Pentti Juha Kalervo Kouri (12 February 1949 – 22 January 2009) was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and

venture capitalist Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which hav ...

. He was born in

Kemijärvi Kemijärvi ( se, Giemajávri, smn, Kiemâjävri, sms, Ǩeeʹmmjäuʹrr) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland. History The first permanent settler inhabitant of Kemijärvi was Paavali Ollinpoika H ...

Education and career

Kouri was the first Finn to get a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

to the

United World College of the Atlantic Atlantic College (formally the United World College of the Atlantic; alternatively styled UWC Atlantic College, UWCAC, or UWCA) is an independent boarding school in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales. Founded in 1962, it was the first of th ...

. After graduating from there, he got his master's degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

in 1970. In that same year, when he was 21 years old, he was hired by the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

. It was at IMF's research organization where Kouri first met Michael G. Porter, an Australian economist, with whom he later developed the Kouri-Porter model. Kouri received his PhD in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

in 1974. He has served as a professor of economics at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

universities. Later he became known as a venture capitalist. For instance, he managed

George Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...

's investments to Finland. Today, he is remembered for his participation in the controversial "Kouri-deals" in the late 1980s. In the "Kouri-deals", a group of investors including Dr. Kouri collaborated to buy a majority of the two largest banks of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, mostly with borrowed money, causing a political outcry.

Personal life

Kouri was married to Elly O. Kouri and divorced in 1995. Pentti Kouri died in January 2009 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Until his death, he sat on the Board of Trustees of

Dia Art Foundation Dia Art Foundation is a nonprofit organization that initiates, supports, presents, and preserves art projects. It was established in 1974 by Philippa de Menil, the daughter of Houston arts patron Dominique de Menil and an heiress to the Schlumb ...

. In May 2001 the Kouri Capital group led by Dr Pentti Kouri and

was declared bankrupt.

Companies related to Kouri

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...

: Pentti Kouri was a shareholder and member of the board of directors. * Invisible hand. * Espial * Amiga, Inc.: Pentti Kouri was the chairman of the board. * Simply TV Inc.: Pentti Kouri was a shareholder and chairman of the board. * hakia, Inc.: Pentti Kouri was a shareholder and member of the board of directors. *

Askar Capital Askar Capital was an investment bank in Iceland (2007–2010) offering advisory services related to investments in alternative financial products. The bank was established at the beginning of 2007 after a series of mergers, building on its history f ...

: Pentti Kouri was a member of the advisory board. * Ztango: Pentti Kouri was a Co-Founder and an investor. The company was acquired by WiderThan in 2004.

Sources

* Kouri, Pentti (1996). ''Suomen omistaja ja muut elämäni roolit''. Otava (trans. of title: ''Owner of Finland and other roles of my life''). * Saukkomaa, Harri (1991). ''Kuka tarvitsi Pentti Kouria?'' Otava (trans. of title: ''Who needed Pentti Kouri?''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Kouri, Pentti 1949 births 2009 deaths People from Kemijärvi 20th-century Finnish economists People educated at Atlantic College People educated at a United World College Finnish expatriates in the United States 21st-century Finnish economists