Johan Eliasch (born February 1962) is a Swedish-British businessman, investor, and environmentalist.[1] He was the chief executive of Head, a sporting goods company, from 1995 to 2021, and is now its chairman. In 2006, he co-founded Cool Earth, a charity dedicated to rainforest conservation.[2] Under Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Eliasch served as the Prime Minister's special representative for deforestation and clean energy. Since June 2021, he is the president of the International Ski Federation (FIS).[3] Since 24 July 2024 he is a member of the International Olympic Committee and, in September 2024, was announced as one of seven candidates in the running for its presidency.[4]
Johan Eliasch was born in February 1962,[5] in Djursholm, Sweden.[6] His grandfather, G. A. Svensson, was a leading Swedish industrialist.[7] He graduated in Stockholm with a Master of Science from the Royal Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Stockholm University. Eliasch served in a specialist unit at the Life-Guard Dragoons, K1, Stockholm, Sweden (1980-81.)[8][9]
Career
Eliasch began his career in turning around companies in 1985, when he joined the London-based private equity firm Tufton Group.[7] In 1991, he established his own private investment group, Equity Partners.[7]
In 1995, Eliasch took over Head Tyrolia Mares,[7] the sporting goods company now known as Head; he was the Chief Executive Officer of Head from 1995 to 2021.[10]
In June 2021, Eliasch was elected as president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) at the 52nd International Ski Congress, succeeding Gian-Franco Kasper, who had run the organisation for 23 years.[11] Eliasch stepped down as CEO of Head after his election.[10] At the 53rd International Ski Congress in May 2022, Eliasch ran unopposed and was re-elected as FIS president through 2026 winning 70 out of 100 votes.[12][13]
He was an advisory board member of the Shimon Peres Peace Centre, World Peace Foundation, the Centre for Social Justice, Societe du Louvre and the British Olympic Association, a member of the Mayor of London's (Boris Johnson), Jerusalem's and Rome's International Business Advisory Councils.[8] He was chairman of Starr Managing Agents, Investcorp Europe[16] and the Aman Resorts Group.[17] He was a director of London Films Productions Limited from August 2016 to January 2017.[18]
The Sunday Times Rich List puts him in number 46 of UK's richest in 2024 with a net worth estimated at £4 billion.[19]
In 2005, Eliasch created the Rainforest Trust and purchased for preservation purposes a 400,000-acre (1,600km2) rainforest area in the heart of the Amazon rainforest near the Madeira River.[21] He then reportedly closed down the rainforest logging operations in that area.[22]
In 2006, he co-founded Cool Earth, a charity he co-chairs, which sponsors local NGOs to conserve endangered rainforest and has over 120,000 registered members.[23]
Under Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Eliasch served as the Prime Minister's special representative for deforestation and clean energy.[24] 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, which was launched in October 2008.[25][26] The Eliasch Review has served as a guideline for REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) as part of the international climate change convention. [27]
In June 2008, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources began an investigation into a company acquired by Eliasch for alleged illegal deforestation prior to his ownership.[28][29] The company responded that its logging "had been certified to have been done under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) guidelines since 2000."[30] The investigation ended in 2013 with the conclusion that there was no basis for legal or administrative action.[31][32]
Eliasch is currently a director of the Foundation for Renewable Energy and Environment, a non-profit, international organisation,[33] an advisory board member for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Polar Regions, and Brasilinvest.[8][34] He is an advisory board member of the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative[35] and previously served on the International Advisory Board of the Stockholm Resilience Centre.[36]
He chaired the 2021–22 HM Treasury net zero review technology and innovation advisory group,[16][37] RUSI's Food, Energy and Water security program, and was a member of the DEFRA Council for Sustainable Business.[16]
Political activity
Starting in 1997, Eliasch served the Conservative Party in different roles, including as Deputy Treasurer, Advisor to the Leader and Advisor to the Shadow Foreign Secretary.[38] He was appointed as a non-political special representative of Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown on deforestation and clean energy.[39][40]
Eliasch 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, from 1979–1982.[41]
He was married to Amanda Eliasch, a photographer and filmmaker, from 1988 to 2006; they have two sons.[47] Their son Charles Eliasch is an opera singer.[48]
References
↑ Eliasch, Johan. "About". Johan Eliasch. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
↑ Peel, Lilly (16 October 2008). "Business big shot". The Times. London. p.T43. Factiva T000000020081016e4ag0003r. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
↑ "The Brasilinvest Group, created in 1975 by the businessman Mario Garnero, is the first private development agency installed in Brazil (...)", Brazilivest[permanent dead link]
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