Denis O’Brien

Denis O’Brien grew up in Dublin, Ireland and attended University College Dublin, earning a BA in Politics and History. He then studied at Boston College in the United States and earned an MBA in Corporate Finance in 1982. Seven years later, Denis founded the media holdings company Communicorp.

In 1991, he made his start in the telecommunications sector by forming Esat Telecom. For the next nine years, he served as Esat’s Chairman and CEO, establishing the company as the second largest telecommunications company in Ireland and floating it on NASDAQ in 1997. In 2000, he sold Esat to the BT Group, using the funds from the sale to help finance his next business venture: Digicel Group.