Henry Allan Engelhardt (born January 17, 1958) is an American businessman, and the founder and former chief executive of

Admiral Group Admiral Group plc is a British financial services company headquartered in Cardiff, Wales. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, and markets the ''Admiral'', ''Bell'', ''Elephant'', ''Diamond'' and ''Vey ...

, a Welsh motor insurance company. He was credited as driving the company in to a position where it became one of Britain's most valuable companies and stepped down as chief executive in 2016 to make way for a younger management team to take the group forward.

Early life

Engelhardt was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family on January 17, 1958, in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, the son of Annette (née Bernstein) and Sheldon Arthur Engelhardt. His father owned a successful meatpacking operation in Chicago. He has a sister and a brother, Karen Engelhardt Stern and Joel Engelhardt. He attended

Evanston Township High School Evanston Township High School (ETHS) (District 202) is a public high school in Evanston, Illinois. The campus is located in a northern suburb of Chicago along the Lake Michigan shore. ETHS was established in 1883 and serves the city of Evanston a ...

, and was educated at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, and has a joint degree in journalism and radio, television and film. He followed his French girlfriend (now wife) to Europe where he studied for an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

Insead INSEAD ( ; French: ''Institut européen d'administration des affaires'') is a non-profit business school with locations in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and North America (San Francisco, USA ...

Career

Engelhardt became part of the founding team at

Churchill Insurance Churchill Insurance is a British insurance company based in Bromley, London. Founded in 1989, as one of the country's first direct to customer car insurance companies, the company has expanded to offer a range of general insurance products. Sin ...

, where he developed his way of doing business. In 1993, he launched Admiral Group. In 1999, he led a

management buy out A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or High-net-worth individual, individual. Management- and/or leveraged buyouts bec ...

of the business which has since become a constituent of the

FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most highly capitalised blue chips listed on ...

. In September 2012, the Engelhardt family owned more than 14% of Admiral Group. In March 2017, he became CEO of Elephant Insurance Services, a US subsidiary of Admiral Group. In 2021 Engelhardt was made an independent non-executive director of the

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; ) is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running of rugby in Wales, overseeing 320 member clu ...

Personal life

Engelhardt is married to Diane Briere de L'isle; they have four children. The family lives in

Cardiff, Wales Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

.Biography: Henry Engelhardt
Insead

References

1958 births Businesspeople from Chicago University of Michigan alumni INSEAD alumni American chief executives Living people American billionaires 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American philanthropists 21st-century American Jews Evanston Township High School alumni {{UK-business-bio-1950s-stub