Tassilo Festetics Biography

Tassilo Festetics is the husband to the late Leila Janah who was the Founder and CEO of Samasource and LXMI. He is the vice president of global solutions at Anheuser Busch.

Tassilo Festetics Career

Tassilo Festetics is the vice president of global solutions at Anheuser Busch, Anheuser-Busch InBev is a brewer and provider of consumer products that has a strong, balanced portfolio. As the vice president he oversees the brewer’s global technology, analytics, and back-office operations.

Tassilo Festetics Wife – Leila Janah Husband

Tassilo was married to the late Leila Janah who was the founder and CEO of Samasource and LXMI. Samasource is a machine learning training data company. She focused her career on social and ethical entrepreneurship with the goal of ending global poverty, founding three distinct organizations over her career spanning the for-profit and non-profit worlds.

The company is distinct for delivering AI-driven services to Fortune 100 companies with a global workforce of data specialists, a large number of whom are located in East Africa.

Tassilo Festetics Daughter

Tassilo and his late wife had one daughter together.

Leila Janah Cancer

In April 2019 Leila revealed through a Facebook post that she was diagnosed with epithelioid sarcoma, a rare but treatable form of cancer.

She revealed that she decided to share it publicly ‘because I have learned, in the course of building Samasource and LXMI, that the consistent support of friends and community is a powerful tool in the face of many seemingly impossible obstacles.’

She added that at the time of the diagnosis she was in the middle of planning her wedding. She was forced to take a break from kitesurfing, freediving, and the immersive experiences in nature that bring her so much joy.

She added a quote by Susan Sontag which read; “Illness is the night side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place.”

Leila Janah Death

Leila died on January 24, 2020 due to complications from Epithelioid Sarcoma at the age of 37. Her death was announced through a statement by her company Samasource.

“We are deeply saddened to announce that Leila Janah, Samasource Founder and CEO, passed away last night due to complications from Epithelioid Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. She was 37 years old.

Leila spearheaded a global impact sourcing movement and was a champion for environmental sustainability and ending global poverty. She was the founder and CEO of three organizations, all with a common mission to “Give Work” – Samasource, a global for-profit technology leader in training data for AI; LXMI, a fair-trade, organic skin care company; and Samaschool, a non-profit focused on reskilling for the new economy.

Her commitment to creating a better world was unparalleled. The ripple effects of her work will be felt for generations.

We are all committed to continuing Leila’s work, and to ensuring her legacy and vision is carried out for years to come. To accomplish this, Wendy Gonzalez, longtime business partner and friend to Leila, will take the helm as interim CEO of Samasource. Previously the organization’s COO, Wendy has spent the past five years working alongside Leila to craft Samasource’s vision and strategy.

Samaschool will continue to serve those gaining skills for the new economy, and LXMI will continue to operate and provide meaningful, dignified work to women in East Africa.

We will miss Leila’s infectious laugh, her tenacious spirit, and her ability to inspire all she encountered to be a force for good in the world. Our deepest sympathies extend to Leila’s husband, Tassilo, her stepdaughter, her family, and her friends.

With love,

The Sama Family”