‘It’s for the judge to decide’: Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s battle to defend his Easy brand
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou practically makes a living from arguing. So the fact that our meeting, minutes in, has descended into a polite tussle is perhaps no surprise. The contentious issue at hand: the colour orange. The easyJet founder and perpetual defender of the “easy …” brand prefix is preparing for his latest court showdown – this time with easyfundraising, a platform with a logo recently rebranded a cheery yellow. Or orange, the billionaire contests. “I think it’s pale orange. I’ve spent a lot of money developing the logo behind me,” says Haji-Ioannou, referring to the cascade of “easys” on his video call background as he speaks from Ireland, where his partner has family. Technically, the easyJet orange is Pantone 021C – or, as we decide, pumpkin orange. “It’s for the judge to decide if [easyfundraising]’s logo is too close. I’ve seen enough judgments now to know it could go either way.” The legal tussle, due to reach court in June, is the latest fight by Haji-Ioannou against what he calls “brand thieves”. The entrepreneur spends roughly a third of his time on his easyGroup portfolio of companies, another third on his eponymous philanthropic foundation and the remainder on his investments, sitting glued to a Bloomberg terminal. He stepped down from easyJet’s board in 2010, but his family remains a 15% shareholder in the low-cost carrier. As founder of easyGroup, he licenses out and receives royalties from the “easy” brand, with the GBP4b orange airline his standout income generator. More than 100 similarly branded ventures, from hotels to car rentals, are in the long tail of much smaller businesses behind it. He remains on the hunt for “asset-light” sectors to launch the brand into, noting a recent foray into e-sims for phones, designed to cut data roaming costs. Story has more.<br/>
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‘It’s for the judge to decide’: Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s battle to defend his Easy brand
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou practically makes a living from arguing. So the fact that our meeting, minutes in, has descended into a polite tussle is perhaps no surprise. The contentious issue at hand: the colour orange. The easyJet founder and perpetual defender of the “easy …” brand prefix is preparing for his latest court showdown – this time with easyfundraising, a platform with a logo recently rebranded a cheery yellow. Or orange, the billionaire contests. “I think it’s pale orange. I’ve spent a lot of money developing the logo behind me,” says Haji-Ioannou, referring to the cascade of “easys” on his video call background as he speaks from Ireland, where his partner has family. Technically, the easyJet orange is Pantone 021C – or, as we decide, pumpkin orange. “It’s for the judge to decide if [easyfundraising]’s logo is too close. I’ve seen enough judgments now to know it could go either way.” The legal tussle, due to reach court in June, is the latest fight by Haji-Ioannou against what he calls “brand thieves”. The entrepreneur spends roughly a third of his time on his easyGroup portfolio of companies, another third on his eponymous philanthropic foundation and the remainder on his investments, sitting glued to a Bloomberg terminal. He stepped down from easyJet’s board in 2010, but his family remains a 15% shareholder in the low-cost carrier. As founder of easyGroup, he licenses out and receives royalties from the “easy” brand, with the GBP4b orange airline his standout income generator. More than 100 similarly branded ventures, from hotels to car rentals, are in the long tail of much smaller businesses behind it. He remains on the hunt for “asset-light” sectors to launch the brand into, noting a recent foray into e-sims for phones, designed to cut data roaming costs. Story has more.<br/>
