Background
Bertil Hult was born in Stockholm.
Bertil Hult was born in Stockholm.
In 1971, he moved from Sweden to Germany, and in 1977, he established Education First"s head office in Lucerne, Switzerland, where he now lives. He served as the company"s Chief Executive Officer until 2002 and as chairman until 2008. Today, he is semi-retired.
Under Bertil Hult"s supervision, Education First grew to a multi-billion dollar corporation with more than 40,000 employees in 53 countries.
He has spoken frequently about his struggles with dyslexia as a child. He dropped out of school after junior high and worked making coffee and running errands for a ship broker in London.
He learned to speak English during this time and became convinced that immersion is the best way to learn a language. After returning to Sweden and taking up his studies again, he entered Lund University, then dropped out after one year.
Bertil Hult founded Education First Education First at the age of 23, in the basement of his university dormitory in Lund, Sweden.
He started Education First as a language study and travel abroad organization, initially for Swedish high school students going to England to learn English. His childhood struggles with dyslexia convinced him that cultural immersion was a superior way to study a language. He served as the company"s Chief Executive Officer until 2002, as its chairman until 2008, and is now semi-retired.
Under Bertil Hult"s supervision, Education First grew to become a multi-billion dollar corporation with more than 40,000 employees across 500 schools and educational programs in 53 different countries.
Education First continues to open language schools around the world, grow its online language school (Education First Englishtown), place au pairs with American families, coordinate life-changing student travel and international exchange experiences. Education First is affiliated with a business school, Hult International Business School, formerly the Arthur Doctorate. Little School of Management, which is named after Bertil Hult.
Education First Education First is wholly owned by Bertil Hult and his family. Forbes estimates Bertil"s Netto worth to be 5 billion United States dollar as of March, 2015.
Today, he sails on his boat Erica XII. In 2006 he was elected International Swede of the Year.
In 2012, Bertil Hult was awarded the Lucia Trade Award by the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce for his contribution to fostering free trade between Sweden and the United States. In 2014, Bertil Hult was named a Laureate by the World Entrepreneurship Forum. The award recognizes "exceptional entrepreneurs for their impact on society and their capacity to change the world."
Apart from Education First, Bertil Hult has been involved in charities fighting drug abuse and promoting dyslexia education.
He has since served as chairman and currently as trustee for the foundation.
Bertil Hult also supports the Bertil Hult Prize. Starting in 2003, the Bertil Hult Prize has been given to a Swedish school once every year, based on their support for dyslexia education.
Bertil Hult also sponsors the Hult Prize, a United States dollar 1 million award for a global business school case competition run by Hult International Business School and the Clinton Global Initiative. Lately, the Hult family has founded Education First"s Global Classroom Foundation, which has the goal of helping to rebuild elementary schools in troubled areas.
In 1993, he was a founding member of the Geneva based Mentor Foundation, “an independent, non-governmental, not for profit, apolitical organization” focused on supporting research and initiatives in drug prevention.
