Gérard López

Gérard Lopez (born 27 December 1971) is an entrepreneur-investor and an active Luxembourgish-Spanish businessman that invests in new technologies, energy sector and in the sports industry.
In the 1990s, Lopez cofounded Mangrove Capital Partners, one of the top three Tech investors in Europe. Alongside Eric Lux, he created The Genii Group. From 2009 to 2015, Lopez was President of the Formula 1 Lotus F1 Team and is still one of its minority shareholder and administrator. He is chairman of Genii Capital and is also CEO of Nekton, an investment company in the energy sector, where he spends most of his time. Lopez has been the President of Luxembourg CS Fola Esch football club since 2007.
== Biography ==
Lopez grew up in a soot-covered house next to a steel mill in Luxembourg. He was recruited to Miami University in Western Ohio to play basketball on a partial scholarship in 1998. He studied integrated traffic management systems and in operational management in Miami University. He also has a degree in Asian Art.
At age 22, he began managing a number of companies among which Icon Solutions, a pioneer society in internet development, and the leasing company ProLease. Lopez is an active investor in various types of private funds, ranging from early-stage technology companies to real estate investments.
With Mark Tluszcz and Hans Jurgen Schmitz, he founded Mangrove Capital Partners, a Luxembourg-based leading venture capital company specialized in future oriented technologies. Mangrove Capital Partners was one of the first investors in Skype selling a minority position to eBay in 2005 as part of the $2.6 billion dollar acquisition.
He founded with Eric Lux in 2008 Genii Capital, a finance consulting and investment managing firm. Lopez sits on the board of Directors of WIx, Zink Imaging, Lotus F1 Team and is also a member of the Planning Advisory Committee of the Miami University Business School.
In 2015, he founded Nekton, an investment company and brokerage in energy field, active in South America, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.
In recent years, Lopez has also taken an interest in Russia and is currently chairman of Rise Capital (Sweden) - a company controlled by Russian businessman Igor A. Snegurov that invests in public-private partnerships with a focus on Russian infrastructure projects, where construction contracts go to Snegurov’s own construction group VIS, which often receives its orders or financial backing from Gazprom where Snegurov's friend and colleague Dmitriy Doyev heads Gazprom structures Tsentrremont and Tsentrenergogaz.
== Sports ==
As a sports fan, Lopez got into car racing through operations made with Eric Lux and Gravity Sport Management in particular. He also participated in long-distance races with Gravity Racing International's team. In 2009, he bought out the Formula 1 Lotus F1 Team making Genii Capital the majority owner of the team. If the stable possessed very few sponsors at the beginning, Microsoft, Unilever and Coca-Cola soon became team partners.
Through Kick Partners and Mangrove Sport Business Intelligence, Lopez also takes care of the image and the transfers of football players. The businessman has also been since 2007 the President of the CS Fola Esch, the football club in which he used to play as a teenager.
With Marc Ingla, both men have been associates for years in Kick Partners and Mangrove Sport Business Intelligence activities. Leading figure of the FC Barcelona in the 2000s and former Marketing Director of the football club, Marc Ingla coordinated FC Barcelona’s professional team sponsoring by Nike.
For one year, Lopez and his team are studying the French Ligue 1 championship for an acquisition. In October 2016, Lopez entered into exclusive talks with President Michel Seydoux for the acquisition of the Lille OSC football club He eventually succeeded and become the majority owner of the French Ligue 1 club.
== Personal interests ==
Lopez owns what is considered by some to be one of the best car collections in the world. It has been featured in Top Gear magazine and in local newspapers.
Category:Lotus F1