Jonathan David Rowland was the founder director and Chief Executive Officer at Jellyworks, an internet investment company, from its flotation on 21 December 1999 until it was bought in August 2000 by Shore Capital Group for £42 Million shares.
The young entrepreneur, son of property entrepreneur David Rowland, was born into a family fortune of £660million and started investing at the age of 18 after having left school at the age of 16. Success seemed to be following the young man for made his first million at the age of 24.He was named one of the top 10 richest young entrepreneurs by the Guardian in 2000 ranking 3rd in the list.
David Rowland, his father, started from humble beginnings as a scrap metal dealer where he expanded and was a millionaire by the age of 23. He went on to amass a complex property and investment fortune, and is based in Guernsey.
When JellyWorks was sold, Mr Rowland turned to other investment areas.
"I wanted to create a company that specialised in taking on undervalued, distressed ventures that were in the hands of liquidators or administrators," he says.
In 2001 founded the Adeste Investment Plc and became the joint managing director and member of finance committee of the company. He had spent the earlier five years as an Executive of Rowland Capital Limited. Mr. Rowland has wide investment experience and over the last ten years has focused on listed investments, private equity, and assisting companies with re-structuring and financial advice. His role has been to identify and evaluate such investments.
The year 2005 saw Jonathan undertake another task as a Non-Executive Director at Harbinger Capital Plc and a Director at Latitude Resources Plc and Nettworx Plc which have been very prominent in the mining sector. More recently he has been a founder chairman of Tembesu Investment Ltd.
Many have accused Jonathan of living in his father’s shadows but he wants to make the Rowland family a financial brand based on a banking dynasty such as the Flemings and the Rothschilds.
"Some people accuse me of living in my father's shadow. But we have a good relationship and he's very successful, so why shouldn't I?" he says. "Although, of course, I want to be more successful than he was."
