Nicolas De Santis
De Santis in 2019
Born (1966-03-18) 18 March 1966
Madrid, Spain
CitizenshipItalian
OccupationBusinessman
Known forOpodo and beenz.com
TitleCEO of De Santis, President of Gold Mercury International Award
SpouseMelissa Odabash
Children2
Parent(s)Eduardo De Santis and Maria Cuadra
Websitehttp://www.nicolasdesantis.com

Nicolas De Santis (born 18 March 1966) is an Italian businessman. He is the founder & CEO of De Santis, a consulting firm. In 2004 he became the president and secretary general of Gold Mercury International Award, a think tank and global governance award organisation founded in 1961 by his father.[1][2]

Early life

Nicolas De Santis is the son of Spanish actress Maria Cuadra and film producer Eduardo De Santis.[3][4]

Internet Entrepreneur

De Santis was the marketing director and co-founder of European online travel portal Opodo,[5] a position which he left in 2003.[6]

De Santis was recruited by Spencer Stuart from beenz.com in 2001 to become the chief marketing officer of Opodo, the European travel portal originally co-owned with 9 European airlines including British Airways, Air France, Alitalia, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, Aer Lingus, Austrian Airlines and Finnair.[7] Opodo was the European version of Orbitz, the American travel website owned by various American airlines. In 2008, Opodo's turnover reached €1.3 billion in gross sales.[8]

His previous internet venture was beenz.com (the first virtual internet currency) where he was chief marketing officer.[9] De Santis invested in and joined Beenz in 1999 as one of the founding team members.[10] De Santis helped to raise $100 million[11] from investors including Carlo de Benedetti and François Pinault.[12] Beenz was sold in 2001 to the US Carlson Marketing Group.[13]

Captain Euro

In the 1990s, De Santis worked for the European Union under President Enrique Baron Crespo[14] where he advised on issues relating to European identity and the launch of the Euro currency.

As part of the launch of the Euro currency he developed and launched Captain Euro, Europe's superhero, designed to analyse the perceptions and emotions of Europeans regarding federalism and European identity, and appeal to the people.[15] It aimed to appeal to the European youth, and espouse the virtues of integration.[16]

Captain Euro strongly divided public opinion, with some finding it to have anti-semitic undertones and ineffective.[17] De Santis defended against claims of anti-semitism, saying that his father was tortured by the Nazis during World War II.[15]

Brand EU Centre

In 2013, De Santis launched the Brand EU Centre, an independent, pro-EU initiative to improve the management of the European Union brand.[18] The Centre has been launched with the support of former European Parliament President Enrique Baron Crespo and American Investor Todd Ruppert.[19]

Background

De Santis started his career at Landor Associates (now WPP Group) where his father was a partner.[3] As a strategy advisor, Nicolas has created strategies and visions for governments, academic institutions, global brands, and technology start-ups, such as: British Airways, Opodo, Morgan Stanley, Iberdrola, Garanti Bank, Coca-Cola, PRISA and the European Union (see Captain Euro), among others.[4]

Board memberships

De Santis was a board member of Nasdaq-listed Lyris Technologies – a digital marketing & CRM analytic solutions company.[20] Based in Silicon Valley, California, Lyris was acquired by Texas-based AUREA Software in 2015.[21]

In January 2013, he joined the board of the Global Virus Network (GVN) where he is a senior advisor.[22] De Santis believes that: "As our planet's population grows exponentially, GVN's role in tackling old and new viruses will become central in preventing, protecting and curing present and future generations."[22]

In 2019, he joined the board of trustees of the World Law Foundation, an international organisation promoting peace and respect for the rule of law, associated with the World Jurist Association.[23] In 2021, he joined the board of directors of Nasdaq-listed Ferroglobe, a producer of silicon metal, silicon-based alloys and manganese-based specialty alloys.[24]

Personal life

He is married to the American swimsuit designer Melissa Odabash, and they have two teenage daughters.[25][26]

References

  1. ↑ "Firms need a corporate vision | Shares Magazine". www.sharesmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  2. ↑ Noriega, Javier L. (1 December 2010). "Entrevista | "La marca PRISA comunica globalización y pluralismo"". Cinco Días (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  3. 1 2 "PROFILE: Travel companion - Nicolas De Santis, Marketing director, Opodo". www.campaignlive.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  4. 1 2 Muñoz, Ramón (12 December 2010). ""La nueva marca de PRISA transmite emoción"". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  5. ↑ "Euro airlines plan online travel site". 26 June 2001. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  6. ↑ "Top Opodo marketer exits for brand shop". www.campaignlive.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  7. ↑ "Interview : Nicolás de Santis (Opodo)". www.journaldunet.com. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  8. ↑ Opodo, 2009. "Opodo 2008 Results Announcement". http://www.opodo.co.uk/opodo/StrutsServlet/DisplayNewsStory?pageName=pressroom&OID=29112571 Archived 2 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  9. ↑ Becht, Hans Kettwig und Stefan. "Wir sind die Zentralbank des Internets". Telepolis (in German). Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  10. ↑ "Marketing Week | marketing news, opinion, trends and jobs". Marketing Week. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  11. ↑ "Chips are down for currency has-beenz". Finextra Research. 17 August 2001. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  12. ↑ Richardson, Tim. "Ellison spills over beenz". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  13. ↑ Dean Tomasula, Direct Marketing News, 5 October 2011. "Carlson Marketing Group to Buy Beenz.com". http://www.dmnews.com/carlson-marketing-group-to-buy-beenzcom/article/74874/. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  14. ↑ "archive.ph". archive.ph. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  15. 1 2 "Captain Euro Will Teach Children About the Euro, but Foes Abound". WSJ. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  16. ↑ "Die, Europhobe scum". the Guardian. 6 April 1999. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  17. ↑ "A Superhero's Soft Power Falls Flat (and Wastes an Opportunity)". HuffPost. 25 March 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  18. ↑ Tidey, Alice. "The EU's main problem? Its brand!". CNBC. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  19. ↑ Oppenheimer, Walter (16 June 2014). ""Europa tiene adversarios que prefieren que la UE se desmantele"". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  20. ↑ "Lyris Inc - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  21. ↑ Inc, Lyris (4 May 2015). "Aurea Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Lyris". GlobeNewswire News Room (in French). Retrieved 2 December 2022. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  22. 1 2 "Kathleen Kennedy Townsend to Chair Global Virus Network (GVN) Board of Directors | Reuters". Reuters. 16 February 2016. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  23. ↑ World Law Foundation. "Board of Trustees".
  24. ↑ News Release, 14 May 2021. https://investor.ferroglobe.com/news-releases/news-release-details/ferroglobe-announces-new-appointments-and-changes-board Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  25. ↑ Lisa Armstrong (12 August 2015). "How Melissa Odabash became swimwear's cult cutter". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  26. ↑ Brayford, Claire (26 March 2017). "The tale of Melissa Odabash & Alaia & Avalon de Santis". thegracetales.co.uk. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
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