Sir George Iacobescu (born 9 November 1945) is the Chairman and former chief executive officer (CEO) of

Canary Wharf Group Canary Wharf Group plc is a British property company headquartered in London, England. It is the owner and developer of nearly of property at Canary Wharf and elsewhere in London. Over the last 10 years it has constructed more office space in L ...

, the London-based owners and developers of the

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central Lo ...

estate in

London Docklands London Docklands is the riverfront and former docks in London. It is located in inner east and southeast London, in the boroughs of London Borough of Southwark, Southwark, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Tower Hamlets, London Borough of ...

. His successor, Shobi Khan, now runs the group and Sir George Chairs the board. He is one of the most successful Romanian-born businessmen. He is the only Romanian-born person to date to receive a substantive have British

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

Early life

Iacobescu was born and raised in

Communist Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the s ...

. His father was a

haematologist Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the produc ...

and his grandfather was a lawyer and newspaper publisher. Iacobescu studied civil and industrial engineering at the

Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest The Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea Tehnică de Construcții din București (UTCB)) is a public university in Bucharest, Romania, founded in 1948. It was formerly known as the ''Institute of Civil Enginee ...

Career

After graduating, he worked as a structural engineer in Romania; his first job was designing pump stations for a state-run business. He was determined to leave the country, then under the control of

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was ...

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

, and so in 1975 Iacobescu used contacts in the West to escape to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Quebec, Canada. He was forced to leave his fiancée, Gabriela, behind, and later lobbied for her to be allowed to join him, which she did in 1977. On arrival in Canada he started in the property industry, and from 1975 to 1978, was construction director of Homeco Investments, a German-Canadian joint venture in Montreal and Toronto working on landmark buildings throughout North America. After moving to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Iacobescu worked for the

Olympia & York Olympia & York (also spelled as Olympia and York, abbreviated as O&Y) was a major international property development firm based in Toronto, Canada. The firm built major financial office complexes including Canary Wharf in London, the World Fina ...

company as an engineer. Following this, he worked as construction manager and then vice-president of Olympia & York from 1978 to 1987 working on many large construction projects, including the construction of the World Financial Centre, 4m sq ft headquarters of

Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...

, the

Olympia Centre The Olympia Centre is a skyscraper in Chicago. It is a mixed use building consisting of offices in the lower part of the building and residences in the narrower upper section. It was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and at 725 ft ( ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and the construction of Granicor, in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. In 1988, Iacobescu moved to London as senior vice-president of Olympia & York, to oversee the construction budget and delivery of the Canary Wharf project. He stayed with the project when Olympia & York went into administration in 1991, working as Construction Director. He became Deputy Chief executive of the Canary Wharf Group when it was formed in 1995, and Chief Executive in March 1997. In June 2011, Iacobescu was also appointed chairman of the Canary Wharf Group replacing Sir

Martin Jacomb Sir Martin Wakefield Jacomb (born 11 November 1929) is a former Chancellor of the University of Buckingham and Chairman of Canary Wharf Group. He was a vice-chairman, Kleinwort Benson Ltd, from 1976 to 1985, and a deputy chairman of Barclays Bank b ...

who retired; he holds both chairman and CEO positions. During his time at Canary Wharf, Iacobescu has participated in the development and construction of more than 30 buildings. Iacobescu was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 2003 Birthday Honours for services to regeneration and inward investment Iacobescu was a member of the Board of Trustees of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. from 2007–2015. In June 2011, 10 Downing Street announced that the Prime Minister would be re-appointing him to this post for a period of four years from 1 July 2011. In addition to this role he is Vice-Patron of the

Royal British Society of Sculptors The Royal Society of Sculptors is a British charity established in 1905 which promotes excellence in the art and practice of sculpture. Its headquarters are a centre for contemporary sculpture on Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, London. It ...

, a Patron of Jewish Care and the Community Safety Trust, and was founding Co-Chairman of

Teach First Teach First (also Teach First Cymru) is a social enterprise registered as a charity which aims to address educational disadvantage in England and Wales. Teach First coordinates an employment-based teaching training programme whereby participa ...

. He is also a Director of London First, and on the Advisory Board of the financial services organisation TheCityUK. In 2016 he was appointed a member of the Government's Thames Estuary Commission chaired by

Michael Heseltine Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, (; born 21 March 1933) is a British politician and businessman. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket. Heseltine served a ...

. He is a member of the Development Board of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, the Council of the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

, and the Real Estate Advisory Board of the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

. In 2021, he was recognised in the New London Awards as 'New Londoner of the Year'. In August 2019, Iacobescu said he will step down as Chairman and CEO of Canary Wharf Group and take up the role of Executive Chairman.

Honours

On 31 December 2011, he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

for services to charity, community and the financial services industry. Although he is the third Romanian-born person to be knighted (after

Elie Wiesel Elie Wiesel (, born Eliezer Wiesel ''Eliezer Vizel''; September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel b ...

who received an honorary knighthood, and British Army general

Roy Redgrave George Ellsworthy "Roy" Redgrave (26 April 1873 – 25 May 1922) was an English stage and silent film actor. Redgrave is considered to be the first member of the Redgrave acting dynasty. Early life Born George Edward Redgrave in 122 Kenningt ...

whose mother was Romanian and who was born in Bucharest), he was the first to receive a full British knighthood having been born and educated in Romania and later becoming a British citizen. He was therefore feted in Romania as the "first" Romanian to be knighted. Iacobescu has also been awarded three of Romania's national honours - Commander of the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the defunct Order of Michael the Brave. It is awarded by the President of Romania. It has five r ...

, Commander of the

Order For Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by ...

and Commander of the

Order of the Crown of Romania The Order of the Crown of Romania is a chivalric order set up on 14 March 1881 by King Carol I of Romania to commemorate the establishment of the Kingdom of Romania. It was awarded as a state order until the end of the Romanian monarchy in 1947. ...

Personal life

Iacobescu is married to Gabriela, Lady Iacobescu, and the father of one daughter, Julie. He speaks Romanian, English and French fluently.

References

External links

George Iacobescu profile
at ''Gateway to London''
George Iacobescu profile
at ''The British Museum'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Iacobescu, George 1945 births Living people British businesspeople Trustees of the British Museum Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Romanian emigrants to the United Kingdom Engineers from Bucharest Knights Bachelor Businesspeople from Bucharest