- Chris Gent
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This article is about the businessman. For the basketballer, see Chris Jent.
Sir Chris Gent Born Christopher Charles Gent
10 May 1948 (age 63)
Beckenham, Kent, EnglandResidence Lambourn, Berkshire, England Nationality British Ethnicity White British Education Tenison's School Occupation Businessman Years active 1971–present Salary £1.2 million (As of 2003)[1] Title Director of Vodafone Group plc (1985–96)
CEO of Vodafone Group plc (1997–2003)
Non-executive director of
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (2003–08)
Non-executive chairman of GlaxoSmithKline plc (2004–present)
Non-executive director of
Ferrari S.p.A. (2006–present)Spouse Ex-wife (divorced)
Kate, Lady Gent (m. 1999–present)Children 2 daughters (via 1st marriage)
2 sons (via 2nd marriage)Website Official Site of GlaxoSmithKline Sir Christopher Charles Gent (born 10 May 1948) is a British businessman, He is the former chief executive officer of Vodafone, a British mobile phone company. He is currently the chairman of GlaxoSmithKline, the world's second largest pharmaceutical, biological, and healthcare company.
Contents
Early life
Born in 1948 in Beckenham, Kent, Gent was raised in Gosport, Hampshire[2]. He attended Tenison's School, then a grammar school in Kennington. His father died when he was at school. From 1977–9, he was Chairman of the Young Conservatives.
Career
He first worked for the National Westminster Bank in 1971 as a management trainee, then as a computer services manager at Schroders. In 1979 he became the Managing Director of Baric, a company owned by ICL and Barclays.
Vodafone
Gent was widely credited with transforming Vodafone from a small British company into a global giant, and who engineered Vodafone's 178 billion pound ($212 billion) historic purchase of Germany's Mannesmann in 2000. He became its Managing Director in January 1985 and its chief executive officer (taking over from Sir Gerald Whent) in January 1997. Vodafone is Britain's second biggest company, next to BP.
After retiring from Vodafone in July 2003, he was awarded the honorary title of Company's President for Life on his departure as a mark of his achievement in developing the company, until his resignation from that position in March 2006. The title carried no salary, nor any advisory responsibilities, but was a symbolic link to the business that few former chief executives are allowed to retain.
He is now Chairman of GlaxoSmithKline, a British pharmaceutical company, joining in June 2004 and becoming Chairman on 1 January 2005.
From October 2005 to October 2006 he served on the Tax Reform Commission, established by the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP.
Gent was one of four members of the compensation committee of the board at Lehman Brothers that authorised the payout for its failed CEO, Dick Fuld, who received $34 m in 2007 and $40.5 m in 2006.[3]
Personal life
He received a knighthood for his services to the telecoms industry in the 2001 Queen's birthday honours list.
In March 2007 Gent called for a referendum on London's hosting of the 2012 Olympics. He was quoted as saying "I cannot see that the long-term economic benefit of hosting the Games outweighs the costs and the horrific burden on the taxpayer, particularly London rate-payers. The cost for them is going to be astronomically high."[4]
He is a big fan of cricket, going to school next door to The Oval. Vodafone sponsored the England cricket team for many years until 2007. He married Kate in July 1999 in Wokingham and they have two sons. He has two daughters from a former marriage. He lives in Lambourn in Berkshire.
References
- ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2003/dec/15/executivesalaries.city
- ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2003/dec/15/executivesalaries.city
- ^ The Lex Column (2008-12-22). "Overpaid CEO award". Financial Times: 12.
- ^ http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=1&subID=1205
External links
- GSK
- Honorary degree from Brunel University in 2000
Annual Revenue: GB£28.4 billion · Employees: 96,500 · Stock Symbol: LSE: GSK NYSE: GSK · Website: www.gsk.comCorporate Directors: Chris Gent · Andrew Witty · Roy Anderson · Stephanie Burns · Stacey Cartwright · Lawrence Culp · Crispin Davis · Simon Dingemans · Judy Lewent · Deryck Maughan · James Murdoch · Daniel Podolsky · Moncef Slaoui · Tom de Swaan · Robert WilsonProducts: Categories:- 1948 births
- Living people
- English businesspeople
- Businesspeople in the pharmaceutical industry
- Vodafone people
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Knights Bachelor
- People from Beckenham
- People from Lambourn
- People from Gosport
- Old Tenisonians
- Lehman Brothers
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