István Kapitány

István Kapitány (born 17 December 1961) is a Hungarian business executive who served as Global Executive Vice President of Shell Mobility from 2014 to 2024.^[1] He previously served as the President of Shell Hungary, and President of Shell Commercial Fuels and Lubricants for the Americas, based in Houston, Texas.

He was born in Debrecen, in the Hungarian People's Republic. His father, also named István, was a chief pilot for Malév Hungarian Airlines who died in the crash of Malév Flight 355 in 1962, which he was piloting. His family later ran a spice store, where he had his first job.^[2]

He graduated from the Budapest Business School (now named Budapest University of Economics and Business). After completing his compulsory military service, he worked as a deputy store manager in a kitchenware store in the SUGÁR shopping center in Budapest in the late 1980s. In 1987, at the age of 25, he met the head of the network of Interag Rt., an IMPEX company and then a Hungarian subsidiary of Shell, who commissioned him with a supermarket construction project. Shell Interag's first store opened in 1988 in Székesfehérvár, along the M7 motorway.^[3] Until 1991, he was head of Shell Interag's merchandise department. In the early 1990s, he moved to London as a business consultant, where he was responsible for developing a network of petrol station shops. In 1993, he moved to South Africa, first as head of the commercial department at Shell South Africa, then a year later as regional director. In Johannesburg, he was also responsible for the franchise system. He then became retail director for Central and Eastern Europe, Greece, and Turkey.^[2] From 2004 to 2006, he was retail manager for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Poland. From December 1, 2012, he worked in Houston as president of Shell's fuels and lubricants business for North and Latin America.^[4] From December 1, 2012, he worked in Houston as president of Shell's fuels and lubricants business for North and Latin America. In 2014, he became Shell's Global Executive Vice President, based in London, where he was responsible for 45,000 gas stations and nearly 500,000 employees in 85 countries.^[5] Unlike his predecessors, he was constantly on the road, personally visiting foreign interests. He came up with the idea for the Shell V-Power fuel range and the introduction of the Clubsmart loyalty program. He spent 10 years in this position before retiring in 2024.^[6]

In 2023, he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary.^[7]

Since January 2026, he has been the economic development and energy expert of the Tisza Party.^[8]