The charismatic Jacob Gelt Dekker (1948-2019), was a well-known Dutch self-made millionaire, serial entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Despite being diagnosed with cancer in his twenties he has always been living his life to the full. Sadly he lost the battle against cancer on 1 September 2019 and died at home in Key West.

A world traveler pur sang, commuting between his residences in Amsterdam, New York, Curaçao, and Key West, Dekker was the pen-ultimate Dutch entrepreneur who saw opportunities everywhere and was a most generous patron of numerous institutions.

Dekker was always involved in improving the situation for the less fortunate, whether that is in Africa, Asia or the Caribbean.

In 2019 he started work on a book about immigrants, a subject close to his heart. The work was left unfinished.