Jan Hugo Isidoor Coene (born in 1957), is a Belgian businessman who fell in disgrace because of the Picanol Scandal.
[4] The affair became a political issue in Belgium and a bill was introduced in Parliament (the "Picanol law") to force big companies to publish the remuneration of their upper management personnel.
In the meanwhile, the affair also shed another bad light on the Network of Vlerick-Boys, a circle of business men with low moral standards who all studied at the Vlerick Management School.
[5] Members of the circle include Jan Coene, Ronald Everaert, Luc Debruyckere and Louis Verbeke, who were all implied in scandals of greed, mismanagement and fraud (Lernout & Hauspie, Ter Beke [nl], Picanol).
Other of Jan Coene's professional activities include: Director and Board Member of various companies: Domo, Committee Koning Boudewijnstichting, Flanders, Federation of Flemish Enterprises, co-founder of BBE (Belgian Business for Europe), member of the World Economic Forum (since 2002), Chairman of Siveco Group SA, a company providing CMMS products worldwide.