Stelios Haji-Ioannou Net Worth

Stelios Haji-Ioannou has an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Stelios Haji-Ioannou profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is down from a peak of $1.6 billion.

Stelios Haji-Ioannou is a Cypriot entrepreneur best known for starting easyJet in 1995. He launched the airline after leaving his father's company. That move made him a leading name in low-cost travel. He later built a wider group of businesses around the easy brand. Through easyGroup, he has licensed that name to ventures such as easyHotel, easyCar, and easyCoffee. His career has centered on travel, services, and brand licensing.

His wealth is tied mainly to easyJet and to the easy brand. Forbes says his source of wealth is EasyJet, and it places him in the service industry. Forbes notes that he owns an estimated 4% of the airline. He also keeps ownership of the easy brand through easyGroup, his private company. Beyond business, his foundation backs food distribution centers in Greece and Cyprus and funds scholarships at the London School of Economics and City, University of London.

How Stelios Haji-Ioannou makes money

The core of Haji-Ioannou's fortune comes from easyJet, the budget airline he founded in 1995. The airline began as a low-cost carrier and grew into one of Europe's largest airlines. Wikipedia says easyJet had a fleet of 356 aircraft and carried 93.4 million passengers annually in 2025. Forbes notes that Haji-Ioannou still owns an estimated 4% of the company, while his siblings Clelia and Polys also hold large stakes.

A second piece of his business is easyGroup, the private company that owns the easy brand. Instead of running every business directly, easyGroup licenses the name to other ventures. Forbes mentions easyHotel, easyCar, and easyCoffee among them. The Wikipedia background adds other easy-branded businesses in travel and leisure. That brand model let Haji-Ioannou expand beyond airlines while keeping control of the name that made him famous.

Forbes net worth trend

Forbes has tracked Haji-Ioannou's wealth through changes in the airline market and the value of his holdings. On the Forbes World's Billionaires list, his estimated net worth was $1 billion in 2023. It then moved up to $1.2 billion in 2024, rose again to $1.3 billion in 2025, and reached $1.4 billion in 2026. Those moves show how closely his fortune is linked to easyJet and the wider easy business empire.

The latest update is higher still. Forbes' real-time billionaires tracker put him at $1.5 billion as of October 20, 2026. That came in the same year Wikipedia says easyJet accepted a buyout offer from Apollo Global Management that valued the airline at £5.7 billion. At that time, Haji-Ioannou and his family owned about 15% of the airline. His private ownership of the easy brand through easyGroup remains another important part of the picture.