Jan Tomislav Topić Feraud (born 23 April 1983) is an Ecuadorian businessman, economist, and politician who ran for

President of Ecuador The president of Ecuador (), officially called the constitutional president of the Republic of Ecuador (), serves as the head of state and head of government of Ecuador. It is the highest political office in the country as the head of the exec ...

in the

2023 Ecuadorian general election Snap election, Snap general elections were held in Ecuador on 20 August 2023 to elect the President of Ecuador, members of the National Assembly (Ecuador), National Assembly, and to decide on two referendums. The elections were triggered by the ...

. He was eliminated in the first round held on 20 August 2023, coming fourth with 14.66% of the vote. He has served as president of Telconet since 2010. His alleged activities for the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...

have raised concerns of Topić being a mercenary, a label that he denied. Prior to the 2023 Ecuadorian political crisis, he was briefly nominated to serve as Minister of Security by

Guillermo Lasso Guillermo Alberto Santiago Lasso Mendoza (; born 16 November 1955) is an Ecuadorian businessman, banker and politician who served as the 47th president of Ecuador from 2021 to 2023. He was the country's first conservative president in nearly tw ...

Early life

Topić was born in

Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

, Ecuador in 1983 to businessman Tomislav Topić. He is of Croatian heritage on his father's side. In 2005, he graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in economics and business. He obtained his master's degree in economics in 2012 from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, his half-sister is the Miss Universe Ecuador 2024 Mara Topić.

Military activities

He received military training in the

and claimed to have fought in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

during the Russian invasion and parts of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. For this fact he has been accused of being a mercenary; however, he claimed to be an "elite professional soldier" and to have fought for France because he had dual Ecuadorian-French nationality, between 2006 and 2012.

Business career

He serves as president of Telconet, a company founded by his father; since 2010. He is an administrator in eight companies, among which are Academseg, Transcorpecuador, Inmobiliaria Leonortres and is a shareholder in seven companies. In 2019, he was investigated for

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

during the Odebrecht Case.

Political career

In April 2023, he had been selected by President

to replace Minister of Security Diego Ordóñez. His nomination caused controversy because of the accusations made against Topić of being a mercenary. Although he accepted the position, Lasso ultimately decided not to appoint him and appointed Wagner Bravo instead.

2023 presidential candidacy

In May 2023, following the dissolution of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

, he announced his candidacy for

president of Ecuador The president of Ecuador (), officially called the constitutional president of the Republic of Ecuador (), serves as the head of state and head of government of Ecuador. It is the highest political office in the country as the head of the exec ...

in the upcoming

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

. His candidacy was supported by the Social Christian Party. Lawyer and

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

candidate Pedro José Freile was briefly announced as his running mate, until the National Electoral Council ruled the 2023 election must have parity in candidacies between men and women. Journalist and lawyer Diana Jácome was later confirmed as Topic's running mate. Two polls conducted on 9 August, the day of

Fernando Villavicencio Fernando Alcibiades Villavicencio Valencia (; 12 October 1963 – 9 August 2023) was an Ecuadorian journalist, trade unionist, and politician who ran for president of Ecuador in the 2023 Ecuadorian general election. He served as a member of the ...

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

, found Topić in third place narrowly behind Villavicencio for second place with

Luisa Gonzalez Luisa (Italian and Spanish), Luísa ( Portuguese), or Louise (French) is a feminine given name; it is the feminine form of the given name Louis (Luis), the French form of the Frankish Chlodowig (German Ludwig), from the Germanic elements ''hl ...

in first place. Following Villavicencio's assassination in a video released on social media, a criminal group known as ''

Los Lobos Los Lobos (, Spanish for "the Wolves") is a Mexican American rock group, rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional ...

'' claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened to assassinate Topić. On 12 August, a poll found Topić narrowly behind Gonzalez for first place with 21.7% to Gonzalez's 24.9%. At the election, he came in fourth with 14.66% of the votes.

2025 presidential candidacy

He was not allowed to run in the presidential elections of 2025 by the Electoral Contentious Tribunal. The tribunal ruled that Topic’s candidacy violated constitutional prohibitions. They found he had not properly divested from state contracts and remained a beneficiary of involved companies. He supported

Luisa González Luisa Magdalena González Alcivar (born 22 November 1977) is an Ecuadorian politician and lawyer. She has been the President of the Citizen Revolution Movement since 2023 and was the party's presidential candidate in the 2023 Ecuadorian general ...

against incumbent president

Daniel Noboa Daniel Roy Gilchrist Noboa Azín ( ; ; born30 November 1987) is an Ecuadorian politician and businessman serving as the 48th and current president of Ecuador since 2023. Having first taken office at the age of 35, he is the second-youngest pr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Topic, Jan Living people 1983 births Ecuadorian people of Croatian descent Ecuadorian people of French descent People from Guayaquil 21st-century Ecuadorian politicians Candidates for President of Ecuador Ecuadorian businesspeople University of Pennsylvania alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics