Easyjet proves too tempting a bargain for gatecrasher Apollo Analysis Apollo has gatecrashed Castelake’s cut-price Easyjet bid – setting up a potential buyout behemoth battle for the skies, writes Ali Lyon, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the colourful force behind London’s Easyjet, founded his low-cost carrier on a simple philosophy: promise travellers cheaper fares, and open up budget air travel for millions of customers who for decades had [...]
Billionaire Easyjet founder in line for £800m payday from takeover Markets Easyjet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou could be in line for a bumper £800m payday as part of the airline’s proposed takeover by private equity firm Castlelake. The British-Cypriot entrepreneur, who founded the company in 1995, holds some 116m shares in the budget carrier and will net a huge payout should he decide to sell his [...]
Easyjet investors call for £600m more from US bidder Transport & Infrastructure Easyjet investors have said they are holding out for at least £600m more from Castlelake, the US private equity firm whose bids have been brushed off by the budget airline. Shareholders in the FTSE 250 firm said that they would not consider a takeover offer unless the offer reached at least £7 per share, valuing [...]
Easyjet founder bets on World Cup in prediction markets pivot May 25, 2026 The billionaire behind Easyjet is taking a punt on sports betting as he launches prediction markets ahead of the World Cup. Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who founded the budget airline in 1995, launched his Easybet platform in 2024 and is now expanding into prediction markets, Morning Wire can reveal. Betting is the latest spin-off for the [...]
Easyhotel significantly slashes losses as return to profit nears May 21, 2025 Easyhotel significantly slashed its losses as it took a huge step towards returning to profit for the first time since before the Covid-19 pandemic. The London-headquartered budget hotel chain has posted a pre-tax loss of €1.8m (£1.5m) for 2024, down from the €10.5m (£8.9m) it reported for 2023. The latest pre-tax loss figure is the [...]
‘We’re building Manchester’s next unicorn’: Meet the 2025 Young Entrepreneurs winners March 27, 2025 The winners of the 2025 Young Entrepreneurs, which reward the best young UK start-up founders, have been unveiled by the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation. Two of this year’s winners founded tech businesses, while the third is a developer of social housing in Wales. “This year we saw an amazing reaction from UK young entrepreneurs, with a [...]
Easyjet founder Stelios: UK startup eco-system ‘far better’ than Europe May 20, 2024 Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou told Morning Wire there's always money out there for startups.
Easyjet founder’s charity hands out £300k to three budding entrepreneurs April 17, 2024 A new UK competition, set up by the founder of Easyjet, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, has just awarded a total of £300k to three young entrepreneurs on a mission to contribute to growth and job creation. The Stelios Philanthropic Foundation, established by the Greek-Cypriot entrepreneur, held its inaugural Young Entrepreneurs Awards yesterday in one of the [...]