People

Michiel Mol

Jan Mol and chess genius Joop Van Oosterom were IBM employees when they decided in 1966 to set up Holland's first software company which they called Volmac. This was a great success, supplying administrative software to the Dutch government and buying up other software houses. They were so successful that in 1988 they decided to float the business. Four years later the French software group CAP Sogeti Gemini bought the rest of the company. Both men retired rich. Mol has since invested his fortune, which is now estimated to be worth in the region of $500m. His son Michiel, born in 1969, was thus able to enjoy the fruits of his father's labours. He graduated in computer science from the University of Leiden and in 1993 established Lost Boys with two friends, developing software for the developing CD-Rom market. The growth of the Internet led the company to develop Internet software and it also diversified into game software. In 1999 the company became involved in F1 backing Jos Verstappen. In 2002 Lost Boys merged with Sweden's IconMedialab. Mol remained on the board but kept the Lost Boys Games division and went on to establish a new company called Media Republic, which aims to use new technology to market products. Lost Boys Games was transformed in 2004 into a new business called Guerrilla Games and at the end of 2005 this was sold to Sony. Mol became a supporter of Christijan Albers after Verstappen left F1 and in 2006 led the group of investors that put together an F1 deal to buy into Spyker Cars and, at the same time, take over the Midland F1 team. Mol is now a significant shareholder in Spyker and in September 2006 was appointed as F1 director of Spyker for a period of four years.