Born into wealth and with a senior job in his father’s shipping company guaranteed, Stelios Haji-Ioannou could have taken it easy.
Instead, he founded his own shipping company, before masterminding the success of easyJet. The “new Richard Branson” has systematically replicated the ‘easy’ format in 15 industries, amassing a £725m personal fortune in the process.
For many people, Stelios realised, flights were a means of getting from ‘A’ to paradisiacal ‘B’
Stelios, a Greek-Cypriot born in 1967, always wanted to escape the “gilded cage”. And he did. Armed with an economics degree, £5m from a sceptical father (imagine his generosity if he was more sanguine) and a ‘no-frills’ plan, he set up the easyJet airline in 1995, and trounced the incredulous competition by offering £29 one-way flights.
Even when BA launched its ‘no-frills’ equivalent Go, Sir Stelios, as he is now known, and easyJet staff gatecrashed its maiden voyage in orange boiler suits, and easyJet later bought the company.
For many people, Stelios realised, flights were a means of getting from ‘A’ to paradisiacal ‘B’. It was in country ‘B’ they wanted to spend their money. To cut costs, he cut out frills like in-flight meals, set up online booking and offered discounts for early bookings.
Other variations on the ‘easy’ brand include easyCinema, easyPizza and easyCruise. Sometimes criticised for applying the business model too rigidly and hastily, he is refreshingly frank about his mistakes. Referring to easyInternetCafe’s teething problems, he admitted to “applying Internet economics to a retail business”.
Stelios is honest enough to admit his background helped him, at least initially: “have a wealthy father,” he said when asked if he had any advice for budding entrepreneurs. Self-deprecation aside, however, he is far from spoilt and understands the value of hard work. Despite a gargantuan fortune, he professes to dislike taking holidays, preferring to oversee his businesses seven days a week.
Stelios’ nadir came in 1991, when a tanker belonging to his father’s shipping company spilled 50,000 tonnes of oil in an environmental catastrophe that claimed five crew members’ lives. As chief executive, he escaped incarceration in Italy for manslaughter. Unsurprisingly, he avoids ‘no-frills’ safety (“If you think safety is expensive, try an accident”). Stelios made some amends in 1992, founding the Cyprus Marine Environment Protection Association.
