George Iacobescu
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Sir George Iacobescu CBE |
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|---|---|
| Born |
9 November 1945 Bucharest, Romania |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Chairman and CEO, Canary Wharf Group |
| Children | Julie Iacobescu |
Sir George Iacobescu CBE (born 9 November 1945) is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Canary Wharf Group, the London-based owners and developers of the Canary Wharf estate in London Docklands. He is one of the most successful Romanian-born businessmen. He is the only Romanian born person to have been given a full British Knighthood.
Iacobescu was born in Bucharest, Romania. His father was a haematologist and his grandfather was a lawyer and newspaper publisher. Iacobescu studied civil and industrial engineering at Bucharest University.
After graduating, he worked as a structural engineer in Romania, his first job designing pump stations for a state-run business. He was determined to leave the country, then under the control of Nicolae Ceauşescu's Communist Party, and so in 1975 Iacobescu used contacts in the West to escape to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was forced to leave his fiancée, Gabriela, behind, and so lobbied for her to be allowed to join him, which she did in 1977.
On arrival in Canada he started in the property industry, and from 1975 to 1978, was construction director of Homeco Investments, a German-Canadian joint venture in Montreal and Toronto working on landmark buildings throughout North America. After moving to Toronto, Iacobescu worked for the Olympia & York company as an engineer. Following this, he worked as construction manager and then vice-president of Olympia & York from 1978 to 1987 working on many large construction projects, including the construction of the World Financial Centre, 4m sq ft headquarters of Merrill Lynch, the Olympia Centre in Chicago, and the construction of Granicor, in Quebec.
In 1988, Iacobescu moved to London as senior vice-president of Olympia & York, to oversee the construction budget and delivery of the Canary Wharf project. He stayed with the project when Olympia & York went into administration in 1991, working as Construction Director. He became Deputy Chief executive of the Canary Wharf Group when it was formed in 1995, and Chief Executive in March 1997. During his time at Canary Wharf, Iacobescu has participated in the development and construction of more than 30 buildings.
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