Paul Deiters (1952, Wassenaar) grew up as the seventh child in a large family. After his schooling in Wassenaar and The Hague, he studied business administration at Erasmus University Rotterdam and at the Interfaculty of Business Administration in Delft.
Paul began his career at AMRO Bank and subsequently worked at the Oranje Nassau Group, where he specialised in investments. In 1988, together with two partners, he spun off these activities into Halder Holdings, an early and leading private equity firm in the Netherlands, focused on investing in and actively developing privately held companies. Halder successfully developed medium-sized companies – including in industry, services, and consumer-oriented sectors. In 2000, the partners sold their shares to GIMV, where Paul remained a member of the Executive Committee until 2007. The proceeds from this sale formed part of the financial foundation of Stichting Stokroos.
With his characteristic modesty, Paul had a deep sense of wonder and great respect for nature, and for music, visual art, and their creators. He travelled extensively and spent extended periods in the Swiss Engadin, where he immersed himself in the work of, among others, the writer Hermann Hesse and the painter Ferdinand Hodler. A keen mountaineer, he was active in the Alps in both summer and winter.
In 2009, Paul was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He passed away in 2017, at the age of 65.
