Business

The internet billionaire living in a small South African coastal village can become the most powerful man in chess

Daily Investor • 30 August 2026

Jan Henric Buettner, an international entrepreneur, investor, sports innovator, and philanthropist, is in line to become the next FIDE President.

FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs), founded on 20 July 1924 in Paris, France, is the governing body of international competitive chess.

The 2026 FIDE Presidential election will be held on 26 September 2026, at the FIDE General Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

The three candidates to become the next FIDE President are Buettner, Wadim Rosenstein, and Timur Turlov.

What makes it relevant for South Africa is that Buettner has close ties to the country as he lives in Wilderness, a seaside village on South Africa’s Garden Route.

He was also instrumental in bringing one of the top chess tournaments in history, the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Finals, to the country.

In 2024, Buettner co-founded Freestyle Chess with the world’s strongest chess player and former world champion, Magnus Carlsen.

The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour brought together the world’s top chess players to revolutionise the sport, drawing inspiration from Formula 1’s success model.

Unlike traditional chess, where the starting position is the same for every game, Chess960 randomises starting positions.

The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour hosted high-profile events in major cities, including Paris and Las Vegas, as well as at two resorts in Germany.

The Grand Slam Finals were held in Grootbos in Hermanus. It was the first time South Africans hosted most of the world’s top players.

Participants included Magnus Carlson, Levon Aronian, Vincent Keymer, Fabiano Caruana, Hans Niemann, and Arjun Erigaisi.

Apart from the chess tournament, the event showcased Cape Town with a press conference at The Silo Hotel and a public viewing at the V&A Waterfront.

Players also visited the University of the Western Cape, where they met players from local chess clubs in the Cape Town area.

Jan Henric Buettner’s business endeavours

Buettner is an international entrepreneur, investor, sports innovator, and philanthropist with more than three decades of experience building global organisations.

He has built a reputation for raising investment capital, creating strategic partnerships, and leading complex international businesses.

Buettner has founded and developed companies in the fields of telecommunications, internet technology, venture capital, luxury hospitality and sports.

In 1989, he contributed to Axel Springer’s successful bid for Germany’s D2 mobile licence, the precursor to Vodafone Germany.

He then founded one of the world’s first multimedia online services in 1992, laying the groundwork for what would become AOL Europe three years later.

The venture culminated in a major sale in 2000, valued in the billions of dollars, significantly boosting Buettner’s net worth and profile.

He relocated to the United States in 1997 and established BV Capital, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage Internet and technology companies.

The firm, now known as Headline Ventures, manages over $4 billion in assets and has backed several major global technology companies.

Between 1998 and 2007, Buettner invested more than $1 billion in companies such as GoToMeeting, Groupon, and Sonos, helping them expand globally.

Buettner later moved into real estate and hospitality, acquiring the Weissenhaus estate on Germany’s Baltic Coast.

He transformed the property into the Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort, an internationally recognised destination.

Over the years, he has lived in Hamburg, New York, Santa Barbara, and Weissenhaus, but he now primarily resides in Wilderness, South Africa.

During his time in South Africa, he has focused increasingly on chess. As the co-founder of Freestyle Chess, he attracted significant commercial investment in the sport.

He also helped draw global media attention to chess and attracted new audiences to the game through his high-profile tournaments.

He is now moving to the next level by standing as a candidate for FIDE President, where he seeks to apply this experience to strengthen FIDE’s member federations.

He also aims to expand participation in chess, professionalise the federation’s commercial activities, and increase revenues through sponsorship and media.