Success is not only about what you build. It’s also about what you choose to do with it. John Christodoulou shares the lessons of a 40-year entrepreneurial journey that built one of Europe’s major private property groups—and why, for him, achievement eventually became inseparable from giving back.

John Christodoulou is the sole owner of the Yianis Group. Over forty years, he has developed one of the largest private property investment and development companies in Europe, especially the UK, that now owns and asset manages its own portfolio. Its notable list of unique luxury hotels, residential properties, commercial investments and retail sites includes the Canary Riverside Plaza at Canary Wharf, Marriott London West India Quay, Hilton Manchester, Radisson Blu in Liverpool and the Palace Hotel in Southend. In 2016, he started his own Foundation, the Yianis Christodoulou Foundation. The Foundation focuses on helping children in need through projects and investments in Cyprus, the UK and other countries around the world.