Background

Jonathan spent his childhood in Cannes, on the French Riviera, where he became passionate about the world of entertainment at a very early age. His first experience in the industry was in 1996 during the Cannes Film Festival when he was a fixer for Buena Vista International (Disney). After this experience, Jonathan decided to deepen his involvement in this industry and set up his first company, JG Events (2003), at the age of 22.

Entrepreneurial and ambitious, by the age of 25, Jonathan had set up numerous companies in various fields ranging from events to high-end real estate, luxury concierge and film production.

Jonathan Gray is the son of Martin Gray, a Holocaust survivor well known for having written the bestseller book “For Those I Loved” in which he tells his experience during the Second World War.

Career

Jonathan Gray’s flair for entrepreneurship led him to launch Quintessentially France in 2005, before selling it four years later. At the same time (2005), Jonathan partnered with Gary Hersham, a powerful London broker, to set up Beauchamp Estates France, a high-end real estate agency.
The company rapidly became a major player in the high-end real estate market in the South of France, regularly breaking record sales.

Jonathan then continued diversifying as a businessman by setting up his own strategic advisory boutique in 2008: First Idea International. First Idea’s mission is to assist governments, institutions, and large corporations in strategic thinking and designing their action plans to support their economic and social transformations.
In the recent years, Jonathan Gray has also heavily invested in California by setting up the production company The Hideaway Entertainment (2016) and iDeA (Intelligent Design Agency), a creative lab set up in late 2018.