{{Short description|Dutch businessman}} {{multiple issues| {{promotional|date=April 2016}} {{cleanup reorganize|date=April 2016}} }} {{Infobox person | name = Robertus H. L. M. Thielen | image = Rob-thielen.jpg | caption = Rob Thielen at the offices of Waterland Private Equity Investments | birth_date = {{Birth year and age |1961 }} | birth_place = Netherlands | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = Rob Thielen | occupation = Entrepreneur and investor | known_for = Chairman and founder of private equity firm Waterland Private Equity | alma_mater = University of San Diego, Leiden University | spouse = Irina Morozova | children = | website = {{URL|https://www.robthielen.co.uk}} }} '''Robertus "Rob" Thielen''' (born 1961)<ref name=bloombergexecprofile>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140912002058/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=972984&privcapId=789325 Executive Profile: Robert H.L.M. Thielen] Bloomberg Businessweek</ref> is a Dutch businessman and investor, working primarily in Europe. He is the chairman and founder of Waterland Private Equity, a co-founding partner of the Russia-based private equity group Elbrus Capital, and the chairman of the Gryphion family office.<ref name="Gryphion Team Page">{{cite news |newspaper=Gryphion|date=3 September 2019 |title=Gryphion Team Page|url=https://gfo.nu/}}</ref>
== Early life and education== Thielen was born in the Netherlands in 1961. He graduated in tax law at the University of San Diego in California, US, and obtained a degree in tax law at the Rijksuniversiteit Leiden, the Netherlands. He also studied at Northwestern University in Chicago, US.
==Career== He worked as a turn-around management consultant with the Investment Management & Consulting Group (IMCG) and with the International Corporate Finance Group of ABN AMRO Bank.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}
Thielen was a partner and shareholder of RWP Corporate Finance advisors, which was later acquired by Investec group. He was also general manager of his family owned fashion retail group.<ref name="bricmagazine.co.uk">{{cite news |newspaper=BRIC Magazine |date= August 2014 |title= Holland's Key Player In Russia: Rob Thielen|url=http://bricmagazine.co.uk/hollands-key-player-in-russia-rob-thielen/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330202933/http://bricmagazine.co.uk/hollands-key-player-in-russia-rob-thielen/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2015-03-30 }}</ref>
He is chairman and founder of Waterland Private Equity Investments, an independent private equity group which focuses its investments on Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Waterland has been involved in about 500 transactions in 54 industries in 18 countries with an equity base of around €6 billion.<ref name=bva>[http://www.bva.be/member-list-waterland-private-equity.html Member Profile: Waterland Private Equity] Belgian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association</ref> The company owned Intertrust Group, until it sold that firm in 2012 for an estimated €400 million. Waterland has ranked in the top 3 of best performing private equity houses globally for 8 years in a row.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Private Equity News |date= 20 January 2017 |title= Waterland judged best performing firm in the world |url= https://www.privateequityinternational.com/waterland-judged-best-performing-firm-in-the-world}}</ref>
He was co-founding partner of Elbrus Capital,<ref name=elbrus>[http://elbcp.com/team/ Partners] Elbrus Capital</ref> a Russia-based private equity group. Its equity base is around $1 billion.<ref name="bricmagazine.co.uk"/>
Thielen founded his own family office Gryphion in 2019 in order to manage his assets with a focus on private equity investing.<ref name="Gryphion Team Page"/>
Thielen has served as a non-executive member of the board of RPS plc, an LSE quoted company active in environmental consultancy; and a non-executive board member of arxes NCC AG, an IT service provider quoted at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. He currently is an advisor to the non-executive director of Hampstead Global Fund, a hedge fund formerly listed on the Irish Stock Exchange.<ref name="bloombergexecprofile"/>
He contributes to Forbes.com covering international finance and investment trends.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Forbes |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/robthielen/ |title=Contributor Profile: Rob Thielen}}</ref>
== Other positions== Thielen was a member of the visiting faculty of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, where he taught on mergers and acquisitions on the MBA program.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Waterland Private Equity|date= 2 September 2019|title=About|url=https://waterland.be/en/about/team/rob-thielen}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.waterlandpe.com/people/rob-thielen/ |title=About Rob |publisher=Waterland |access-date=September 24, 2025 }}</ref>
== Political support and sponsorship == VVD politician Hans van Baalen has mentioned Thielen as one of the sponsors of this 2014 campaign for the European Parliament.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Algemeen Dagblad |date=8 May 2014 |title=Van Baalen weigert inzage in donaties van rijke vrienden |trans-title=Van Baalen refuses scrutiny of donations by rich friends |url=http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1012/Nederland/article/detail/3651367/2014/05/08/Hans-van-Baalen-weigert-inzage-jaarverslagen.dhtml}}</ref>
Thielen donated £50,000 to the British Conservative Party in April 2016.<ref>Private Eye issue 1428, pg. 12</ref>
Thielen also sponsors the Smart Parks Foundation and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Spears|date=19 August 2014 |title= ShadowView pilots drones in African parks to prevent poaching |url= https://www.spearswms.com/shadowview-pilots-drones-in-african-parks-to-prevent-poaching/ }}</ref>
== Recognition == In 2011, Thielen won the annual APEC ‘Private Equity Man of the Year’ Award, an award for Private Equity leaders established by the Amsterdam Private Equity Club.<ref>[http://www.apec.nl/default.aspx?id=28 APEC Award Winnaars] Amsterdam Private Equity Club</ref>
In 2009, he was ranked 170 in the Quote 500 list of richest Dutch people; in 2018 he was placed at number 82 in the Netherlands Quote 500.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Quote|date=30 March 2018 |title=Quote 500 member Rob Thielen makes a big hit|url=https://www.quotenet.nl/zakelijk/a212944/quote-500-lid-rob-thielen-maakt-grote-klapper-212944/}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thielen, Rob}} Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:University of San Diego alumni Category:Dutch businesspeople Category:Private equity and venture capital investors Category:Conservative Party (UK) donors