Well-known businessman John Fentener van Vlissingen died on Thursday at the age of 86. “Entrepreneurship was in his DNA,” writes his investment company BORON the message about his death. He was one of the richest entrepreneurs in the Netherlands.
Fentener van Vlissingen was born in Utrecht, into the family that founded the company SHV (originally the Steenkolen Handels Vereeniging). He was first a banker himself, but founded his own company in 1975. That travel agency would grow into BCD Travel, the second largest business travel agency worldwide, BORON said. Cheaptickets.nl and Vliegwinkel.nl, among others, are part of BCD. In total, more than 15,000 employees worked for his companies.
With BORON, the businessman invested in companies on the stock exchange, in real estate and in the catering industry. He was also a philanthropist. Together with his wife he founded various foundations, for example for the protection of children and wild animals and nature.
Quote estimated his wealth at 2.9 billion euros in the last edition of the Quote 500 list. He was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2018.
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