| Bertil Eric Hult | |
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Bertil Hult running with the Olympic torch in China 2008
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| Born | 1941 Stockholm, Sweden |
| Residence | Lucerne, Switzerland |
| Citizenship | Sweden |
| Occupation | Board member |
| Net worth | 5 billion USD |
| Spouse(s) | Lisbeth Hult, married 1974 |
| Children | 4 sons |
Bertil Hult (born 1941) is a Swedish business man who founded the educational and language school company, EF Education First, in 1965. In 1971, he moved from Sweden to Germany, and in 1977, he established EF’s head office in Lucerne, Switzerland, where he now lives. He served as the company’s CEO until 2002 and as chairman until 2008. Today, he is semi-retired. His two oldest sons, Philip Hult and Alex Hult, now serve as the company’s co-chairmen and his third son, Edward Hult, is the CEO of EF Educational Tours. Under Bertil Hult’s supervision, EF grew to a multi-billion dollar corporation with more than 40,000 employees in 53 countries.
Early life and education
Bertil Hult was born in Stockholm. He has spoken frequently about his struggles with dyslexia as a child. He dropped out of school after junior high and worked making coffee and running errands for a ship broker in London. He learned to speak English during this time and became convinced that immersion is the best way to learn a language. After returning to Sweden and taking up his studies again, he entered Lund University, then dropped out after one year.
- Bertil Hult dropped out of college to start a business in his dormitory’s basement in 1965, organizing trips to help students learn English in the UK.
- Today his company, EF Education First, run by his three oldest sons, offers educational travel and language training in 50 countries.
- EF sends teens on summer courses to the UK. and U.S. in such a scale that it makes EF one of the largest buyers of flights across the Atlantic.
- As the official supplier of language training for the 2016 Olympic games in Rio De Janeiro, EF says it helped teach English to 1 million Brazilians.
- Himself severely dyslexic, Hult donates money to LegiLexi, a Swedish charity that supports children with learning disabilities.
- He is also the benefactor of the Hult Prize which awards $1 million in seed funding to the winners of a student competition.
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