Don Harold Stassen Jayawardena (born 17 August 1942 in Ja-Ela,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

), known as Harry Jayawardena, is a Sri Lankan

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

. He is chairman of Melstacorp PLC and is the Honorary Consul General for

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. Forbes listed him as one of the richest people in Sri Lanka.

Early career

Jayawardena first joined a British-owned tea export firm in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

as a tea trader. He moved to government-owned State Trading Corporation (Consolidated Exports), better known as Consolexpo Ltd, becoming the head of the Tea Department, which controlled the monopoly of tea exports of Sri Lanka under the administration of Prime Minister

Sirima Bandaranaike Sirima Nicole Wiratunga (14 February 1964 – 7 December 1989), known simply by her first name Sirima, was a singer who sang in English and French. She was primarily known for her duet " Là-bas", recorded in 1987 with Jean-Jacques Goldman, which w ...

in the 1970s.

Private sector

After resigning from Consolidated Exports, Jayawardena founded Stassen Exports Limited on 7 September 1977 in order to export

Ceylon Tea Ceylon tea is both the brand of tea which is produced in Sri Lanka and a historic term describing tea from that land. Ceylon tea has been described as not only a geographical descriptor but also a pillar of Sri Lankan culture, heritage and ident ...

. In 1988 Jayawardena's companies became a significant shareholder of the country's largest private commercial bank,

Hatton National Bank Hatton National Bank PLC (commonly abbreviated as HNB) is a private bank in Sri Lanka with 255 branches and 794 ATMs. The bank traces its origin to 1888 when Hatton Bank commenced its operations in Hatton, Sri Lanka. See also * List of banks in ...

. These companies later ventured into many other areas. In 1992, his business empire bought a controlling interest in the

Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka PLC Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka PLC (DCSL) is a diversified Sri Lankan conglomerate listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of US$600 Million. It was one of the first Sri Lankan companies to be listed in Forbes's Be ...

(DCSL), which was at the time the largest transaction in the

Colombo Stock Exchange The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) ( si, කොළඹ ව්‍යාපාර වස්තු හුවමාරුව, translit=Kolamba Vyapara Vasthu Huvamaruva; ta, கொழும்பு பங்கு பரிவர்த்தனை) i ...

. In 2007, under Jayawardena's Chairmanship, DCSL became the No. 1 listed company as per the " Business Today" Top 10 rankings.

Business interests

Jayawardena is a major shareholder and Chairman of the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of the following

companies: *

Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka PLC (DCSL) is a diversified Sri Lankan conglomerate listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of US$600 Million. It was one of the first Sri Lankan companies to be listed in Forbes's Best ...

Lanka Milk Foods Lanka Milk Foods (CWE) PLC is a dairy products manufacturing company in Sri Lanka. Lanka Milk Foods was a subsidiary of the Co-operative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) which later converted to a joint-stock company. The company was incorporated in ...

- Chairman/Founder * Madulsima Plantations - Chairman/Managing Director * Balangoda Plantations - Chairman/Managing Director * Browns Beach Hotels *

Aitken Spence Aitken Spence PLC ( si, එයිට්කින් ස්පෙන්ස්; ta, எய்ட்கின் ஸ்பென்ஸ்) is a Sri Lankan blue chip conglomerate with operations in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Paci ...

* Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings *

Melstacorp Melstacorp PLC is a Sri Lankan diversified conglomerate. It is listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange. Melstacorp PLC is one of the 10 largest listed companies. It has a market capitalization of approximately USD 450 million. Deshamanya Harry J ...

Jayawardena has interests in these publicly traded companies: *

* Development Finance Corporation of Ceylon (DFCC) And in these private companies: * Stassen Group * Milford Exports * Lanka Dairies * Ambewela Livestock Company * Pattipola Livestock Company * Lanka Bell * Continental Insurance Lanka

Company Awards and recognition

Jayawardena is the chairman of both

and

, these companies were the first Sri Lankan companies ever to be listed on the Forbes List of best managed companies outside the USA. In 2007, Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka PLC is the sole Sri Lankan company to be listed once again in the Forbes List of Asia's best 200 under a US$1 Billion.

Controversy

During December 2006 alleged attempt to remove the Chairman of the Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka, Jayawardena, then managing director of DCSL, was allegedly quoted as threatening to shoot the chairman. Subsequently, Harry Jayawardena assumed duties as the Chairman of DCSL. The same news paper alleged that Jayawardena threatened a customs officer, many years back.‘Dirty Harry’ threatens Business Times journalist
/ref> Jayawardena announced his voluntary resignation from CPC (

Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, commonly known as CEYPETCO (CPC), is a Sri Lankan oil and gas company. Established in 1962 and wholly owned by the Government of Sri Lanka. It is largest oil company in the Sri Lanka. It was formed in 1961 by national ...

) on 12, January 2012, a post given by Sri Lankan President

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...

. Due to his personal issues he has announced his resignation.

Honorary positions

Jayawardena has held honorary positions including the Senior Adviser for International Trade and Foreign Investments to the then Sri Lankan President

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ( si, චන්ද්‍රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග, ta, சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்க; born 29 Ju ...

. He was a member of

for many years. He was a member of the Apex Task Force to Rebuild the Nation (TAFREN) established by the President of Sri Lanka after the December 2004

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

. He was also appointed Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, Sri Lanka's National carrier, becoming Executive chairman in January 2008.

Honors

Jayawardena was awarded the title of

Deshamanya Deshamanya ( si, දේශමාන්‍ය, translit=Dēshamāṉya; ta, தேசமான்ய, translit=Tēcamāṉya; Pride of the Nation) is the second-highest national honour of Sri Lanka awarded by the Government of Sri Lanka as a ...

by the

President of Sri Lanka The President of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ''Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi''; ta, இலங்கை சனாதிபதி ''Ilankai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of t ...

for his services to the industry in 2005. In 2010, he was appointed Knight of the Order of Dannebrog by

Queen Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

for his services to Denmark as its Honorary Consul General in Sri Lanka. He received the award for his outstanding and exemplary contribution to Denmark and for fostering bilateral ties between Sri Lanka and Denmark.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayawardena, Harry Living people 1942 births Sinhalese businesspeople Sri Lankan presidential advisers Deshamanya Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Alumni of De Mazenod College