Craig Ehrlich
Born
Los Angeles, California
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles, Occidental College Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs
OccupationPrivate investor
Board member ofChairman, Novare Technologies
Vice chairman, ISM
Lead independent director, Bharti Airtel
Board director and former chairman, GSM Association,
Business chair, UCLA Anderson School of Management Center for Global Management
Websitewww.novare.com.hk

Craig Ehrlich is an American private investor and entrepreneur, the former head of the GSM Association, a trade organization which represents 800 mobile operators in 220 countries. Ehrlich played a central role in the development of the Asian cable and telecom industry.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

Ehrlich was born in Los Angeles, to Marvin Ehrlich, a garment manufacturer, and Norma Ehrlich, a politically active community leader. Growing up with Asian friends, he became interested in Asian culture and as a student at Hamilton High School in West Los Angeles, he participated in an experimental Asian studies program and studied Japanese.[4]

In 1973, Ehrlich began attending college at UCLA. In addition to his coursework, he worked full-time for Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley,[5] and served as student body president during his senior year.[6] Ehrlich graduated with a BA in political science from UCLA in 1978, and went on to earn a master's degree in urban studies at Occidental College and a postgraduate fellowship in public affairs from the Coro Foundation.[7]

Career

In 1980, Ehrlich was hired at Falcon Communications as the assistant to Falcon's founder and chairman, Marc Nathanson. He worked closely with Nathanson to build Falcon, and gained experience in key areas of the company's operation. Falcon grew from 20,000 to 600,000 subscribers over Ehrlich's tenure at the company.[4]

Ehrlich moved to Hong Kong in 1987, after he was recruited to head Hutchison Cablevision, a subsidiary of Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa conglomerate. Hired to run the company after an expected $550 million franchise license was granted, Ehrlich was initially responsible for putting together the project's bid. While the license fell through,[8] Ehrlich's bid had included a proposal for a superstation to transmit all of Hutchison Cablevision's new programming via satellite throughout Asia. The idea gained the support of Richard Li, Li Ka-shing's son, and became the foundation for STAR TV, Asia's first satellite-delivered multi-channel television network. Ehrlich worked closely with Li as a founding member of the team that launched STAR,[9][10] which was purchased by Rupert Murdoch for $871 million in 1993.[11] Ehrlich moved from Hutchison Cable to the telecom arm of the Hutchison Group in 1991; as group operations director, he was responsible for the company's operations in 10 countries in Europe and Asia.[12]

Ehrlich left the Hutchison Group in 1994 to become a private investor. Later that year, he started Cavite Cable, which became the first fiber optic cable company in the Philippines. Ehrlich sold the company in 1996, and shortly thereafter was recruited to develop and launch a new Hong Kong mobile phone service, SUNDAY. Described by The Economist as "one of Hong Kong's most innovative cellular providers",[13] the company went public in 2000, and was listed on NASDAQ and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.[14] Ehrlich retired from SUNDAY in 2003, and returned to private investment and entrepreneurship. Focused on software, media, and telecom, he invested in and/or served on boards for companies in the Philippines, India, Taiwan, and China. In 2005, he founded Novare Technologies, an onshoring and outsourcing software development company based in Hong Kong and the Philippines.

From 2002, when there were less than 1,000,000 mobile subscribers, through 2008, when there more than 4 billion, Ehrlich served as the chairman of the GSM Association. He is credited with restructuring GSMA from a Euro-centric standards body to a powerful global trade association. In a 2008 interview, Ehrlich said: "I wanted to change it to a proper world-class trade association that focuses on commercialization and strategy, rather than some Athenian democracy getting into the nitty-gritty of the technology."[3][15][16]

Ehrlich is the board chair of UCLA Anderson's Center for Global Management, and is a member of UCLA/Peking University's Board of Directors. Ehrlich served as the chairman of the UCLA Foundation beginning in July 2020. The foundation oversees the endowments of more than $3.8 billion.[17]

Philanthropy

Ehrlich created the Norma J. Ehrlich Scholarship in honor of his mother; as of 2000, the scholarship had provided support for 80 women. Awarded annually, the scholarship recognizes women who were educated in the public school system of California and have been actively involved in their communities.[18] Additionally, he established the Craig Ehrlich Fellowship at the UCLA Anderson School for Management, which is awarded annually to two MBA candidates from mainland China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan. The scholarships are granted to students who are likely to utilize their UCLA education as well as their experience of American culture in their country of origin.[19] Since 2015, Ehrlich has been on the Executive Committee of the UCLA Foundation.

Personal

Ehrlich has lived in Hong Kong since 1987. He has a daughter, Leah, who was born in 2005.[20]

Ehrlich and also maintain homes in Manila and Santa Monica, California. The Santa Monica house, built in 2005, is noted for its sustainability.[21]

Advisory boards and affiliations

OrganizationTitleDate
Novare Technologies
Hong Kong and Philippines		Chairman2005–present
Bharti Airtel Limited
New Delhi, India		Board of director2009–2021
GTI
Beijing		Chairman2010–present
GSMA
London		Board of director2002–2012
ISM
Manila, Philippines		Vice chairman2002–2018
UCLA Anderson School of Management
Center for Global Management
UCLA Anderson School of Management
Los Angeles		Board chair
Board member		2010–2020
2021-present
ValuAccess Asia Limited
Hong Kong		Board of director2013–2016
UCLA/Peking University
Beijing		Board of director2010–2020
Carmel Ventures Asia
Hong Kong		Chairman2009-2013
ITU Telecom
Geneva, Switzerland		Board of director2009-2012
PhilWeb Corporation
Manila, Philippines		Chairman2003-2013
kbro
Taiwan		Chairman2003-2008
ECI Telecom
Tel Aviv		Board of director2003-2008
GSMA
London		Chairman2002-2008
Roamware
San Jose, CA		Board of director2001-2008
UCLA Foundation
Los Angeles		Executive committee2015–present
UCLA Foundation
Los Angeles		Chairman2020–present
Lumos Global
Tel Aviv		Board of director2017–2021

References

  1. ↑ Rao, Madanmohan and, Lunita Mendoza (February 1, 2005). Asia Unplugged: The Wireless and Mobile Media Boom in the Asia-Pacific (The Asia-Pacific Internet Handbook). SAGE Publications Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-0761932727. a comprehensive, detailed and insightful look at the wireless scenario in the Asia-Pacific. It charts the growth of the wireless ecosystem across the region, highlights the valuable lessons learned by the pioneers, and contextualises these themes with developments in other parts of the world.
  2. ↑ "Ehrlich appointed Chairman of the GSM Association's CEO Interim Board". CNET. January 2, 2003. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  3. 1 2 John, Van (September 17, 2007). "Do multiple wireless systems cause chaos or create neutrality?". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  4. 1 2 Weber, Jonathan (July 31, 1989). "THE Pacific: Wiring Hong Kong With a Bit of L.A.: Former UCLA Student Waits to See If He'll Run What Could Be World's Largest Cable System". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  5. ↑ "Cable Television". Cable Television Business. Vol. 23, no. 17–25. 1986. p. 118.
  6. ↑ Teller, Christina (May 10, 2000). "Center of attention". Daily Bruin. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  7. ↑ Kwok, Ben and, Cui, Vivien (January 20, 2003). "Sunday seems so far away for Ehrlich". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 24 August 2014.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ Weber, Jonathan (April 2, 1989). "Hong Kong Cable Bidding Is Upset: Group Including US West to Build World's Biggest System". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  9. ↑ Yeung, Frederick (January 5, 2009). "Unified standard seen linking mobile world". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  10. ↑ "The Rise and Rise of the Li Dynasty". Time. March 13, 2000. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  11. ↑ Bloomberg. "Rupert Murdoch's Sons Give Investors Nepotism Anxiety". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  12. ↑ "Ehrlich Goes Back to His Hutchison Roots". South China Morning Post. April 2004. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  13. ↑ From the print edition (October 7, 1999). "Ring in the new". The Economist. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  14. ↑ "Tech Guru Holds Hope for Sunday". South China Morning Post. August 20, 2000. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  15. ↑ Estopace, Eden (January 31, 2009). "Spurring GSM growth". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  16. ↑ "GSMA chief regrets roaming flap". Telecom Asia. November 20, 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  17. ↑ "The UCLA Foundation names new chair-elect".
  18. ↑ "Helping Women Give Back To Their Communities". Norma J. Ehrlich Scholarship Fund. Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  19. ↑ "Named Fellowships". UCLA Anderson School of Management. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  20. ↑ Boone, Lisa (September 21, 2012). "Santa Monica modern: Family guest house as livable sculpture". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  21. ↑ Thornburg, Barbara (September 25, 2005). "Living Lightly". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
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