Grant Horsfield, also known as the naked guy,[1] is an entrepreneur from South Africa. In 2007 he founded the naked Retreat and currently holds the position of chairman and founder of the naked Group.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Early life
editHe lost his father when he was 12 and grew up on a farm. His mother had to raise him and his 4 siblings [7][11]
Career
editGrant worked in England and South Africa for more than 10 years. With a background in IT, he launched e-Bites Limited publishing company in 2000. In 2004, Grant received an MBA from University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business.[2][10]
He moved to China in 2005 and in 2007 he founded naked Retreats which later became part of naked Group. In 2015 he founded naked Hub which later expanded to 50 locations across China, Vietnam, Australia and the UK. The naked Hub became one of the biggest co-working space operators in China.[2][12][4][5][10]
In 2009 he wrote and published a book titled “The Poverty Penalty – The Price of Being Poor”. This study examines the lives of the poor in relation to those more fortunate. In particular, it looks into the injustices the poor are forced to face when trying to escape poverty[13]
Personal life
editGrant is married to Hong Kong born architect and designer, Delphine Yip-Horsfield who is also a co-chairman of naked Group. They have three children [14][6]. He is among the richest foreigners in China.[15]
References
edit- ^ CRUZ, ANDREW (June 27, 2014). "Made in China: The naked Guy". smartshanhai.com.
- ^ a b c "SELLING THE CAPE TOWN LIFESTYLE IN CHINA".
- ^ JohnVallis (May 3, 2017). "Grant Horsfield of naked".
- ^ a b Tung, Hans (10 Sep 2018). "After WeWork deal, Naked Hub founder now wants to solve a problem for teachers".
- ^ a b Ambler, Pamela (Aug 29, 2019). "On The Brink And Back: What Coworking Space JustCo Has That Others Don't". forbes.com.
- ^ a b Flannery, Russell (Mar 21, 2013). "naked Retreats Plans To Invest More Than $160 Mln As China's Resort Market Grows". forbes.com.
- ^ a b KrASIA (7 Sep 2018). "How Naked Hub became WeWork's $400m ticket to China".
- ^ Xiang, Nina (December 5, 2016). "Grant Horsfield Wants To Get HSBC And Coca-Cola "Naked"".
- ^ Rich (September 21, 2017). "What It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur | Grant Horsfield, Naked Group". richbrubaker.com.
- ^ a b c "BRANDING AND DESIGN MENTALITY | GRANT HORSFIELD". November 26, 2015.
- ^ Yu, Xie (2013-04-14). "When a South African realizes his green dream in China". chinadaily.com.cn.
- ^ Zhang, Zara (14 April 2020). "Podcasts: How naked Group's Grant Horsfield Pioneered a Lifestyle Brand in China".
- ^ Horsfield, Grant (September 10, 2009). The Poverty Penalty: The Price of Being Poor. Lap Lambert Academic Publishing GmbH KG. ISBN 978-3838314723.
- ^ Tomlinson, Peta (5 October 2017). "The Hong Kong-born architect helping Chinese get back to basics with one-of-a-kind retreats, and embrace co-working". scmp.com.
- ^ Knotts, Joey (Oct 11, 2019). "Good Fortunes: Meet the 8 Richest Foreigners in China". The Beijinger.