Chris Gabriel

Chairman/NonExec Director

Chairman | Non-Executive Director | Chief Executive Officer | Chief Financial Officer With a global career spanning start-ups, transformations, IPOs, acquisitions and divestments, some highlights of Chris’s career include a one-on-one meeting with Nelson Mandela, pioneering cross-border mobile commerce throughout Africa, and building and divesting Zain Africa for US$10.7bn (purchased three years prior for US$3.2bn). Repeatedly ranked in the Global Top 100 most influential people in Telecommunications, his industry experience includes telecommunications, information technology, mobile commerce, mobile towers, renewable energy, aviation, recruitment, private equity, real estate, property development, tourism and hospitality. Key roles that Chris has held during his career include Chairman Alive Group (Australia), Chief Executive Officer Zain Africa (Middle East and Africa), Interim Chief Executive Officer FLYBOSNIA (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Non-Executive Director Talent (Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe and United States), Group Chief Financial Officer Batelco (Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Yemen and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Finance Director SingTel Optus (Australia), Financial Controller Ericsson (Australia), Senior Advisor Providence Equity (Asia), Senior Advisor Macquarie Group (Middle East and Australia), Senior Advisor Ethos Capital (Africa) and Senior Mentor Incubate (Australia). Chris holds a Bachelor of Business in Finance (UTS Sydney), Bachelor of Laws (UTS Sydney) and a Master of Business Administration MBA in Marketing (UTS Sydney), and is also a Certified Practising Accountant CPA. Chris has a unique leadership style that delivers extraordinary results across industries, borders and cultures. He delivers growth through his inclusive management style, capturing hearts and minds by facilitating success of people across every level of the organisation and instilling company goals and values, through his sense of empathy and intuition that is attuned to Customer motivations. Chris brings simplicity to complex cross-cultural negotiations by staying focused on logical outcomes and using humour to diffuse conflict. His results-driven success has been sought out by global business, private equity houses and sovereign leaders and is under-pinned by extensive cross-disciplinary academic qualifications, technical expertise and a strong sense of self-awareness and humility. Currently Chairman of Gabriel Holdings, a global investment company focusing on real estate, property development, tourism, hospitality and technology start-ups, Chris is also an angel investor who is passionate about giving back to the community and mentoring future leaders. He enjoys jazz music, fine dining, art and cars as well as motivational public speaking.