Jean-François Ott - Visionary entrepreneur - Real estate - Tourism - Hotel Industry
Jean-François Ott (born 1965) is a respected businessman. He founded and was the CEO of Orco Property Group S.A. (ORCO Group, ORCO) which today has 6 billion market cap. He created two hotel chains: Suncani Hvar and MaMaison Hotels chain. Jean-François led over EUR 4 billion investments in more than 200 real estate projects.
Jean-François Ott | |
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| Born | February 26, 1965 |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Years active | 1991-present |
| Known for | ORCO |
He is now Chairman of OTT Heritage, his family business, as well as of several other companies, including 3 listed on Euronext:
- MyHotelMatch (ex SPAC/FPN) a platform of smart travel based on the principle of online dating that will revolutionize our way of traveling.
- Delta Drone, a recognized international player in the civil drone sector for professional use that develops a range of professional solutions based on drone technology, as well as all associated services that form a complete value chain
- Courbet, a real estate company, listed on Euronext Access Paris that focuses on the revitalization and management of real estate assets.
Jean-François OTT has a lot of values. He especially cares of health, educational and environment issues and is involved to reduce climate changes.
Education and career
Jean-François Ott completed his graduation in Finance and Economics at the Grenoble Institute of Political Studies in 1985, he completed his studied at the INSEAD Owners Directors Program.
In 1987, Before starting a career as a derivatives trader in Paris, he worked for the French group Framatome in South Korea, then in 1991, he founded ORCO a real estate development company based in Luxembourg. In 2000 Orco then was listed in Paris, with a portfolio of more than 200 assets in residential, commercial and hotels which reached 1 200 000 m2 spanning over 9 countries. In addition to Prague, Paris and Luxembourg, he led the launch of new OPG branches and acquisitions in Buda-Pest, Warsaw, Berlin, Bratislava, Split, Zagreb, Moscow, Belgrade, etc. The portfolio was effectively built through developments and acquisitions of properties that required active asset management.
Among the key milestones in OPG's growth was the launch of the first extended stay hotel in 1999, the listing in Paris in 2000 followed by the acquisition of IPB Real in Czech Republic in 2001. In 2005 the acquisition and redevelopment of the Suncani Hvar hotels in Croatia, the privatization and repositioning of 850 000 m² of GSG commercial real estate in Berlin in 2006 and the acquisition of Molcom, one of the largest logistics parks in Moscow in 2007.
Jean-Francois piloted the restructuring of Orco Property Group in 2009-14, particularly the equitization and restructuring of the €600 million OPG and OG bonds finalized in 2012 and 2013. He sold most of his stake in OPG in 2014, following a change in shareholders and devote itself to the management of his family office OTT Héritage, which has more than 40 holdings invested since 2000s.
In 2020, Jean François decided to return to France. At that time, he met several very interesting professionals who made him wants to help start-ups and invests in digital innovations. He therefore chose to set up his headquarters in Sophia Antipolis and work with the research and development of artificial intelligence at INRIA to develop MyHotelMatch.com, a project dedicated to hoteliers/travelers that he believes will revolutionize tourism. With his expertise in various fields (construction, renovation of historical buildings, residential, hotel and logistics) he is also keen to participate in the influence of his country, create jobs or respond to issues that affect him such as education, medical or environment.
References
Other websites
- Jean-François Ott on Twitter
- Jean-François Ott on LinkedIn