Alma mater Miami University Name Gerard Lopez | Role Entrepreneur Education Miami University | |
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Born 27 December 1971 Luxembourg Occupation Co-founder and Chairman of Genii Capital
Chairman and team principal of Lotus F1 Team
Founding Managing Partner of Mangrove Capital Partners
Chairman and CEO of Nekton | ||
Gérard Lopez (born 27 December 1971) is an entrepreneur-investor and an active Luxembourgish-Spanish businessman that invests in new technologies, energy sector and in the sports industry.
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In the 1990s, Gérard Lopez cofounded Mangrove Capital Partners, one of the top three Tech investor in Europe. Alongside Éric Lux, he created The Genii Group. From 2009 to 2015, Gérard Lopez was President of the Formula 1 Lotus F1 Team and is still one of its minority shareholder and administrator. He is chairman of Genii Capital and is also CEO of Nekton, an investment company in the energy sector, where he spends most of his time. Gérard Lopez has been the President of Luxemburg CS Fola Esch football club since 2007.
Biography
Gérard Lopez graduated from Miami University in integrated traffic management systems and in operational management. He also has a degree in Asian Art. At age 22, he began managing a number of companies among which Icon Solutions, a pioneer society in internet development, and the leasing company ProLease. Gérard Lopez is an active investor in various types of private funds, ranging from early-stage technology companies to real estate investments.
With Mark Tluszcz and Hans Jurgen Schmitz, he founded Mangrove Capital Partners, a French leading venture capital company specialized in future oriented technologies. Mangrove Capital Partners was one of the first investors in Skype before selling its share to Ebay in 2005 for 3.2 billion dollars.
He founded with Eric Lux in 2008 Genii Capital, a finance consulting and investment managing firm. Gérard Lopez sits on the board of Directors of WIx, Zink Imaging, Lotus F1 Team and is also a member of the Planning Advisory Committee of the University of Miami Business School.
In 2015, he founded Nekton, an investment company and brokerage in energy field, active in South America, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe
Sports
As a sports fan, Gérard Lopez got in car-racing through operations made with Éric Lux and Gravity Sport Management in particular. He also participated in long-distance races with Gravity Racing International’s team. In 2009, he bought out the Formula 1 Lotus F1 Team making Genii Capital the majority owner of the team. If the stable possessed very few sponsors at the beginning, Microsoft, Unilever and Coca-Cola soon became team partners.
Through Kick Partners and Mangrove Sport Business Intelligence, Gérard Lopez also takes care of the image and the transfers of football players. The businessman has also been since 2007 the President of the CS Fola Esch, the football club in which he used to play as a teenager.
With Marc Ingla, both men have been associates for years in Kick Partners and Mangrove Sport Business Intelligence activities. Leading figure of the FC Barcelona in the 2000s and former Marketing Director of the football club, Marc Ingla coordinated FC Barcelona’s professional team sponsoring by Nike.
For one year, Gérard Lopez and his team are studying the French Ligue 1 championship for an acquisition. On October 2016, Gérard Lopez entered into exclusive talks with President Michel Seydoux for the acquisition of the Lille OSC football club