EasyJet Chief Moved Shares to `Protect Investments,' FT Reports

By Nandini Sukumar

Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) -- EasyJet Plc founder Stelios Haji- Ioannou said he transferred some of his family's shares to his holding company to protect his investments, the Financial Times reported, citing a statement from the executive.

Haji-Ioannou will now be able to appoint two members to the board of Europe's second-largest discount airline, according to the report. ``I am merely applying my rights under the articles of association of the company to protect my investment,'' Haji-Ioannou was cited as saying.

``I did not request a dividend now,'' he also told the newspaper. The company should plan to pay a dividend in 2011 if financial markets allow it, he was cited as saying.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nandini Sukumar in London at nsukumar@bloomberg.net