Roland Duchâtelet
| Roland Duchâtelet | |
|---|---|
| Senator | |
|
In office 28 June 2007 – June 2010 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
14 November 1946 Merksem, Antwerp, Belgium |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Political party | Open VLD |
| Alma mater | Katholieke Universiteit Leuven |
Roland Duchâtelet (French: [dyʃɑtlɛ]; born 14 November 1946) is a Belgian millionaire businessman who turned his progressive liberal ideology into a political movement that he called Vivant. He also owns five football clubs: Carl Zeiss Jena, Alcorcon, Sint-Truidense, Újpest and Charlton Athletic. He also previously owned Standard Liege which he later sold in early 2015.
In 1990 he became involved in micro-electronics. He founded several multinational corporations, of which Melexis, which produces semi-conductors is the best known. Other corporations include X-Fab, which also produces semi-conductors, Epiq, which produces electronic systems, the online-television channel TVLokaal.com, and the holding Elex. He became a multimillionaire.
In 1993 he wrote a book NV België, verslag aan de aandeelhouders (Joint stock company Belgium, a report to the shareholders), published in early 1994. In his book, he pleaded for economic and political transparency. He emphasized the necessity of sustainable development in a globalized world economy. He also proposed to lower Belgium's public expenditure by 30%. A new political party BANAAN ("Beter Alternatieven Nastreven Als Apathisch Nietsdoen", or "Better seeking for alternatives than doing nothing in apathy") used this book as its political program. This party was committed to a basic income and a green tax shift. After the 1995 elections in which BANAAN obtained 1% of the votes, Duchâtelet founded the Vivant party/political movement which then entered in federal, regional and communal elections. In 1999, Vivant obtained 2,1% of the national votes. Duchâtelet is party chair and has been a candidate in several elections.
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