Paul Fentener van Vlissingen

Paul Fentener van Vlissingen (21 March 1941 in Utrecht – 21 August 2006 in Langbroek) was a Dutch-British businessman and philanthropist. Ranked as the richest man in Scotland in 2005, he contributed to the development of game reserves in Africa and bought Letterewe estate in Scotland, where he pledged the right to roam, years ahead of the rest of the country.

Paul Fentener van Vlissingen was the youngest son of Frits Fentener van Vlissingen II, one of the leading Dutch industrialist families whose fortune was based on shipping coal on the Rhine in the 19th century. Frits III, his eldest brother, died in March 2006. John, the middle brother, is the last alive. Paul inherited a significant shareholding in the company SHV Holdings from his father, Frits II, whose own father had co-founded the business through a merger with eight other Dutch trading families in 1896. Paul's father, described as one of the "fathers of the Dutch economy", later bought out most of the other families.

Paul Fentener van Vlissingen studied economics at the University of Groningen before joining SHV. Originally Europe's largest coal wholesaling business, SHV is the largest privately owned company in the Netherlands. In May 1974, he joined the SHV board, and succeeded his brother, Frits, as chairman in 1980.

Paul led SHV as chief executive officer for three decades from the mid-1960s. Under his leadership, the company diversified into new areas ahead of the collapse of the coal market in the 1960s. The areas he became involved with included retail – through the Makro and Otto Reichelt chains of grocery supermarkets and cash & carries – and energy – through the acquisitions of LPG companies including Calor Gas in the UK and Primagaz in France. He also diversified into scrap metal, recycling, oil exploration, renewable energy and private equity. In 1995 he stepped down and then served as non-executive chairman.

Fentener van Vlissingen had a maverick leadership style and was more philosophical than most business leaders. For example, he recognised the possibility of the existence of global warming as early as the early 1990s and had a love for cryptic aphorisms. He allowed young managers whom he trusted to establish Makro operations in overseas markets, giving them unusual amounts of autonomy.

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