Jonathan Guy Laurence (born 23 November 1961) is an English businessman, who is currently the Chief Executive of

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club Chelsea. He has previously served as Chief Executive of Vodafone UK, and most recently President and CEO of Rogers Communications.

Early life

He was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. He went to King's School Macclesfield, Cheshire. He attended Teesside Polytechnic, now Teesside University, beginning in 1992.

Career

Vodafone

He joined Vodafone in 2000. From 2002 to 2005 he was Chief Executive of Vizavvi (

Vodafone live! Vodafone live! was the brand name for the multimedia portal service of mobile phone operator Vodafone, offering news content, picture messaging, instant messaging, email, and downloadable ringtones and games. The service officially launched on 24 O ...

). In 2005, he became Chief Executive of Vodafone Netherlands. He became Chief Executive of Vodafone UK in 2008.

Rogers Communications

Laurence served as President and CEO of Rogers Communications from 2 December 2013 to 17 October 2016, succeeding Nadir Mohamed who had retired after his 5-year contract expired. Rogers is the largest mobile and cable operator in Canada and second largest media owner. They also own the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

and

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then ...

, the largest sports TV network who paid $5.2bn for the NHL sport rights in 2013. During his tenure, Rogers beat out Telus to acquire

Mobilicity Data and Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless, d/b/a Mobilicity, was a Canadian mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) owned by Rogers Communications. Its name was a portmanteau of the words "mobility" and "simplicity". Mobilicity was one of several ...

. However, Laurence was ousted on 17 October 2016, due to a feud with the Rogers family who have four board seats and control Rogers Communications though voting shares.

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment

Laurence served as a Director of the MLSE, the largest sports company in Canada and one of the largest in North America from 2013 to 2016. MLSE owns The

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

, The Toronto Raptors,

Toronto Football Club Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

, and the Toronto Marlies.

Chelsea

On 11 January 2018, Laurence was appointed as Chief Executive of

club Chelsea.

Personal life

He is married with three daughters and lives in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurence, Guy 1961 births British telecommunications industry businesspeople Businesspeople from Manchester Vodafone people Living people