Leadership

Prior to creating Orgaia, Nicolas was an internet entrepreneur, who started influential and high profile internet companies, such as opodo.com: the travel website co-owned by British Airways, Air France, Alitalia, Iberia, KLM and Lufthansa. With gross sales of over €1.5 billion, opodo has become Europe’s most successful internet travel business. Before the creation of BITCOIN, Nicolas also co-founded the web’s first digital currency: beenz.com. As its Chief Marketing Officer, he helped raise $100 million of funding from key investors including Larry Ellison of Oracle, Italian financier Carlo de Benedetti (Espresso/La Repubblica Group), François Pinault’s PPR holding company Artemis, Vivendi Universal, and Hikari Tsushin of Japan.

De Santis is a senior advisor to the Global Virus Network (GVN) the network of the top global virologists looking to eradicate the world’s biggest viral threats to human health. GVN was founded by Dr. Robert Gallo the co-discoverer of HIV as the cause of AIDS. From 2013 to 2014 De Santis was a board member and part of the executive committee of GVN.

As the President & Secretary General of Gold Mercury International, the global vision strategy think tank, De Santis advises international organisations, corporations and governments on strategic visioning, cultural transformation, business model innovation and global brand strategy. As part of his global vision work, Nicolas De Santis developed GLOGO®, The Global Governance Monitoring System, a framework to understand, organise, co-create and re-design a sustainable planet. GLOGO monitors and rates the meta trends and challenges affecting globalisation and sustainability.

Nicolas De Santis is regularly featured in global media and broadcasting, including, CNBC, EL PAIS, CNN, TIME MAGAZINE, EXPANSION SPAIN, LA REPUBBLICA ITALY, FINANCIAL TIMES, ADVERTISING AGE, BLOOMBERG, FUJI TV- JAPAN, TVE SPAIN, BBC TV, BBC RADIO 5 LIVE and PROSIEBEN GERMANY. Nicolas is also part of The Duke of York’s Entrepreneurs Network. Its mission is supporting the economic success of, and the creation of skilled jobs in, the United Kingdom. The network has chosen to concentrate its efforts on three core areas: SMEs and Entrepreneurs, Science and Engineering & Education and Skills.

Through the Gold Mercury Awards & Summits, Eduardo has brought together key global governance actors to discuss and debate critical challenges. His practical approach allowed him to foster international trade relations, advance the development agenda and improve understanding amongst nations.

Eduardo researched the few and impractical ‘future seeking’ tools available to leaders and organisations and pioneered a new area: Anticipatory Governance™ to assist in the critical development of long-term sustainable governance, vision and strategy. His project experience includes corporations, governments and organisations such as: Alcatel, Alitalia, Bank of America, Banamex, Disney, Iberia Airlines and San Miguel Corporation, just to name a few. During his extensive advisory career he was President International of Landor Associates (now part of WPP Group).

Eduardo De Santis is a Commendatore della Republica Italiana and the recipient of the ORDER OF THE ITALIAN STAR one of the highest honours granted by the President of the Italian republic to Italian expatriates who have made an outstanding contribution to the Italian Republic after World War II.