Gavin O'Reilly
Gavin Karl O'Reilly is a Dublin-born businessman with Irish and Australian citizenship. A triplet, he is the second son and fourth child of former Irish media magnate and famed industrialist Sir Anthony O'Reilly and Australian Susan O'Reilly.
He is executive chairman of Red Flag Consulting, and executive director of Bayard Capital LLC, a privately-owned technology investment firm, with interests in Software as a Service and biotech, with other VC interests, and is chairman of VR tech solutions company, Wemersive Inc.
He is the former CEO of The Agency Group Limited, and prior to that he was group CEO of London Stock Exchange-listed Independent News and Media PLC, the then largest press group in Ireland and South Africa and one of the largest media groups in Australia and New Zealand and leading media investments in India and Indonesia, with almost 200 titles and a readership of over 100 million. He is also the former president of the World Association of Newspapers, and a director of the Ireland Funds.
Early life
O'Reilly was born, the eldest of triplets, and fourth of six children, in 1966, in Dublin, Ireland and brought up in London, then in Fox Chapel, Pittsburgh, USA, when his father Tony O'Reilly was Chairman and CEO of H.J. Heinz Inc,, and then in Dublin. He attended Harrow School in London in 1981 and completed his high school studies at Clongowes Wood, Ireland's oldest Catholic school, run by the Jesuits, in a historic house near one of the then main family homes, Castlemartin in Kildare, Ireland.After taking his Irish Leaving Certificate exam in 1985, and graduating, he worked at London advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach, for two years. He then attended Georgetown University School of Business in Washington DC, but interrupted his studies to work as a stockbroker in First Pacific Securities in Hong Kong and London, before finishing his degree at Georgetown with honours.
Career
Red Flag Consulting
He is executive chairman of Red Flag Consulting, which specialises in strategic communications, government and public affairs, and crisis communications for Fortune-500 companies and other large corporations and associations in the US and across Europe.Bayard Capital LLC
He is director of Bayard Capital LLC, a privately-owned technology investment firm, with interests in Software as a Service, biotechnology and other VC areas.Wemersive, Inc.
He is chairman of Wemersive which specialises in "mobile-first" 360º VR software solutions and services, as well as the broader development of end-to-end immersive technologies.The Agency Group
In 2013, O’Reilly was appointed Group CEO of the-then-London headquartered The Agency Group Limited. As the largest independent music agency TAG represented a global roster of over 2,500 artists, the roster includes Deep Purple, Guns N' Roses, Dolly Parton, Ringo Starr, Motörhead, Paramore, Jungle, Nickelback, Stromae, The Kills, Natalia Jiminez, Alice Cooper, Moby, Rush and others. In August 2015, O’Reilly spearheaded the sale of The Agency Group to United Talent Agency, LLC.INM
In 1993, O'Reilly joined the London- and Dublin-listed multinational media company, Independent News and Media plc, by then already the largest media group in Ireland, and led its "yellow page" division, the Independent Directory. In 1999, after working in several divisions, he was appointed CEO of the Irish operations of INM and oversaw the move of the company's production and logistic operations to Citywest Business Park in 2000. He became Group COO of INM in December 2001 and was appointed to its board of directors in 2004. He served as Chairman of ASX-listed APN News & Media, a leading media and entertainment company with diverse assets in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong, from 2008 - 2012, a company in which INM held a controlling stake. In 2005, he led INM's strategic foray into India with the investment into Jagran Prakashan Limited, one of India's leading media conglomerates controlled by the Gupta family. O'Reilly served on the board of JPL from 2006-2014.Following his father's retirement in 2009, O'Reilly was promoted to Group CEO of INM. In April 2012, he stepped down as chief executive of Independent News & Media, ending 39 years of direct control by his family of Ireland's largest media group.
Other roles
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers
In Seoul, South Korean in 2005, he was elected President of the World Association of Newspapers. O’Reilly orchestrated the merger of WAN with IFRA in 2009 to form the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers - the representation body for the global newspaper and news industry. He was elected as the first President of the merged association and held the office until 30 June 2011. As the longest-serving President he now serves as an Honorary Member of the Executive Committee.United Europe
He is a founding member of United Europe, a non-profit association set up in 2013 by prominent European business people, politicians and analysis. It was initiated by Wolfgang Schüssel, the former Austrian chancellor who as president now heads the organisation, and Jürgen Grossman, a German entrepreneur, who serves as treasurer.Former Roles
He is also the former chairman of the National Newspapers of Ireland, BM Polyco, and Dromoland Castle Holdings Limited, and a former director of Norkom Technologies PLC, a financial crime and compliance software integrator, investment holding company TVC PLC, PT Mahaka Media TBK one of Indonesia's leading media companies, Ashford Castle Hotel and resort in Ireland, Cashcade Ltd., a bingo / online casino operator, iTouch PLC, and the Irish Heart Foundation, and a founding-director of Barretstown Gang Camp in Ireland.Personal life
O'Reilly married Danish-national Christina Grimm in December 2012 in London, with whom he has two children. They live in Los Angeles.O'Reilly previously married model and actress Alison Doody on 25 June 1994, at the then family residence, Castlemartin. They then made their home at Bartra House, a Dalkey, the marriage produced two daughters. They divorced in 2006.