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Michael K. Cobb

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

Entrepreneurial CEO Michael K. Cobb has overseen the growth of ECI Development, Ltd. as one of Latin America’s most exciting, diversified resort development companies providing inspired lifestyles for adventurous souls.

Since 1996, at the helm of ECI Cobb is widely admired for his vision, authenticity and tenacity in the face of overwhelming obstacles. Launched as a small mortgage company in Belize, the firm has reached record sales through its portfolio of over 4,000 acres of resort properties in a host of Latin nations, including its first foray into Europe.

Cobb has made a career out of doing the right thing, always, often despite the tyranny and pressures of the here and now, and reflected in the enduring admiration in which he is held. The Mercados y Tendencias Latino business magazine has named him as one of the “100 Outstanding CEOs in Central America and the Caribbean,” with winners selected for “entrepreneurial quality, their records, and their managerial mystique.” Forbes has noted ECI’s lack of debt in weathering business storms, and Nicaragua Business has cited an ability to be “going full speed ahead” despite severe market obstructions. As evidence of his international standing, Cobb has served on the board of directors of the prestigious National Association of Realtors and its Presidents Advisory Group.

Of ECI’s groundbreaking for the Belize Marriott Residences, Ambergris Today said that Cobb and his partners were welcomed by Belize officials with open arms and were “determined to push forward, pursuing dozens of options until they found the right lenders and the right legal structure to protect the lenders’ interest, and everyone involved.”

Among ECI’s recent accomplishments are acquiring a European gateway in the Azores, Portugal, partnering with cryptocurrency pioneer Mike Peterson in El Salvador as the region’s first developer to accept crypto, and breaking ground for Belize’s first Marriott branded hotel and residences. Also in Belize, Best Western has placed its brand on ECI’s inland resort community. In both Nicaragua and Belize, ECI quickly selling out several home developments, taking advantage of the popular new trend in efficient and responsible home sizing.

In terms of corporate social responsibility, ECI’s robust culture under Cobb’s direction has made a difference in humanitarian, health care and environmental sustainability circles and been widely cited as exemplary.

Cobb has been pursuing his dream since the mid-1990s, when at the height of a successful career in the computer industry, he left to pursue more pioneering opportunities in the emerging real estate markets of Latin America. In 1996, he and his business partner formed a company, Exotic Caye International, to provide loans to North Americans purchasing properties in Belize, Honduras and throughout the region.

As the need for capital outstripped the supply, the mortgage company was converted to an international bank under the jurisdiction of Belize. It continues to provide mortgage services, but has expanded its services to encompass the full realm of financial products.

Cobb has remained steadfast in mission and vision for the entirety of ECI’s corporate lifetime.