Charles Gurassa

Charles Gurassa
Chairman of Oxfam
Incumbent
Assumed office
October 2020
Preceded byCaroline Thomson
Chairman of Channel Four Television
In office
January 2016 – January 2022
Preceded byTerence Burns
Succeeded byIan Cheshire
Non-Executive Director, easyJet
In office
2011 – Dec 2020
Preceded byboard of directors
Succeeded byStephen Hester
Personal details
Born
Charles Mark Gurassa

(1956-02-15) 15 February 1956 (age 68)
London, United Kingdom
Political partyUnknown
OccupationBusinessman
Known for

Charles Mark Gurassa (born 15 February 1956)[1] is a British businessman and chair of the Guardian Media Group. He is a former chairman of the television station, Channel 4, and succeeded Lord Burns in January 2016.[2][3][4]

Gurassa graduated from the University of York with a bachelor's degree in economics and earned an MBA from the International Management Centre in Buckingham.[1] He began his career in 1978 as a trainee in Thomas Cook and progressed to become the general manager of retail by the time he left the company in 1989. During the following decade, he worked at British Airways, leading the sales team and as a director of passenger and cargo businesses.[1]

Gurassa was CEO of Thomson Travel Group from December 1999 to May 2003.[4] He served as a non-executive director of Merlin Entertainment[5] until November 2019 when he stepped down as part of an acquisition.[6] He was an independent non-executive director of easyJet from 2011-2020.[7]

In July 2020, Oxfam announced that they had elected him to succeed Caroline Thomson as its chair in October 2020.[8]

Gurassa has previously chaired the boards of Virgin Mobile and Lovefilm and was a board member of the National Trust and Whitbread.[1][9] As of 2022, he is on the board of British Airways and is chairman of the Migration Museum in London and the tour operator Great Rail Journeys.[9]

  1. ^ a b c d "Charles Gurassa: The boss who was left out of the loop". The Independent. 12 November 2006. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  2. ^ Jasper Jackson; Tara Conlan. "EasyJet's Charles Gurassa appointed as Channel 4 chairman | Media". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  3. ^ Williams, Christopher (2016-01-26). "Charles Gurassa named chairman of Channel 4". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  4. ^ a b "List of Public Companies Worldwide, Letter - Businessweek - Businessweek". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  5. ^ "Charles Gurassa: Senior Independent Non-Executive Director". Merlin Entertainment. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  6. ^ Media, Insider. "Board changes at Merlin as scheme becomes effective". Insider Media Ltd. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  7. ^ "Business Leaders and top investors hot news". www.marketscreener.com.
  8. ^ "Introducing our next Chair, Charles Gurassa", Angela Cluff, email to Friends of Oxfam, 22 July 2020
  9. ^ a b "Charles Gurassa appointed as chair of Guardian Media Group". The Guardian. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2024.