You are a standout on the Power 100 list as you consistently set major trends and precedents in global communications. Congratulations to you for this prominent industry acknowledgement!
John, I remember as clear as day our first meeting 28 years ago and consider you a great friend and much admired Professional. I recognize many of your accomplishments and highlighting just a few here:
You have led diverse International Subsea Cable Investments and Network growth in the early years of Primus, significantly in part a catalyst for incredible organic growth from wholesale, coupled with all the mergers & acquisitions and created efficiencies and scale for retail with the network and business integrations.
After reading a recent post about Lingo, a brand and service which you started and launched well over 15 years ago at Primus I instantaneously considered many persons now working at the present company Lingo likely have no knowledge about you or how the brand Lingo started and bring to mind in 2005 when Frost & Sullivan presented you its VoIP Services CEO of the Year Award .
I remember you always collaborating with Paul, Jay, & Tom while at Primus pushing and holding us all as a team and shareholders accountable for better performance, accountability to the highest standards-best practices- & good ethics, and ultimately accountable to preset investor returns and analyst expectations.
Your career having been entrepreneurial where you take on and have directly borne much financial risk with your endeavors, helped to create thousands of jobs through your good insight, opportunity creation, investment strategies, and with capable and prudent management around the world, choosing and empowering your core teams to also be entrepreneurial all of which are a true testament to your leadership style.
With current endeavors you continue to lead successfully while adjusting as an entrepreneur with high frequency change staying ahead of the curve throughout these many years. To this day with a few people from Primus, Anthony and Demos, who are now your partners and co investors at the Djibouti Data Center, another example of you setting a global trend, recognizing the need, and seizing the opportunity with prudent and responsible execution. In some ways you have helped change the world establishing a major space for global internet connectivity to Africa which will help shape economic prosperity across the African continent throughout the 21st century.
I too think about all our travels, and fun times with the team and the friendship we established all those years back and with both you and Jay all which continue today, and recently all the laughs we three have luckily all shared these past months so far through this Covid19 Crisis. You are and remain incredibly humble with all of your accomplishments and especially when I think of you and reflecting on Chris as a peer and our mutual friend, who we know was only sometimes humble and who would often inquire enthusiastically about you and with great interest as a peer, competitor, and friend. To borrow one from Jay Lee, “…John is like a brother to me”.
All great life experience and too many great memories for me, all were good times even with a few small bumps along the way! I have learned a great deal about life and business from you and all those included here which still guide me today and I thank you and all.
I wish everyone on this this Power 100 list to be so fortunate in life as you are, and too with myself and our friends included. To your success, prosperity, and most importantly continued good health!
Sincerely and with great respect,
George
