Building easyJet — Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou | High Conviction #2

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou returns to his alma mater, the London School of Economics, for a fireside chat on building one of Europe's most recognisable consumer brands. In 1995, a 28-year-old Stelios founded easyJet with two leased Boeing 737 aircraft. Three decades later, easyJet has flown 1.2 billion passengers, and the easy brand has been extended across more than 100 ventures from hotels to storage to gyms. In this conversation Sir Stelios reflects on the lessons he learnt at of LSE — Milton Friedman's "no such thing as a free lunch" and the elasticity of demand curve that became EasyJet's pricing model — the decision to keep the brand outside the operating company at IPO, why COVID nearly ended the airline, and his pivot from operator to philanthropist via The Stelios Philanthropic Foundation. A rare and candid conversation with the founder of easyJet, his first return to LSE in years, and a master class in brand building, contrarian thinking, and giving back. Photo Credit: Marina Arcady Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 03:10 - Early life & lessons from father 17:40 - Starting easyJet 20:53 - Surviving Shocks: COVID and the Oil Crisis 24:14 - Filming Airline on ITV 26:50 - On Branson and O'Leary 30:40 - Competing with British Airways 33:08 - Licensing the easy Brand 34:18 - Advise to young people 38:06 - Philanthropy and giving back 41:56 - Audience Q&A