Stephane De Baets
Stephane De Baets | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 6, 1969 |
| Education | Université Libre de Bruxelles |
| Occupation(s) | Founder and President of Elevated Returns (Aspen St. Regis Resort), Founder and Owner of Chefs Club |
| Known for | Blockchain-based real estate investing Hospitality Industry |
| Spouse | Sabrina Huls |
Stephane De Baets (born April 6, 1969) is a Belgian investment, real estate, and hospitality entrepreneur.[1]
He is founder and president of the international asset management firm Elevated Returns, which controls the iconic Aspen St. Regis Resort in Aspen, Colo., among other commercial properties in the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia.[2][3]
He is also the founder and owner of Chefs Club, a first-of-its-kind restaurant group that features a rotating residency of top chefs from around the world at its three locations in Aspen, Colo., and New York City.[1]
De Baets is a pioneer in blockchain-based real estate investing.[2] Through his firm Elevated Returns, he facilitated the first major commercial real estate transaction using blockchain technology to sell ownership stakes in the Aspen St. Regis Resort.[2]
He was part-owner of OptAsia Capital, a Bangkok-based boutique investment firm he founded in 2008 until he divested in 2018 to fully concentrate his investment banking efforts in Elevated Returns.[1]
Background
De Baets was born and raised in Belgium.[1] He holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and a master's degree in management sciences, finance and marketing from the Solvay Business School of Management at the Université Libre de Bruxelle.[1]
He began his career in Europe as an auditor with the European Community and spent many years as an investment banker based in Bangkok, Thailand.[1]
Business Ventures
Elevated Returns
Stephane De Baets is the founder and president of Elevated Returns, a hospitality-centric asset management company based in New York City.[4]
The firm’s portfolio of Class A real estate investment assets across the United States, Southeast Asia and Europe are valued at more than $1 Billion.[5]
The firm is a pioneer in digitizing traditional financial assets using blockchain-based technology.[2] In 2018, Elevated Returns launched the first major digital tokenization of a commercial real estate asset with the St. Regis Aspen Resort.[2]
In February 2019, Elevated Returns announced plans to digitize its entire portfolio of real estate assets using the blockchain technology Tezos.[5] The digital offerings will be made available to accredited investors on the Securitize platform.[2][6]
Elevated Returns is poised to acquire a 21 percent ownership stake in Thailand-listed Seamico Securities in March 2019.[7]
Aspen St. Regis Resort
Stephane De Baets is a majority controller of the Aspen St. Regis Resort in Aspen, Colo., through the single-asset trust Aspen Digital Inc., which operates as a subsidiary of Elevated Returns.[8][2] He purchased the property through Elevated Returns in 2010.[1]
The 179 guest room hotel is managed by Marriott International.[9]
The resort is located at the base of Aspen Mountain and boasts an exterior comprised of more than 800,000 Colorado red bricks.[9]
In 2018, it was announced that Aspen St. Regis would serve as the backing asset for a unique digital tokenization offering allowing accredited investors to take minority ownership stakes in the property through a blockchain-based technology.[2] The offering was the first major digital tokenization of a commercial real estate asset.[2]
AspenCoin (Aspen Digital Token)
To facilitate the digital tokenization of the Aspen St. Regis Resort, De Baets established Aspen Digital Token, also known as AspenCoin, in 2018.[8]
The offering used the blockchain technology Ethereum to sell 18 million digital securitized tokens representing ownership stakes in the Aspen St. Regis Resort.[2] Each of the 18 million tokens were valued at $1, together representing an 18.9 percent ownership stake in the Aspen St. Regis. Elevated Returns maintained control of the other 81.9 percent.[2]
The sale of the tokens was administered on the digital asset platform Templum Markets.[2] Aspen Digital Token have now migrated to Securitize platform and will start trading in October 2019 in multiple exchanges.[10] The tokens effectively operate as shares in the property.[2]
De Baets has stated that the tokenization strategy allows for “the “democratization of the investing process” by removing middlemen.[11] Because it is based on blockchain technology, computers are able to independently verify ledgers and other transaction records associated with the sale of the tokens, which removes layers of intermediaries that would otherwise be payed in a transaction.[2]
The blockchain-based offering has also been heralded as a blueprint for future real estate transactions, as it holds the potential to reduce financial reliance on authoritative institutions like banks, courts or governments to referee transactions and property ownership.[2]
Chefs Club
In 2012, De Baets launched the restaurant group Chefs Club inside the St. Regis Resort in Aspen, Colo.[1][12]
Chefs Club launched a second location in New York City in 2014, followed by a fast-casual concept called Chefs Club Counter in 2017.[1]
The restaurant group is a major innovator in the hospitality industry.[1] At first, Chefs Club featured full nightly menus from a rotating cast of nearly 200 prominent chefs from around the world.[13]
In 2017, the restaurant group transitioned from its nightly menu and visiting chef format to a Chef Residency Program, in which a different chef assumes complete creative control of the space and menu at one of its three locations for months at a time.[13]
The restaurant has been called “a showcase for culinary stars” and has been named to Time Magazine’s list of 100 Best Restaurants.[2] Visiting chefs have included Tokyo’s Zaiyu Hasegawa, Alain Ducasse, Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park, Alvin Cailin of Eggslut, Matthew Lightner of Atera, Jonathon Sawyer of the Greenhouse Tavern and Noodlecat, and many more.[1][12][13]
De Baets has stated his desire to turn the Chefs Club concept into a global enterprise.[12] A planned fourth location is slated to open in Taipei, Taiwan.[14]
Personal life
De Baets is married to hospitality executive Sabrina Huls.[1] They live in New York City and have 4 children.[1]
De Baets fluently speaks French, English, Dutch and Thai.[3]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m McMullen, Troy. "How Stephane De Baets Is Taking The 'Chefs Club' Brand Global". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Aspen Hotel Sale Is First Big Commercial Real Estate Blockchain Deal". Commercial Observer. 2018-10-09. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- ^ a b admin. "Team". Elevated Returns. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- ^ "Elevated Returns". LinkedIn.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ a b Group, Elevated Returns; Securitize; Tocqueville. "Elevated Returns and Securitize to Tokenize USD $1B of Real Estate on Tezos, Will Build New Compliant Security Token Issuance Standards". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Securitize Partners with Elevated Returns on Security Tokens for Thailand". Crowdfund Insider. 2018-11-26. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- ^ experiences, Cedric Jackson Cedric Jackson is a contributing writer at BlockTelegraph His writing draws on his rich life; Traveling, Time Spent; cryptocurrency, years working with the written word He is passionate about; Technology, Blockchain; finance; writing, markets When not busy; Traveling, He Spends His Time; reading; Events, Keeping up with World (2018-11-03). "Elevated Returns Acquires Prominent Thai Broker Dealer". Block Telegraph. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- ^ a b "AspenHome". aspencoin.io. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- ^ a b "Resort Overview". Marriott International. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- ^ "Aspencoin Migrates Over to Securitize with $18 Million Security Token". Crowdfund Insider. 2019-01-16. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- ^ News, Bloomberg (2019-02-11). "Entrepreneur aims to 'tokenize' property". Finance & Commerce. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ a b c Fabricant, Florence (2013-03-26). "Chefs Club in Aspen Has Plans to Grow". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- ^ a b c "About". Chefs Club. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- ^ LAZYweb (2019-02-26). "與紐約平起平坐 台北No.1 全客座主廚餐廳 - 今周刊". www.businesstoday.com.tw (in Chinese). Retrieved 2019-03-05.