Board of Directors
Our board of directors
| Name | Capacity | Independent |
|---|---|---|
| Rik Vandenberghe | Non-executive director | ◆ |
| Frank Meysman | Non-executive director | |
| Anne Leclercq | Non-executive director | ◆ |
| Cynthia Van Hulle | Non-executive director | ◆ |
| Jürgen Ingels | Non-executive director | ◆ |
| Tony De Pauw | Executive director | |
| Joost Uwents | Executive director |
Rik Vandenberghe has been the independent, non-executive chair of the Board of Directors of WDP since April 2019. He holds a Commercial Engineering diploma from the Catholic University of Leuven. He has been the CEO of Besix since April 2017. The Besix Group is a leading, multidisciplinary construction and property Company with operations in twenty-five countries, spanning five continents. Rik Vandenberghe started his career in the banking sector, working at ING for thirty years, where he held numerous leadership roles and, as CEO of ING Luxembourg and ING Belgium, enjoyed close working relationships with key actors in the real estate market and garnered extensive international experience. At ING Belgium, he headed the Real Estate & Development Financing department (1991-97), a department that also fell under his broader responsibilities until 2007. As CEO, he also formed part of the Risk Committee of ING Luxembourg (2007-13) and the Market Risk Committee of ING Belgium (2013-17). His experience as president of companies like Febelfin and Besix Group and ING subsidiaries and his knowledge of real estate, finance and securities markets, coupled with his entrepreneurial spirit and keen eye for innovation support the management of WDP and the further growth of the Company.
Industry Experience | Risk Experience
Tony De Pauw has been executive director and CEO since 1999 and represents the Reference Shareholder, the Jos De Pauw family (via the family management body RTKA). His vast experience and expertise in investing in and managing (logistics) real estate and the sector as a whole go hand in hand with his entrepreneurship.
Industry Experience
Joost Uwents has been a director since 2002 and executive director and CEO since 2010. He is a commercial engineer and holds an MBA. His banking background gives him strong knowledge of real estate and finance. Before his appointment as CEO, he was CFO of WDP for ten years. He has built up expertise in the logistics and supply chain sector. Together with its drive for innovation this expertise supports the expansion of WDP’s sustainability strategy.
Industry Experience
Frank Meysman has been a non-executive director since 2006 (until April 2018 he was also an independent director and until 2016 he held this appointment at M.O.S.T. BV, of which he himself was the permanent representative). Frank Meysman offers ample knowledge and international experience (such as in the Netherlands). He has expertise in the area of marketing and can support WDP’s focus on the customer. He has held top positions in international enterprises such as Procter & Gamble, Douwe Egberts and Sara Lee.
Cynthia Van Hulle has been an independent non-executive director since February 2015. She earned her doctorate in Applied Economic Sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven where she is a professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business Studies. She had previously studied at Yale University and at the University of Chicago and taught at the University of Columbia. In addition, she has held the Francqui chair at the University of Ghent. Key areas of expertise in her academic work include corporate finance, restructuring and governance issues. She brings thorough knowledge of accounting and auditing to the table.
Anne Leclercq has been an independent non-executive director since April 2015. She studied law at the Catholic University of Leuven and also attained a diploma from the Kellogg School of Management and an MBA from the Vlerick Business School. At the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, she took the Business Sustainability Management course in 2020.
From 1980 to 1998, she worked at several banks where, as Directeur Trésorerie, she was responsible for the Tresorerie and Trading Books as well as the investment portfolio of the respective banks. She was also a member of the ALM Committee (asset and liability management) and she was affiliated with the Belgian Debt Agency from 1998 to 2019. As from 2008, she became the Director of Treasury and Capital Markets. In this capacity, she was responsible for defining the financing policy of the Belgian national debt and the organisation of secondary markets. She was a member of the Strategic Committee, which sets the strategy and risk management for sovereign debt financing, and as Director of Treasury and Capital Markets chaired the Market Committee, responsible for the implementation of financing and its continuous assessment against the risk framework. These positions contributed to gaining extensive knowledge and experience in enterprise risk management. Her general management experience, combined with her knowledge and expertise regarding financial markets and risk-based, efficient financial management (debt capital markets), provide substantial added value to the financing policy of WDP.
In addition, she has served in various roles in supranational institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and the OECD.
Risk Experience
Jürgen Ingels has been an independent non-executive director since April 2018. He holds a Master’s in Political and Social Sciences and an MBA from the University of Antwerp.
He started his career as investment manager at Dexia Ventures, Dexia’s venture capital fund. He made his first major breakthrough with Clear2Pay, a pioneering financial technology company.
Today, Jürgen is managing partner at SmartFin, a venture capital fund which finances and supports growing European technology companies.
He is the engine behind various start-ups and scale-ups, and 2 important Belgian technology events (SuperNova and The Big Score).
His expertise in financial technology, digital innovation and technology in the broader sense contributes to the growth and future-proofing of WDP.
