Matthew C. Martino
| Matthew C Martino | |
|---|---|
Martino pictured in 2014
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| Born |
Mathetes Chihwai October 27, 1992 Harare, Zimbabwe |
| Occupation |
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| Known for | Co-Owner of Essex TV and Founder of MMBF Trust |
| Website | www |
Mathetes Chihwai , known professionally as Matthew C. Martino or Matthew Martino (born October 27, 1992) is an English media proprietor and philanthropist, at age 22 he was awarded the Essex Young Person Of The Year Award by the Lord Lieutenant of Essex, John Petre. Following which he founded Essex TV a British digital channel.
Martino migrated from Zimbabwe to the United Kingdom in the early 2000's with his parents. He attended Shenfield High School. Early in his career he desperately attempted to be a TV star appearing on numerous occasions on The Alan Titchmarsh Show. Martino is also the author of Lets Fly, a pilot's manual which held a short run in Waterstones after it was published in 2014.
Martino's early business career was centred around the aviation industry, In 2013 he launched F5 Air which was described as "A private airline for the affluent", the venture went bust later that year after a whistle-blower at Biggin Hill Airport reported that Martino had abused his power as CEO of F5 Air by coercing pilots of the charter service to let him fly aircraft's he didn't hold licensing for, the story was initially reported by Before Its News before a handful of aviation publications picked it up.
In 2015, Martino began developing Essex TV with backing from consortium BE Group. Upon the venture's launching in April 2016 he re-acquired 30% of the company from the consortium. As an active co-owner for the media network he also occasionally assists in productions and writes columns.
Martino is the owner of print publication Essex Magazine which he purchased under the Essex TV flag from a University of Essex student according to reports. He also continues to serve the magazine as Editor In Chief.
Martino is the benefactor of his own foundation MMBF Trust which is otherwise known as the Matthew Martino Benevolent Fund, he launched the foundation with a £50,000 endowment back in 2014 using proceeds from his pilots manual book Lets Fly and earnings from his independent film production. In the year 2014-2015 the Trustees of the Trust announced that they planned to distribute grants to the value of £15,000. The foundation provides grants, scholarships and support to actors and filmmakers. Following the foundation's launch in 2014, an entertainment tabloid reported that the charity was being probed for having "political interests". As of early 2016 the foundation had distributed more than 300 grants and scholarships. In May 2017 it was reported that the Trust had distributed 1,000 grants and scholarships across the world with the UK accounting for 90% of their grant making.
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