
Candace Johnson
Entrepreneur, Founder and Investor
SES (Société Européenne des Satellites)
Candace Johnson is a global infrastructure, network and innovation expert and entrepreneur. She is co-initiator of SES/ASTRA and SES Global, the world’s pre-eminent satellite group. She is also founding President of Europe Online Investments S.A. and founder of Loral Cyberstar-Teleport Europe. Ms. Johnson is also founding President of the VATM, the Association of Private Telecom Operators in Germany and founding President of the Global Telecom Women’s Network (GTWN).
Ms. Johnson is also President of Johnson Paradigm Ventures (JPV), partner in Sophia EuroLab. JPV is also a principal founding shareholder in London-based Ariadne Capital. She is currently a Member of the Board of SES, a publicly quoted company in France.
Ms. Johnson is a Member of the Supervisory Boards of Garage Canada, Iris Capital (Europe) and Inovent (Turkey). Ms. Johnson is founding Member and former President of the Sophia Business Angels, France as well as founding president of three multi-million Euro investment funds, Succès Europe, Croissance Europe and Innovation Europe.
Ms. Johnson is Member of the Board of Governors of EDHEC, France’s largest business school, the University of Haifa in Israel, Sabanci University in Istanbul Turkey, and a Senior Enterprise Fellow for the University of Essex. Ms. Johnson serves as a Member of the Advisory Board of KACST, Saudi Arabia.
Ms. Johnson has been decorated as Commander of the Luxembourg Order of Merit and Officer of the Couronne de la Chene as well as Officer of the Bundesverdienst Kreuz 1. Klasse (FRG). Ms. Johnson has also received the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the World Communication Awards in 2002 and in 2012, Ms. Johnson received the Lifetime Achievement Award from The International Alliance of Women in Washington D.C. Johnson holds Masters Degrees with Honors from the Sorbonne and Stanford Universities, a Bachelors Degree from Vassar College and her high-school degree from Punahou, Honolulu, Hawaii.