Mark Sebba built Net-a-porter’s business before the merger with Yoox, and was a longtime champion of entrepreneurs.
The cause of death was a heart attack, which Sebba suffered Monday at his home in Crete in Greece, according to a family spokesperson.
Sebba served as the online fashion retailer’s chief executive officer from 2003 till 2014.
According to a 2018 Women’s Wear Daily report, on Sebba’s watch, Net-a-porter launched businesses including The Outnet, Mr Porter and the in-house clothing label Iris & Ink. It acquired Shouke to take Net-a-porter Group into Asia and China, and launched the first retailing app for the iPhone in 2009 and the first fashion magazine for tablets.
After retiring, Sebba set about supporting other entrepreneurial businesses, and became chairman of the fresh flowers supplier Flowerbx, an adviser to the board of plus-size e-commerce brand Eloquii and a board member at tech investment bank GP Bullhound, according to a 2018 Women’s Wear Daily report.
“Mark was one-of-a-kind; the most terrific man and a true leader in every sense of the word,” said Whitney Bromberg Hawkings, ceo and cofounder of Flowerbx. “He guided me and the team at Flowerbx with integrity, discipline and grace. He was always fair. When Mark spoke, we listened and it was a privilege to know him, work with him and count him as a mentor, an ally and a friend. My heart is broken for his family, for me and for the world who has lost a truly magnificent man.”
Sebba was also a non-executive director at LMS Capital plc, a private equity firm, a trustee of the Victoria & Albert Museum and chairman of its commercial arm, V&A Enterprises. Since 2014, he also served as group board chairman of Hyde Housing Association, which provides financially accessible housing in the southeast of England, according to a 2018 Women’s Wear Daily report.
