How Michael Jackson helped this CEO build an energy empire

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John Campion was just 20 years old when he emigrated to Los Angeles from Ireland, with only $26 in his pocket, an airline ticket and an interest in rock-and-roll.

It didn’t take Campion, now the CEO of APR Energy, long to establish himself: He talked his way into a job, nabbing a gig working as a backstage crew member for David Bowie.

“I was a lighting guy, which morphed into an opportunity,” he said during an interview with FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on Friday. “In all of our lives, there’s a fork in the road. You go left or you go right. It’s a risk to go one way or the other, so I took a risk.”

Campion ended up saving a show in Manchester, England – he earned the respect of Bowie, and parlayed it into another job working for Michael Jackson, who just so happened to front the Irish entrepreneur $100,000 to build a power company.

“I built this power generation company,” he said. “I’m 24 years old. And I’m now powering Michael Jackson.”

Campion eventually went on to found APR Energy, which specializes in providing energy to areas of the world struck by natural disasters, in 2004. He built it up into a business worth more than $500 million in revenue and took the company public in England.

“To go from Michael Jackson, who took a bet on me, and now, we were able to supply power in Puerto Rico after the hurricane,” he said. “From Michael Jackson to Puerto Rico helping people, that’s a very good story. I’m very thankful for the people who saw something in me, quite frankly, at 24, I didn’t see in myself.”

https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/how-michael-jackson-helped-this-ceo-build-an-energy-empire
 
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