DR Pearse Lyons, founder of the animal nutrition group Alltech and a massive supporter of equestrianism worldwide, passed away at the age of 73 this week.
The Dundalk-born entrepreneur had been unwell since November when he underwent routine heart surgery, but suffered an acute lung condition that developed during his recovery, leading to his untimely death on Thursday, March 8th.
A graduate of biochemistry from University College Dublin, Dr Lyons went on to achieve masters and doctoral degrees at the University of Birmingham in England.
After moving to America with his wife Deirdre in the late 1970s, Dr Lyons decided to apply his yeast fermentation expertise to agricultural challenges and founded the biotech business Alltech in his garage in 1980 with $10,000. The company made a turnover of $1 million in its first year.
In 2010, Dr Lyons demonstrated Alltech’s commitment to international equestrian sport when the company were the title sponsors of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky, the Games’ first time to venture to North America and to his adopted home town.
His loyalty to the Games was clearly demonstrated when the 2014 edition in Normandy, France, also ran under the Alltech banner. The company’s committment to the Games amounted to over $30 million.
The 2010 WEG led to Dr Lyons being the recipient of the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s first-ever Legacy Award in 2011, among many other accolades including the Business & Finance Magazine Business Person of the Year in 2012 and the prestigious Ireland-US Council Award for Outstanding Achievement.
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Alltech opened a European Bioscience Centre in Dunboyne, Co Meath, in 1999 and the company, which employs 5,000 people and generates annual revenue of more than $3 billion, is and will remain entirely family-owned.
His wife and co-founder of Alltech, Deirdre Lyons, is director of cooperate image and design, and son Mark is president and chairman. His daughter Aoife, who the company was originally named after, is global director of educational initiatives
Dr Lyons opened the Pearse Lyons Distillery at the long abandoned St James’ Church last year, and the philanthropist was due to give the keynote speech at November’s Gain Equine Nutrition/Alltech Equine Summit in Kildare before sadly taking ill.
His son, Dr Mark Lyons, president and chairman of Alltech, said: “We are all deeply saddened by my father’s passing. He always focused on developing people, and he built an extraordinary team over the years. I know he had full confidence in his team to continue growing the company he built.
“He saw farther into the horizon than anyone in the industry, and we, as his team, are committed to delivering on the future he envisioned.”
The FEI president, Ingmar De Vos, paid tribute, saying: “Dr Pearse Lyons was a true entrepreneur and his commitment as title sponsor of both the 2010 and 2014 editions of the FEI World Equestrian Games was unshakeable.
“Always immaculately dressed, complete with his trademark Panama hat, he was a truly visionary leader who inspired everyone he met with his passion for life and unwavering belief in every project he put the Alltech name to.
“He was a real family man, not just with his own immediate family and the global Alltech family, but he also embraced – and was embraced by – the equestrian family worldwide. He will be sadly missed.”
Two young entrepreneurs who were touched by Lyons’ kindness are Annie and Kate Madden of Fenu Health. “We were hugely helped by Dr Lyons when we set up our business, Fenu Health, three years ago when we were aged 13 and 14. Others laughed at us but not Dr Lyons. We now have eight on our team and are exporting to 15 countries,” the sisters said.
“He was a very generous man to us with his most precious possession – his time. He mentored us and helped us to reduce our production costs by 90%. In one of our first phone calls he said: “Trust me and I will help you” – we did and he did. Dr Lyons’ influence, advice and generosity to us and many others lives on.”