Paul Ekon

Paul Ekon was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on the 26th of May 1959 to a family with Greek and Jewish origins. Following the death of his mother Paul joined St Stithians College boarding school where he studied until graduation in 1976. As most young South Africans Paul Ekon joined the military and served for 2 years undertaking Basic Air Force training before turning his hand to photography and using his new skills to work with defence force magazine Paratus.

 

After the military Paul Ekon moved to Los Angeles to work as a professional photographer. As is well documented breaking into this field is exceptionally difficult and the competition is intense. Paul had definitely been bitten by the bug and following a short career as a professional photographer, he returned to South Africa and endeavoured upon learning as much as he could about the entertainment and food and beverage industry. Paul opened and remained involved in several restaurants in Johannesburg among them the Walnut Grove, Harpers and Hot Tin Roof.

 

Once Ekon had gained invaluable experience in the food and entertainment industry, he used this experience to branch out and expand into the consumer goods space and started toiletry brands such as Hang Ten, Jordache, Barbara Barnard, Chicco and Yvonne Chaka Chaka, all of which are familiar and successful brands in South Africa.

 

Paul Ekon's next move was to expand into producing handles and door knobs for the South African market. He ran this business with much success for many years until Chinese imports flooded the market and the business became less viable. In 1995 Paul sold the handles manufacturing business and invested in Management Technologies Inc. (MTi), a publicly listed computer company (NASDAQ Small Cap Market: MTCI). Following the investment Paul relocated to the UK and became the company's CEO.

 

Ekon then went on to start a venture capital business which he still successfully runs to date.

About Paul Ekon - Faithways Church

Paul Ekon Online Resume

Paul Ekon response on the Mail & Guardian - Innocent and never been charged