Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of Andermatt Swiss Alps AG consists of four members and is headed by Chairman Samih Sawiris.
Samih Sawiris
Chairman of the Board
In 1996 Samih Sawiris established Orascom Projects for Touristic Development Holding and a year later founded Orascom Hotel Holding. The two companies eventually merged to form Orascom Development Egypt S.A.E. Sawiris founded the El Gouna Beverages Company in 1997, which was the largest beverage company in Egypt when sold in 2001. He started his first company, the National Marine Boat Factory, after graduating from the Technische Universität Berlin in 1980 with a master’s degree in industrial engineering and management.
Franz Egle
Member of the Board
Franz Egle advises companies, organisations, and personalities in the areas of public relations, media, and politics. After holding leading positions in the private sector, he was responsible for communications at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and advisor to the Swiss Foreign Minister from 1993 to 1998. Egle is a co-founder and associate of Dynamics Group AG. He holds a master’s degree in media studies and sociology and a doctorate in sociology from the University of Zurich.
Jürgen Fischer
Member of the Board
Jürgen Fischer provides leadership support for the Hospitality, Travel, Tourism and Real Estate Industry. Since 2014 he is on the board of Orascom Development. He was Chairman of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, until its sale to Accor in 2018. Fischer worked for several subsidiaries of Dubai Holdings, including CEO of Dubai Properties LLC. From 1998 to 2008 he had senior roles with Hilton International Hotels, including President EMEA and Scandic, as well as President of Commercial Operations (Sales, Marketing, Distribution & IT). With the Walt Disney Company he worked in Florida and Paris, opened 5,500 rooms and the Entertainment Center in Disneyland Paris. Fischer started as a Chef, later graduated from Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, and obtained an MBA from IMD/IMEDE.
Barbara Heller
Member of the Board
Barbara Heller is the general manager and co-owner of SWIPRA Services AG. She also holds various mandates on management and expert bodies, such as member of the Bank Council of Graubündner Kantonalbank and vice-president of CFO Forum Schweiz. Heller obtained her MBA in economics from the University of Zurich in 1991, focusing on corporate finance, empirical economic research and banking/insurance. She then worked in a variety of managerial positions in the financial services, asset management, pharmaceuticals and consulting sectors.
Naguib S. Sawiris
Member of the Board
Naguib S. Sawiris drives the asset management of a multinational private investment portfolio. He is also an active venture technology investor. Sawiris serves as Vice Chairman of the Board at Orascom Development Holding AG (2020 – present; Member of the Board 2016 – 2020), as well as Member of the Board at Andermatt Swiss Alps AG (2020 – present). He also serves as Key Shareholder Representative at FTI Touristik GmbH (2021 – present) and Member of the Board of Tawkify (2019 – present). Sawiris is Founding Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Egyptian Leadership Academy (2021 – present), the first non-profit boarding high school in Egypt. Sawiris was Founder and CEO at Yup Technologies Inc., an education technology company based in San Francisco (2013 – 2020) and serves as Chairman of the Board (2020 – present). He attended Stanford University, majoring in Economic and Enterprise Engineering.
Alex Yule-Smith
Member of the Board
After holding several positions in England and Asia, Alex Yule-Smith became Managing Director at HSBC in London in 2003. In 2006 he joined J.P. Morgan Cazenove as Managing Director in the Equity Capital Markets department. In 2010 he took a position with Eco-Bos Development Ltd, before switching to a family office. Yule-Smith sits on a number of boards of directors, including at Andermatt Swiss Alps AG, CasaOrascom, and, as chairman, at Eco-Bos Development Ltd. He has a bachelor’s degree in naval architecture and offshore engineering from the University of Strathclyde and a master’s degree in shipping, trade and finance from Cass Business School in London.