Two business legends Ken Balendra (left) and Harry Jayawardena

breathed their last yesterday

Two icons in Sri Lanka’s private sector, widely considered self-made corporate legends, Ken Balendra (85) and Harry Jayawardena (82), passed away separately yesterday after brief illnesses.

The demise of two business doyens on the same day sent shockwaves with thousands praising the respective roles they played in enhancing the economy via their businesses. Many were saddened as both were role models and two of the most outstanding human beings despite their success and influence.

Balendra held many corporate positions in Sri Lanka and the region. He served as the first Sri Lankan Chairman of John Keells Holdings Ltd., the largest conglomerate.

Balendra began his career in 1963 as a planter at Finlays, an independent tea and horticultural product trader. He joined John Keells Holdings in 1969 (then known as John Keells Thompson White Ltd.) and following a successful stint as a tea broker, he was appointed a company Director in 1974. From 1990 until his retirement from the company in 2000, he served as its Chairman – the first Sri Lankan to hold the position – overseeing a period of rapid growth and diversification. It was during Balendra’s tenure that a massive turnaround was witnessed as far as John Keells Holdings was concerned, when it transformed into Sri Lanka’s biggest conglomerate from being a colonial-era tea broking house.

Balendra also served as Chairman of The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (1998-2000), Bank of Ceylon (2000-2002), the Ceylon Tobacco Company (2003-2008), the Securities and Exchange Commission (2000-2002), and the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka. In April 2000, Balendra was appointed the first President of the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors.

He was awarded the Sri Lankan national honour ‘Deshamanya’ by President Chandrika Kumaratunga (1998) and was appointed Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Sri Lanka. He was awarded The Cavaliers Cross of the Order of Merit of Poland (2007). He was named Sri Lankan of the Year (1998) and voted the Most Effective Business Leader in Sri Lanka (2003) since independence in a poll conducted by the Lanka Monthly Digest magazine.

Harry Jayawardena was one the most successful and prominent business magnates in Sri Lanka. He was the Founder Director and the Chairman/Managing Director of the Stassen Group of Companies.

He was elected as Chairman of the Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka in 2006 after serving as its Managing Director for almost two decades. He headed many successful ventures in diversified

fields of business, including Melstacorp PLC and its subsidiaries, Aitken Spence PLC, Lanka Milk Foods (CWE) PLC, Milford Exports (Ceylon) Ltd., Ambewela Ltd., Lanka Dairies Ltd., Bogo Power Ltd., Texpro Industries, Continental Insurance, Periceyl Ltd., and Lanka Bell.

He was a former Director of Hatton National Bank PLC, former Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and SriLankan Airlines.

Jayawardena was the Honorary Consul for Denmark and was honoured with the prestigious ‘Knight’s Cross of Dannebrog’ by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark for his significant contribution to the Danish arts, sciences, and business life.

He was awarded the title ‘Deshamanya’ in recognition of his services to the motherland since November 2005.