József Váradi
Born (1965-09-21) 21 September 1965[1]
Debrecen, Hungary
Alma materBudapest University of Economic Sciences
University of London
Known forCo-founder and CEO, Wizz Air

József János Váradi (born 21 September 1965) is a Hungarian businessman, who co-founded Wizz Air and has served as its chief executive officer (CEO) since 2003.[2]

Early life

Váradi was born in Debrecen, Hungary in 1965.[3] His father took part in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, so he had to go to jail and after it maintained his family for occasional work.[4]

Váradi moved to Budapest when 18 and earned a degree in economics from Budapest University of Economic Sciences in 1989.[5] He completed an LLM from the University of London in 2014.[6]

Career

After a "detour" at Tiszai Vegyi Kombinát and then at the Dutch paint company AkzoNobel, he joined the American consumer goods multinational Procter & Gamble in 1991, where he started as a sales representative and ended up as the sales director responsible for Central and Eastern Europe.[3]

From 2001 to 2003 he served as CEO of the struggling Hungarian state-owned airline Malév Hungarian Airlines.[7][8]

Wizz Air

Váradi was removed from office by the Medgyessy government in 2003, and later that year founded Wizz Air, the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, with five businessmen.[9] Since the founding of Wizz Air, as its chief executive officer (CEO), Váradi's life has been completely intertwined with that of the airline.[10]

With the low-cost carrier, he cut Malév's domestic market share by more than a third.[11][12] Wizz Air is headquartered in Budapest, based in Geneva. In 2018, it was the largest airline in Central and Eastern Europe, carrying over 34 million passengers per year. It had a fleet of 105 aircraft.[13][14]

Wizz Air entered the Austrian market in 2018.[15] Váradi told Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica on 23 January 2018, that he was interested in Italy's struggling carrier Alitalia, but only regarding short and medium-haul routes.[16]

Váradi launched a United Kingdom subsidiary of Wizz Air as part of Brexit contingency plans and met with UK Prime Minister Theresa May to discuss aviation concerns regarding the Brexit.[17] In November 2019, Váradi said that Brexit would not have a significant impact on aviation, with London remaining the largest air travel market in the world.[18]

In the second half of 2019, environmental protection concerns about the flight, embodied in the "flight shame" movement, have been dismissed by Váradi as saying that Wizz Air is the greenest airline. This is based on the per-passenger emission level, adding that it will reduce emissions per capita by an additional 30 percent by 2030. At the same time, he has condemned inefficiency airlines -such as Lufthansa- offering business class and use outdated technologies, which cause far more specific environmental damage than Wizz Air.[19][18]

In July 2021, Wizz Air made a bonus offer of £100 million (around 42 billion forints) to Váradi, which would be paid if the company's share value could be increased from the current level of around £45 to £120 within five years.[20][21] The bonus is also conditional on achieving a compound annual growth rate of 20%. If the growth rate is only between 10 and 20 per cent, the CEO could receive a bonus of between £20 million and £100 million.[22]

In August 2021, Váradi announced that 4,600 new pilots would be recruited by 2030, with a first tranche of almost 500 pilots trained and recruited by the end of 2021.[23]

Awards

  • Váradi was named CEO of the Year in Central and Eastern Europe in 2018.[24]
  • He was awarded with the CAPA Aviation Executive Of The Year Award in 2018.[25]
  • In 2018, Váradi represented Hungary in the "EY World Entrepreneur of the Year" competition in Monte Carlo but did not win.[26]

Other positions

Váradi was one of the board of directors at Wizz Air Holdings Plc. and Wizz Air Hungary Airlines Ltd in 2019. Previously he was employed as a commissioner by PT Mandela Airlines, a member of the supervisory board at Lufthansa Technik Budapest Kft, a chief executive officer at Malév Hungarian Airlines Zrt and a sales director in charge of global customers at Procter & Gamble Ltd.[2]

József Váradi was the 55th richest man in Hungary, with an estimated wealth of 42 billion HUF in 2023.[27]

Family

Váradi is married to Kinga Bóta (born 1977), who is a world champion and Olympic silver medalist in kayaking. She is the Secretary General of the Budapest Olympic Movement for the Hungarian Sport Foundation (BOM).[28]

References

  1. ↑ "Wizz Air Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 "József Váradi". THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  3. 1 2 "How József Váradi Made Wizz Air Into One of Europe's Biggest LCCs". apex. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  4. ↑ Zrt, HVG Kiadó (2018-11-09). "Váradi József Wizz Air-alapító: Senki nem ülne a repülőgépen, amelyet én vezetek". hvg.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  5. ↑ "Executive Profile: József Váradi". Bloomberg. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "Váradi scholarships". University of London.
  7. ↑ "Seizing the right moment: the rise of Low Cost Carrier Wizz". JLS Consulting. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  8. ↑ MTI (2001-07-02). "Új vezérigazgató a Malév élén". index.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  9. ↑ Zrt, HVG Kiadó (2018-11-09). "Váradi József Wizz Air-alapító: Senki nem ülne a repülőgépen, amelyet én vezetek". hvg.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  10. ↑ "József Váradi, CEO of Wizz Air". The CEO Magazine. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  11. ↑ "Wizz Air, IPO in Flight Plan, Fights Ryanair in Eastern Europe". Bloomberg. 24 August 2005. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  12. ↑ "Startup Wizz Air Hopes For Breakeven After First Year". AVIATION WEEK. 14 May 2004. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  13. ↑ "Wizz Air offered to make flights to Uzbekistan". AZERNEWS. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  14. ↑ "Qantas named the best airline in the world by CAPA Centre of Aviation". NZ Herald. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  15. ↑ "Wizz to launch new Tuzla, Ohrid, Niš flights". EX-YU Aviation News. 9 January 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  16. ↑ "UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Jan 23". REUTERS. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  17. ↑ "GEE WIZZ: Budget airline sets up UK subsidiary as part of Brexit contingency plans". EuroWeekly. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  18. 1 2 Tivadar, Körtvélyes (2019-11-13). "Váradi szerint a légiközlekedési iparág bűne, hogy business-en utaztat". AIRportal.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  19. ↑ "Wizz Air CEO Blames Business Seats for Aviation's CO2 Headache". Bloomberg. November 13, 2019 – via www.bloomberg.com.
  20. ↑ "A Wizz Air-vezér lehetséges bónusza kiverte a biztosítékot a brit pénzügyi körökben". Napi.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  21. ↑ Zrt, HVG Kiadó (2021-07-13). "Váradi József: Semmi sem igaz abból, hogy életünk nem lesz olyan, mint volt". hvg.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  22. ↑ Imre, Patthy Loránd (2021-07-24). "Váradi József "rohadt jó", 42 milliárdos bónusz ütheti a Wizz Air vezérének markát". index.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  23. ↑ Zrt, HVG Kiadó (2021-08-06). "4600 új pilótát venne fel a Wizz Air 2030-ig". hvg.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  24. ↑ "Wizz Air - Best Low Cost Airlines For 2018 in the Central and Eastern Europe". novinite.com. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  25. ↑ "Jozsef Varadi Awarded CAPA Aviation Executive Of The Year Award". CAPA TV. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  26. ↑ "Wizz Air CEO in Entrepreneur of Year Final, Brazilian wins". BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL. 22 June 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  27. ↑ "A 100 Leggazdagabb Magyar - 2023". a100leggazdagabbmagyar.hu. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  28. ↑ Gill, Oliver (5 August 2023). "Wizz Air boss: My £100m bonus is cheap — the UK's anti-capitalist". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
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