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Dr. Michael WJ Smurfit
Dr Michael Smurfit is former Chairman of Smurfit Kappa Group.
Born in St Helen’s, Lancashire in 1936, Dr Smurfit was educated at Clongowes Wood College and joined his father’s company Jefferson Smurfit & Sons Ltd in 1955. He was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Jefferson Smurfit Group in 1977, a position he held until his retirement as CEO in November 2002.
Dr Smurfit led the early expansion of the Group in Ireland and the UK and followed it with a series of acquisitions in the USA, Latin America and Continental Europe – creating in the process Ireland’s first international company and a global leader in paper-based packaging.
As Chairman, Dr Smurfit oversaw the merger of the Smurfit Group with Kappa Packaging BV in 2005 to form the Smurfit Kappa Group – employing 42,000 employees in 33 countries on 5 continents. Following the successful recent flotation of the newly merged Company, Dr Smurfit has retired from his position as Chairman of the Smurfit Kappa Group.
In addition to the many honorary doctorates that Dr Smurfit has been awarded, he was also made a Knight Commander of the British Empire in June 2005. He is the honorary Irish consul to Monaco and has been honoured for his achievements by the Governments of France, Italy, Spain, Venezuela and Colombia.
Dr Smurfit is a member of many sporting and social clubs in Ireland, the UK, USA, Monaco and Spain. He has four sons and two daughters.
