Philip de Bruin

Remembering Philip de Bruin

Philip de Bruin’s passing in March 2020 brought back strong memories of his friendship, humanity, enormous impact on our business and almost fatherly mentorship over the years.

On retiring from the Humanstate Board nearly five years ago, Philip had been involved with our group for 15 years. There have been others who have made a major difference to our business, but Philip’s contribution has been foundational – not just because he was there from the start, but because his guidance was vital in getting the business off the ground. I can easily say that, had it not been for him, Humanstate would not exist in its current form today.

Philip’s initial reaction on seeing our business plan was one of healthy scepticism – a very reasonable response to a charitable enterprise from someone with his commercial focus. And yet Philip believed in our dream of enabling private global philanthropy, because he understood and shared our reasons for wanting to follow that dream.

For Philip, it was never just about the money. He believed in the dream long before PayProp was around. And yet I can say – with gratitude for his contribution and our good fortune – that he was rewarded many times over for his leap-of-faith investment in our business.

Of course, Philip was not just a shareholder but a director too. In fact, as complete innocents in the world of commerce back then, we entrusted the running of our new company to him as our first Director, effectively placing our first office in Ticino, Switzerland. In both these roles, Philip was a true find whom it has been a rare privilege to know – providing crucial mentorship in areas like corporate structures, tax and governance, as well as brokering important and lasting connections, including some of our banking relationships.

On a personal level, Philip was an absolute gentleman – always there for us, never forcing his opinion on us, and providing the necessary guidance while always allowing us to live out our dream. He attended every last meeting in all his years with us; a quiet presence, but always ready with the right words at the right time. Of course, we had our differences of opinion too – no business with passionate founders and committed backers will be without them. But throughout, Philip brought an exceedingly calm presence to proceedings – perhaps as a result of his deep religious faith – and a very dry, left-brain engineer’s wit, but also an infectious, hearty laugh when we were able to relax and reflect on things outside the business.

I remember so many wonderful times together and could single out many of his all-round excellent attributes, but my knowledge of him ran deepest in his capacity as shareholder, and so I want to offer my last thanks to Philip in that regard. His kind is rare and sought-after – a gentleman investor who got involved for the right reasons and allowed the business to flourish, though never at the cost of the dream.

Knowing him was our privilege and honour. Please join me in wishing Philip’s family well and thanking his wife Catrien and children for sharing him with us for nearly 15 wonderful years.

WRITTEN BY JOHANNES VAN EEDEN

Philip de Bruin’s relationship with Humanstate dates back to 2001, when he joined the company as director. A long-time resident of the Italian enclave of Campione d’Italia in Switzerland, Philip co-founded EPI-USE Systems in 1994 – concluding, as its CEO, a software development and consulting partnership with SAP AG. Also under his leadership, EPI-USE expanded into an offshore holding group with more than 200 employees and subsidiaries in South Africa, the US, UK and Australia. Philip retired in 2015.