Obituary | Baron Guy Ullens, art collector, gallery owner and philanthropist, dies aged 90
Ullens, who set up the contemporary gallery UCCA in 2007 in Beijing’s 798 Art District with his wife Myriam, started collecting art in the 1960s
Baron Guy Ullens, the Belgian businessman and philanthropist known for his pioneering contemporary art centre in Beijing and a violent family tragedy two years ago, died on April 19 at the age of 90.
Ullens was born in San Francisco into an aristocratic Belgian family, and spent his early years moving from one country to another because of his father’s career as a diplomat.
After graduating with a law degree from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (now KU Leuven) in Belgium, and an MBA from Stanford University in the US, he joined his family’s sugar refinery business, Raffinerie Tirlemontoise, and orchestrated its 1989 sale to Germany’s Südzucker.
In 1999, as head of investment company Artal Group, he acquired majority control of Weight Watchers International through what Forbes described as “the private equity deal of the century”. It was a highly profitable move that made him one of Belgium’s richest individuals.
Shortly afterwards, he retired from business and dedicated himself to philanthropy after marrying his second wife, Myriam “Mimi” Ullens.
Among the charitable foundations set up by the couple was the Fondation Guy & Myriam Ullens, based in Switzerland, which held the duo’s vast art collection.