John Fentener van Vlissingen, founder of BCD and BORON, has died aged 86. He passed away on 11 December 2025 in Zeist, the Netherlands. John was born on 4 March 1939.
Back in 1975, van Vlissingen founded BCD, which later became a global travel management group. He began his career in banking, before launching his own company. This marked the beginning of a family-owned organisation spanning business travel, real estate, venture capital and philanthropy.
In 1987, he set out a long-term vision for business travel in a memo to staff. He identified some of the defining forces of the sector – including globalisation, consolidation and technology – forces which later shaped the development of BCD Travel.
BCD Travel is now the world’s second largest travel management company. Its growth included the merger of WorldTravel BTI, TQ3 Travel Solutions and The Travel Company.
Fentener van Vlissingen was twice named among Business Travel News’ 25 Most Influential People in Business Travel. He was later inducted into the BTN Hall of Fame.
Alongside BCD, he established BORON as the family’s private investment company, which focuses on long-term investments across real estate services, hospitality and travel and e-commerce. He and his wife, Marine, Comtesse de Pourtalès, also created several charitable foundations, which supported children in need, environmental protection and emerging artists.
Within BCD, employees supported hundreds of charitable initiatives – this work was backed by the John & Marine van Vlissingen Foundation. Despite operating globally, he maintained close ties to the Netherlands. He invested in Royal Delft, helping preserve the historic producer of Delft Blue porcelain.
In 2025, several of his grandchildren joined the BCD and BORON family boards, in a move that reinforced the company’s long-term family ownership model. Both BCD and BORON will continue to operate under his principles.
As Fentener van Vlissingen said: “In business, a finish does not exist.” He is survived by his wife, three children and nine grandchildren.