Roland Duchâtelet

Roland Duchâtelet (French: [dyʃɑtlɛ]; born 14 November 1946) is a Belgian millionaire businessman who turned his progressive liberal ideology into a political movement that he called Vivant. He also owns several football clubs:FC Carl Zeiss Jena and AD Alcorcon and Charlton Athletic.^[1]

Early life

He studied civil engineering and economics, and obtained an MBA at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. During his student years he participated in the May 1968 student revolts.

Career

In 1990 he became involved in micro-electronics. He founded several multinational corporations, of which Melexis,^[2] which produces semi-conductors is the best known. Other corporations include X-Fab,^[3] which also produces semi-conductors, Epiq,^[4] which produces electronic systems, the online-television channel TVLokaal.com, and the holding Elex. He became a multimillionaire.

In 1993 he wrote a book NV België, verslag aan de aandeelhouders (Joint stock company Belgium, a report to the shareholders), published in early 1994. In his book, he pleaded for economic and political transparency. He emphasized the necessity of sustainable development in a globalized world economy. He also proposed to lower Belgium's public expenditure by 30%. A new political party BANAAN ("Beter Alternatieven Nastreven Als Apathisch Nietsdoen", or "Better seeking for alternatives than doing nothing in apathy") used this book as its political program. This party was committed to a basic income and a green tax shift. After the 1995 elections in which BANAAN obtained 1% of the votes, Duchâtelet founded the Vivant party/political movement which then entered in federal, regional and communal elections. In 1999, Vivant obtained 2,1% of the national votes. Duchâtelet is party chair and has been a candidate in several elections.

In the movie La vie politique des Belges (2002) by Jan Bucquoy, Duchâtelet is depicted in Vivant's 1999 election campaign.

In 2004 Vivant entered a political alliance with the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD) and Duchâtelet published his second book De weg naar meer netto binnenlands geluk (The road to more net domestic happiness).

In 2007 his party merged with the VLD,^[5] which entered in the next elections as Open VLD.^[6] He was elected as a member of the Belgian Senate in 2007.^[7]

He is the main shareholder of 5 football clubs:

Bibliography

• R. Duchâtelet, NV België, verslag aan de aandeelhouders (Joint stock company Belgium, a report to the shareholders), 1994
• R. Duchâtelet, De weg naar meer netto binnenlands geluk (The road to more net domestic happiness), 2004

References

1. ↑ Official statement AD Alcorcon Jan. 1, 2014
2. ↑ Melexis
3. ↑ X-Fab.com
4. ↑ Epiq.com
5. ↑ GVA.be 11 February 2006
6. ↑ GVA.be 11 February 2006
7. ↑ "Belgische Senaat" (in Dutch). Belgian Senate. Retrieved 10 June 2009. 

External links

• (Dutch) Homepage of Vivant
• Roland Duchâtelet at the Internet Movie Database
• The Political Life of the Belgians: Tart/Vivant