George Iacobescu CBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (born 1945, Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....

) is the chief executive of Canary Wharf Group

Canary Wharf Group

Canary Wharf Group plc is the owner and developer of nearly of property at Canary Wharf in London. It is notable because over the last 10 years it has constructed more office space in London than any other developer...

, a London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

-based property development company.

Born in Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

, Iacobescu trained as an engineer, graduated from the University of Bucharest and then emigrated to Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and settled in Toronto, where he initially worked for the Olympia and York

Olympia and York

Olympia & York was once a major international property development firm based in Canada. The firm built major financial office complexes like Canary Wharf in London, the World Financial Center in New York City and First Canadian Place in Toronto...

 company as an engineer and later as vice president for development and construction at the World Financial Center in New York, and the Olympia Center and the Neiman Marcus Buildings in Chicago.

Iacobescu joined the Canary Wharf Group in 1988 as Senior Vice President, Construction, to oversee the procurement and construction of the first phase of Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom. It is one of London's two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest , One Canada Square...

. He was promoted to the board of Canary Wharf Holdings Limited as an Executive Director in 1994, was appointed Deputy Chief Executive in 1996 and Chief Executive in March 1997.

He was awarded a CBE in June 2003 and became a Trustee of the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

in 2007.