Robert Hersov

Robert B. Hersov (born October 1960) is a London-based private investor, entrepreneur and Vice Chairman of NetJets Europe. He was born in Johannesburg and is a member of the Hersov family of South Africa, founders of AngloVaal, one of the largest Southern African mining and industrial companies.

Robert completed his schooling at Michaelhouse College, Natal. Thereafter he studied at the University of Cape Town where he received a B.Bus.Sci (Hons) in 1982 and graduated with an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1989. He served as an infantry officer in the South African Defence force 1983-84.

Rob was employed by Goldman Sachs in New York as an investment banker in 1985 where he worked for two years. From 1989 to 1991 he worked as a Business Development executive at News Corp in New York, reporting directly to Rupert Murdoch, and from 1992 to 1993 was head of Morgan Stanley’s European media investment banking team. He was then appointed a main board director of Richemont SA, reporting to CEO Johann Rupert, and while in this role drove the development of the media division, making significant investments/acquisitions in the (mainly European) media industry.

From then until August 1997, on behalf of Richemont, he was Chief Executive Officer of Telepiu Srl, Italy’s leading pay television Company, based in Milano, as well as a Board Director of Mediaset, Italy’s leading national television group. In 1997, he was instrumental in selling the whole Nethold/Telepiu Group to Canal Plus.

In 1998, Rob was appointed an executive director of ENIC plc, the UK-listed leisure/sports company and then, in 1988, Rob founded and was CEO of Sportal, Europe’s then leading independent interactive sports media company.

After Sportal, Rob founded Marquis Jet Europe, was CEO, and sold it to NetJets in early 2004, where he now serves as Vice Chairman.

Rob was elected Chairman of British Internet Publishers Alliance (BIPA) , a trustee of the Serpentine Gallery and Chairman of the Serpentine Council in April 2002, and a member of the corporate advisory board of the NSPCC. He is the non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Exclusive Resorts Europe, a company that owns and operates luxury villa residences. He is a Director of Shine Media China, Endeavor Acquisition Corp., Victory Acquisition Corp., and Triplecrown Acquistion Corp., all US-listed blank check companies. He is Chairman and main shareholder of Berlin-based investment company, Vatas.

Rob lives in London and has two sons.

He is an accomplished joke-teller, poet and speech maker and easily has an audience breaking out into wide smiles and bellyache laughs. It’s a widely held belief that Rob might possibly live forever.

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