SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR

within the next seven years”. Admitting he is a serial risk-taker and likes nothing more than a challenge, Weingard says he wants to become “part of a movement”. “I want to make a change and do projects that make a difference. I am 50 this year and by the time I am 57, I want to stop doing active investment and go into passive investment, where I am a board member and just direct projects.” However, he is not throwing in the towel just yet and has several ventures in the pipeline, one of which is building three luxury houses in Barcelona worth between $11 million and $16 million each, with five per cent of the money being donated to charity. Weingard’s latest projects include opening a second Iniala hotel next year. While still focusing on the “small and personal aspect” and exclusivity that Iniala has become known

for, he says the new resort will be more affordable, with rates ranging from $200 to $2,250 per night. Other projects include building residential apartments, an office block, multiple restaurants, shops and luxury homes. “I have enjoyed travelling the world. I am a nomad,” says Weingard. “I hope to live until I am 76 because that means I am three-quarters through my life. The first quarter of my life I was at school, the second I built my businesses, the third quarter I built a foundation and did some fantastic projects. Hopefully the last quarter I can [use to] travel the world teaching charitable causes and just enjoy the last lap.” For Weingard, it is not about being lucky or unlucky, it is about not giving up. “If someone throws a ball at you, hard, the best thing you can do is hold out a bat and that ball will go back a long way,” he says. “But some of it is luck.”

Weingard's foundation Inspirasia helps disadvantaged communities in Indonesia, India, Thailand and Malta

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MAY / JUNE 2016