Dermot Desmond
Dermot Desmond (born 1950, Cork, Ireland) is regarded as one of Ireland's most successful entrepreneurs. He is estimated to be worth €2.121 billion and is ranked 5th on the Irish Rich List and 746 among 'The World's Richest People'.[1]
Early life
Desmond was born into modest circumstances in Cork in 1950. At the age of 6, the family uprooted from the area and moved to Dublin's northside. Desmond was educated at Scoil Mhuire, Marino and later studied at Good Counsel College in New Ross.
From an early age, it was obvious that Desmond was a natural salesman. The young Dubliner made a small fortune selling football programmes at Tolka Park in Drumcondra. After completing his leaving certificate in 1968, Desmond applied for a junior position in Citibank.
Rise Up the Corporate Ladder
Desmond left school in 1968 and shortly afterwards took up a junior position with Citibank in Dublin. He moved on and accepted positions first in the Investment Bank of Ireland and then as a banking consultant for Price Waterhouse Coopers. In 1979 he was contracted by the World Bank and transferred to Kabul, Afghanistan. His time there was short lived as the bank withdrew its staff shortly afterwards following the Soviet invasion. In 1981, he founded the Irish stockbroking company National City Brokers (NCB). He is credited with being the inspiration behind the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).
Business
Desmond's past and present business interests and investment holdings include;
- London City Airport
- Sandy Lane Hotel
- eLearning company Intuition
- BETDAQ betting exchange
- GIS software house eSpatial
- Bottin (International) Investments Ltd. [1]
- International Investment Underwriters (IIU)
- Newfoundland & Labrador Refining Ltd. [2]
- Daon
- Baltimore Technologies
- Barchester Healthcare
- Greencore
- Rietumu Banka
- Celtic FC
- Sporting Emporium Casino
London City Airport
Desmond purchased London City Airport from Mowlem for £23.5m in 1995. The investment was considered a large risk as London's Docklands was in recession and Canary Wharf was in receivership. The airport has since become one of the more profitable in the United Kingdom. Desmond sold London City Airport in October 2006 for a reported £750 million (€1.2 thousand million) to a consortium consisting of insurer AIG, GE Capital and Credit Suisse.
Trivia
- Known as "the Kaiser" due to his luxurient moustache which he is said to have acquired during his time in Afganistan.
References
- ^ #746 Dermot Desmond. Forbes (2006). Retrieved on February 13, 2006.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
