timeline roger shashoua
Timeline of the life of Roger Shashoua, Serial Entrepreneur
1940s
1940 - Roger born in Alexandria, Egypt
1947 - Roger Shashoua's mother informs him that a millionaire is "a man who helps the people who have helped him, lives in a Penthouse, and is written about in the gossip columns" and encourages him to revitalise the family fortunes
1960s
1964 - Roger stages the first New York International Inventors Exhibition attracting thousands of inventors from across the USA
1965 - Roger makes his first appearance on The Johnny Carson Show to promote his inventors show, but the 'pop-up egg timer' throws eggs into the audience, and the 'anti-mugging hat' inadvertently leaves a stage-hand unconscious
1966 - Successfully launches the first Licensing Expositions in the USA offering thousands of patents to the industry for licensing
1968 - Roger's company Patent International Group goes public, making the 28 year old a 'paper millionaire' for the first time
1970s
1970 - Patent International launches Information Division and the New Product Centre attracting 60,000 clients
1972 - Roger licences Prenatal, the world's first pre-birth sex determinator, biological fertilizer, mini-cassettes and soft lens technology.
1975 - Patent International stages Expo Beirut and Saudi Tech - the biggest licensing trade show staged in the Middle East to date
1975 - Patent International is ranked the largest patent licensing group in the USA, and Roger is worth $30 million
1976 - Roger founds MTE Group to launch trade fairs in Africa and Middle-East
1977 - Roger launches the first African Credit Card, Africa Express, only to see 50,000 fibreglass cards devoured by hungry ants in storage
1978 - Hercules, the 'Flying Greek Inventor', unintentionally dive bombs into a church steeple with his prototype glider at Roger Shashoua's Athens Motor Show
1979 - Roger sells MTE Group - at the time, the largest exhibition group in the Middle East and Africa
1980s
1980 - ICE Group founded
1981 - ICE Group stages first China Technology Manufacturers Exposition in Beijing
1982-84 - Stages 20 expositions in Tianjin and Beijing covering 20 themes - Motor shows, Telecommunications, Consumer, Construction, Medical, Design, Packaging, and Transport.
1985 - Designs and launches 1st Tianjin and Shenzhen International Exhibition Centres
1986 - Harold Wilson joins ICE Group board and signs London Docklands join venture with Chinese Government for the 'China Expo-City'
1987 - Roger Shashoua founds the Shashoua School of Management in Tianjin, China
1987 - Roger takes Harold Wilson on a promotional visit to Moscow as part of an ICE Group delegation but is cross-questioned by MI6 after quipping at Heathrow that the former British Prime Minister was planning to defect
1988 - China Docklands Centre sold to consortium and Roger publishes his first book, The Paper Millionaire
1990s
1990 - Roger enters the Russian Market with his newly-formed Avencourt Group
1990 - Roger defies skull-duggery of the Parisian Literary Establishment to stage The Salon International du Livre
1990 - Launches European Bookseller magazine
1991 - Roger stages the 1st Prague Book Fair and International Writers Fair
August 1991 - Coup in Russia poses differing problems for Gorbachev and for Roger - the latter finding his plans for a Moscow Book Fair temporarily dashed.
1992 - Roger stages the 1st Moscow Motor Show - highlights including a hijacking of the event by his Russian partners, and a visiting gangster testing the reliability of a bullet-proof vehicle by spraying it with bullets from an automatic pistol
1992 - Roger establishes the Shashoua Collection, a fine art collection of works from Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The Shashoua Collection continues to support young and emerging artists domestically and abroad
1993 - ITE Group formed and Roger stages the 2nd Moscow International Motor Show - highlights including the theft of 4000 square metres of carpet in the hall by exhibitors armed with shears, the theft and subsequent sale of the free event T-shirts, and an attempt by mafia heavies to purchase every car on display at the end of the show
1993 - Launches 1st Moscow and Kazakhstan International Oil & Gas Shows. 200,000 sq ft exhibition space sold, attracting over 60,000 trade visitors
1994 - Roger stages the 1st Kiev, Prague, Bucharest and Kazakhstan Motor Shows, the latter being notable for rudimentary arrangements being employed by the Russian security firm, including the locking of men in cars overnight to ensure that the vehicles could not be stolen
1994 - Roger stages the 1st Moscow International Travel & Tourism Exhibition over 116,000 members of public attend the 250,000 sq ft show
1998 - ITE Group ranked as 'one of the fastest growing small businesses in Europe' by Business Week magazine, and is the largest trade fair organiser in Russia and the CIS, with combined annual attendance reaching 3 million visitors and 9,500 corporate exhibitors participating in over 100 trade events. Pre-tax profits of $20 million and sales $70 million
1998 - ITE Group listed on London Stock Exchange and receives 'Queen's Award for Export'
1999 - Roger sells his shares for $100 million and resigns from ITE Group, a year after its reverse take-over and listing on the London Stock Exchange, and chairs the creation of Expomedia Group Plc.
2000s
2001 - Expomedia floats on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM)
2001 - Expomedia inaugurates the Warsaw International Expocentre, Poland's first purpose built multi-functional exhibition centre (250,000 sq ft)
2002 - Expomedia acquires controlling share of Mash Media Ltd, a leading international publisher of exhibition & events information
2002 - Joint ventures established with Independent Media in Russia, publishers of The Moscow Times, Cosmopolitan (Russia) and De Telegraaf / TTG Group (Netherlands) to launch branded events in Russia & Holland
2003 - The group is appointed to run an EXPO XXI Noida International Expocentre in New Delhi, thus effectively entering the Indian market (180,000 sq ft exhibition space)
2004 - Expomedia expands its portfolio across Central & Easter Europe, organizing events in Russia, Poland, Hungary and Holland. Signs long term leases for new Expo XXI venues in Cologne, Amsterdam & Belgrade (150,000 sq ft exhibition space)
2004 - Expomedia Hellas S.A. is launched placing the company in Greece
2005 - Expomedia link-up with Expo-Volga in Samara & Gazprom Media, Russia's leading media group. Announces long term agreement for new EXPO XXI centre in Zagreb, Croatia
2005 - Expomedia results show record growth of 80%
2006 - MacExpo, the leading Apple Macintosh exhibition in London and Cologne and The Daily Telegraph's Adventure Travel & Sports show at Olympia are acquired by Expomedia
2006 - Gruner & Jahr (part of Bertelsmann group) partner in Expomedia's German trade & consumer events and launch food & wine shows, attracting 26,000 visitors
2007 - Roger Shashoua writes and publishes Dancing With The Bear providing entrepreneurs with an inside guide to making mega-millions in Russia, China, India & beyond. Steps down as Expomedia's Chairman to become Non-Executive Director.
2007 - Forms Benisha Development Corporation in Morocco and signs an agreement with Moroccan Government for 400,000 sq ft trade, shopping and expo-congress center in Agadir - Launches Agadir's first Aparthotel with 150 Rooms