios Haji-Ioannou para niños

• Cyprus Marine Environment Protection Association
• Low-cost airlines