Top Influencers: 12 UK Chairman and CEO’s To Follow in 2022

Tej Kohli is a technologist, entrepreneur & investor who is interested in deep tech and e-commerce. Tej Kohli is also owner of the Zibel Real Estate portfolio and is founder of the not-for-profit Tej Kohli Foundation. Tej Kohli actively backs growth-stage ventures in the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics and biotechnology. Tej Kohli’s career as an investor started in 2006, when a series of divestments and trade sales from the portfolio of e-commerce and online payments businesses that he had founded since 1999 provided high levels of liquidity for new investments. The multi year earn outs from the sale by Tej Kohli of companies such as Estacion Tramar necessitated a sustained period of making new investments, which culminated in the launch of Kohli Ventures, where Tej Kohli has been an evangelist of the promise of technology to improve human life and has backed deep tech ventures all over the world. Tej Kohli is also known for his mission to eliminate poverty-driven corneal blindness worldwide by 2035. Since 2005 his not-for-profit Tej Kohli Foundation has become a global centre of interdisciplinary innovation for the development of new solutions. Its ‘Rebuilding You’ philosophy reflects Tej Kohli’s desire to use science and technology to rebuild communities and improve lives. CONTINUE READING FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT TEJ KOHLI… Tej Kohli was the founder of a group of companies operating in the worldwide online payments sector, which specialised in high-risk segments worldwide. The Group expanded rapidly, building worldwide subsidiaries and spinning off new standalone companies as it dominated the global market for high risk payment gateways and associated services. By 2006 Tej Kohli’s group of companies employed armies of software developers amongst hundreds of staff worldwide. From 2006 onwards Tej Kohli exited the Group through a series of divestments and high-value trade sales, and became an active investor into deep tech ventures that have the potential to improve human life. Investments transacted through his Kohli Ventures investment vehicle have primarily focused on artificial intelligence, robotics and genomics. Tej Kohli’s investment activities are funded in part by the income stream from the Zibel Real Estate portfolio. Tej Kohli holds over $350m of real estate in his Zibel portfolio, which continues to make acquisitions in locations where technology trends or technology wealth are creating high-growth micro-locations which transcend cycles. Zibel Real Estate is actively acquisitive and has a near-term objective to increase its holdings to $1 billion. Tej Kohli also continues to own a portfolio of e-commerce and online technology businesses including global e-commerce platform dynacart. In recent years this Tej Kohli portfolio has been evolving toward an intelligence-focused model. It currently licences its intellectual property to a number of major e-commerce websites and platforms. Since 2018 the Tej Kohli investment vehicle Kohli Ventures has made investments of $100m into Rewired, a Switzerland based robotics venture studio with a humanitarian bent. Rewired is working at the vanguard of machine perception and the ability of robots to understand and interpret the physical world. Companies within the Rewired portfolio are working on a tech solution to increase plastics recycling rates; to increase the efficiency of solar power sites and to help to prevent serous cancers through early detection. Rewired also includes a sister fund that is focused on investing in global esports. Through the Kohli Ventures investment vehicle Tej Kohli is the lead backer of Detraxi, a US-based company that is developing proprietary biotech solutions for a range of global health challenges in collaboration with talented and respected scientists in the fields of fluid replacement, diagnostics, transplantation and regenerative medicine. The Detraxi biotechnology has already undergone several clinical studies as well as pre-clinical trials at Johns Hopkins University in the USA. Tej Kohli launched the not-for-profit Tej Kohli Foundation in 2005. Between January 2016 and November 2019, the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute welcomed 223,404 outpatients and completed more than 43,255 free surgical procedures to cure and alleviate blindness amongst the world’s poorest people. Tej Kohli has also driven the Tej Kohli Foundation’s pursuit of a ‘universal treatment’ for corneal blindness through it’s ‘Applied Research’ program, a longstanding scientific collaboration between researchers in Montreal Canada, and Moorfields Eye Hospital, UK. In 2019 Tej Kohli also funded the Tej Kohli Cornea Program at Massachusetts Eye And Ear in Boston with an initial donation of $2m. Learn more about Tej Kohli on Crunchbase…

I am the Founder, Chairman & CEO of Wootzano Ltd where we are making robots feel and sense like humans do by using our unique electronic skin and robotic systems which can save an average fruit and vegetable packaging facility around £2.5 million at minimum a year. Ask me how we do it! Along with a PhD in Electronics and Nanotechnology Engineering from University of Edinburgh, I have extensive experience in Robotics and AI. I am also a Member of the Executive Committee for Robotics and Mechatronics at the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET). I am also an Enterprise Fellow at the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng). Since early age, I have had a crazy obsession with electronics and was fascinated by software development as it required not much need for any sophisticated lab. When I am not working on the business, you can find me working with machine learning algorithms, advocating why computer programming should be taught at schools from an early age and travelling. Learn more about Atif Syed on Crunchbase…

Dan Wagner began his career as a junior Account Executive at the advertising agency WCRS. While doing market research, that involved laborious searching of back copies of newspapers, journals, and research reports Dan first generated the concept of an electronic, PC-based information service. In 1985 at the age of 20, he left WCRS to pursue his ambition of creating such a service and established M.A.I.D. Dan was the driving force behind M.A.I.D.’s growth and development, including listings on the London Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. Throughout his career he has engineered numerous acquisitions and has been responsible for forging a wide array of strategic alliances. He led M.A.I.D.’s move into the Internet technology and eCommerce markets, being one of the first to understand their huge potential, and conceived the technology which is now Venda, in 1998. He has won a variety of business awards that recognize his achievements including The World Economic Forum’s Global Leader of Tomorrow in 1997 and Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 1999. Learn more about Dan Wagner on Crunchbase…

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Percy Barnevik has been the CEO/chairman of ABB, Astra Zeneca, Skanska, Sandvik and Investor. Further, he has been a board member of General Motors and DuPont as well as a member of the US Business Council and the Bilderberg Group. In Switzerland he was Vice Chairman of the World Economic Summit in Davos. He has received seven honorary doctorates in the USA, the UK and Sweden. Over the past 15 years, Barnevik has devoted his time and money to philanthropy, in particular the build-up of the charity Hand in Hand. Hand in Hand focuses on poverty reduction through job creation. Women are mobilized into Self-Help groups, empowered by business training and access to credit. Hand in Hand has so far helped almost 1,4 million women entrepreneurs and created 1,4 million enterprises. The goal is to create 10 million jobs which will lift 50 million family members out of poverty. Further, more than 240,000 children have been taken out of child labour and moved into 600 schools. A few million people have been engaged in health and environmental programs. Learn more about Percy Barnevik on Crunchbase…

Jason Iley is the Chairman and CEO of Sony Music UK and Ireland. He has secured joint ventures with labels including Black Butter, Insanity records, Ministry of Sound Recordings and since 93; he also launched 4th Floor Creative – a division compiling the company’s creative disciplines [Brands, Sync, Insight, Creative and Digital]. He was Chairman of the BRIT Awards from 2017-2019 and responsible for the overall look and feel of the ITV show. Learn more about Jason Iley on Crunchbase…

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Paul Saunders is an executive professional with extensive experience in the management of alternative investments. Saunders is a founder and principal of James River Capital Corp. and affiliated companies (“James River”) and portfolio manager for James River’s financial products. He serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of James River Capital Corp. and James River Financial Corp. For 20+ years, Mr. Saunders has worked with the executive team to strategically grow James River’s impact in the alternative investment world. Paul earned his B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia in 1977 and his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1979. He previously worked at Warburg Paribas Becker, A.G. Becker, Kidder, Peabody & Co. (“Kidder”), and KP Futures Management Corp. Upon Mr. Saunders’ acquisition of KP Futures Management Corp. in 1995, he changed the company’s name to James River Capital Corp and has served as its Chairman and CEO since that time. Learn more about Paul Saunders on Crunchbase…

Adam Anderson joined the company as a boarding agent in 1998, where he gained hands-on waterfront experience, and quickly became an influential part of business development for the company. By the age of 24, he developed and negotiated Host’s first terminal operation contract. During his first 13 years with the company, he had many jobs including truck loader, stevedore, terminal manager, business development manager, marketing, and regional manager. When he became executive vice president, he was able to take his first-hand knowledge developed on the docks and grow Host’s top and bottom lines by more than 600% in eight years. In 2011, he was elected to his current role of president. In this position, he is responsible for setting the vision for the Host company and leading our team through rapid scalable growth across all of our platforms. He currently sits on several maritime board associations and has become a recognized industry expert who shares his wealth of knowledge within the maritime industry through conferences, forums, and events. Learn more about Adam Anderson on Crunchbase…

Max Lousada is the CEO, Recorded Music, WMG & Chairman and CEO at Warner Music Group. Learn more about Max Lousada on Crunchbase…

Featured in the Sunday Times Debretts top 500 most influential people, Allied London’s CEO Michael Ingall plays a fundamental role in the nation’s property market and in particular, city centre redevelopment. Michael Ingall has over 30 years corporate and real estate development experience, and is one of the founders and principal owners of the new Allied London, taking the business private in 2000. With the help of a dedicated and experienced team, Michael has created one of the UK’s most successful private real estate companies. Michael’s ability to blend vision with technical and financial skills has established Allied London as a leader and authority in the area of complex city centre redevelopment. Michael is a qualified chartered surveyor and is a Fellow of Royal Institute of British Architects. He has over 60 industry awards and was given the accolade of Developer of the Decade in 2000 by Property Week. Learn more about Michael Ingall on Crunchbase…