50 Wealthiest - The National Herald...THE NATIONAL HERALD 50 Wealthiest Greeks in America SPECIAL EDITION MAY 2019 3 a b Sigmapharm Laboratories, LLC 3375 Progress Drive, Bensalem

SPECIAL EDITION MAY 2019

GREEKS IN AMERICA

An Annual Edition of our Community's Top Achievers

50 Wealthiest

The National Heraldwww.thenationalherald.com

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50 Wealthiest Greeks in America2 SPECIAL EDITION MAY 2019 THE NATIONAL HERALD ❙

By Yana Katsageorgis

She still writes with a pencil and uses her eraserto erase her mistakes. She sleeps and wakes upwith history on her mind. At home they lovinglycall her “president, and little parrot.” Her mind racesat lightning speed and her knowledge pummelsour ignorance. In front of her you feel incompetentand uneducated and all you want after an interviewwith her is to grab the first form of literature youfind in front of you and read it, even if it’s just theFarmer’s Almanac.

She is Helene Ahrweiler, who was very willingto give an interview to the National Herald. She ac-tually asked the first question: “Remind me, whatis the name of your editor/publisher?” “Antonis Dia-mataris,” was the reply. “DiamaNtaris?” she askedagain. “No, Ms. Ahrweiler – Diamataris (no ‘N’).”“Tell him I send him my regards and also tell himto continue the newspaper in Greek. The mothertongue is the basis of our nation – the personalityand the life of every human being. When I come toAmerica and hear that I ‘have’ to speak English –no matter how good my English is – sometimes Iwon’t even open my mouth to utter a word.”

With roots from Asia Minor, Ahrweiler was bornin 1926 and grew up in the refugee neighborhoodof Byron in Athens. She managed – with a lot ofpatience, stubbornness, and luck – to become oneof the six most important personalities in France.

A prominent personality and Byzantinist, someof Ahrweiler’s previous titles include: HonoraryPresident of the International Committee of Byzan-tine Studies, President of the European CulturalCentre of Delphi in Greece, President of the Ethics

Committee of the National Centre of Scientific Re-search in France, Deputy Principal between 1970-1973 and then Principal of the University of Paris 1Panthéon-Sorbonne between 1976-1981 (she be-came the first woman to hold this post in the 700-year history of the Sorbonne), Chancellor of theUniversities of Paris, and President of the CentreGeorges Pompidou.

Her knowledge, memories, humor, and her fas-cinating life with some of the most important peo-ple in the world are like the stars of the sky – count-less – but unfortunately for us, this space is toosmall to fit it all. The interview remained a simple,everyday conversation that you have with the per-son living next door, when you finally rack up thecourage to ask them how they are doing for thefirst time.

She spoke of her success, which she said sheowes to her teachers, but also about the fact thatshe lived through a war, the German Occupationof Greece, the Resistance, the hunger and the di-vision in the nation, but also about her dreams,which she pursued by foot on land, and with hereyes in the sky.

She lived through the German occupation as ateenager and her slogan was always that it is betterto die standing up than kneeling. She took part inthe Resistance, and told us, without boasting, thatshe fought – but also saying that they at least tried.

"Whoever does not try to go any further or doesnot attempt to break any barriers does not stay inthe same place - they actually regress. Resurrectionis not only a religious word. Everyone has the per-sonal duty of resurrection."

This tiny, gritty sixth child of a refugee family

rallied the children of her town – before she waseven old enough to go to school – and spoke tothem about Venizelos, holding a newspaper upsidedown. In 1943, when she was 17 and smoking likea chimney, she would come home to shower before

going to the protests – that way, if they ever foundher dead, she would at least be clean.

Her desire to become a civil engineer was neverfulfilled, because she had no money to pay for tu-toring. Instead, she ended up studying literature –a topic that she did not need a tutor for.

Growing up, Ahrweiler was taught that womenwere not the weaker sex and that it was not nec-essarily a ‘privilege’ to be born a man – a very pro-gressive view for that era in Greece. She learnedfrom a very young age that life can be a struggleand nothing is ever given to you. With these princi-ples she managed to responsibly serve the peopleand its history for the past 92 years, without hesi-tation and despite any obstacles that stood in herway.

Since 1953 she has lived in France. Even thoughher lifetime partner was French and despite thefact that she raised little French children, shespeaks Greek as though she never left Greece –even for one day. “That is why I say that the greatestduty of every Greek, wherever he or she may be,is to remember that loss of a language marks thecollapse of its people’s history. As for the shrinkingof our language – we, ourselves, are responsiblefor allowing the invasion of foreign conditions –which, if it continues, will create a hybrid Greeklanguage.”

“And we are not only responsible for the demiseof our Greek language – but also for the discord,the self-adoration, the know-it-all-ness, the mate-rialism, and our fear of or lack of accountability.”

Ahrweiler once said something that stirred up

Helene Ahrweiler: A Critically Endangered Species

Continued on page 4

Welcome to The National Herald’s Annual 50 Wealthiest Greeks inAmerica Special Insert! It is my honor and privilege to spearhead thisproject for the first time this year. As such, I would like to say, at therisk of sounding cliche ́ and unprofound, how incredibly proud I am tobe a Greek-American with immigrant parents. Having read countlessstories about the truly deserving individuals on our list, I can’t help butfeel a renewed admiration for our people, our culture, ourperseverance and our work ethic.

America’s genius has always been its ability to attract the world’sbrightest minds and hardest working people and have them livealongside each other to advance the common good. Our list provesthat Greeks have been contributing mightily to the American successstory for as long as they have been coming to these shores in thehopes of a better life for themselves and for their families. Thatcourage is the indispensable kindling needed for the American-patented entrepreneurial approach to work that creates jobs andfortunes.

However, as we all know, wealth can be defined and measured in

an infinite number of ways: by the sheer value of assets and income ofan individual but also by community, good health, service to others,opportunity, etc.

Americans love rankings and lists - and Greek-Americans are nodifferent. As such, this annual insert is year after year our most readspecial issue of all. However, I have come to find that the most popularpart about it, the actual numbered rankings, is actually the leastimportant.

Although countless hours were spent researching and contactingthe various individuals featured on our list, we are aware that this list isnot all encompassing (some individuals do not like to be in the publiceye) and that the net worth of the individuals are approximations (i.e.,the stock market’s daily fluctuations may cause some people’s networth to change minute by minute). This is a ‘problem’ that is notunique to The National Herald but also to Forbes, for example, whichis widely regarded as the ‘gold standard’ of such rankings.

Thus, while the numbers may be the most ‘fun’ part to skim overand the easiest way to list these individuals, it is by far the least

valuable. Contrastingly, what is valuable is each person’s unique story- their struggles, their triumphs, their journey. They cover animpressively wide spectrum of industries: energy, retail, finance,shipping, food service, engineering, publishing, entertainment – just toname a few. I encourage everyone to take the time this weekend toactually read the biographies of these individuals - you may besurprised at how much we all have in common.

With that being said, I thought it was important this year to featureten women, most of which we were able to speak with personally,who may not be multi-millionaires, let alone billionaires, in thetraditional sense, but who have acquired or bestowed an immenseamount of wealth onto humanity through their contributions ineducation, culture, history and the arts.

We invite you, once again, to enhance this list by letting us know ofany information - including, perhaps, a particular Greek-American wemay have overlooked, so that this Special Edition can continue to getbetter and better, year after year.

Vanessa Diamataris

COURTESY OF HELENE AHRWEILER

Welcome to TΝΗ’s Annual 50 Wealthiest Greeks in America Special

50 Wealthiest Greeks in America 3SPECIAL EDITION MAY 2019❙ THE NATIONAL HERALD

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“Love another person, evenwhen they lose themselves,when their hygiene is failing,when they don’t eat, when theydon’t care if they are in the lightor the darkness. When they havegiven up and you want to givethem a kick and put them to bed.Love, even when you’re not sureit’s worth it. Admire them, evenif they look at you without actu-ally seeing you.”

These words belong to EleniAntoniadou, the Greek womanwho undertook the first success-ful artificial tracheal transplant inthe history of medicine for heryoung, 36-year-old patient, whowas in the final stage of cancer,giving him the gift of a longer life.

She added to her spiritual andpractical guidance: “P.S. Themost beautiful roses were heldtoday by the wife of my patientwho was waiting for a transplant.They were drawn on the backside of his medical chart becausehe couldn’t leave the hospital togo and buy them for her.”

Antoniadou is a researcher inthe interdisciplinary fields of re-generative medicine and bioas-tronautics, specializing in the re-generation of artificial organsfrom stem cells as an alternativetherapeutic pathway for trans-plants. She works on the creationof cerebral implants, artificialskin, muscles, ears, nerves andthe esophagus.

She has designed a series ofbioreactors and tissue engineer-ing tools and has created theworld's first amniotic fluid stemcell bank. Additionally, she hasconducted experimental studieson the development of bio-nan-otubes as drug carriers for tar-geted cancer therapies, as wellas clinical trials for stem cell ther-apies for lung cancer.

The co-founder of the Donor-Free Transplant startup, Antoni-

adou has been recognized as oneof the BBC’s 100 Most PowerfulWomen and was also chosen asone of the Top 10 Champions forEquality in the UK. She was votedFemale of the Year in 2013 andFemale Entrepreneur of theYear in 2015 in Great Britain.In 2016, she was awardedthe Giuseppe Sciacca In-ternational Science andResearch Award at theVatican.

Antoniadou has alsobeen ranked #3 inthe U.S. health sec-tor by Forbes on their 30-under-30 list; was a CartierLaureate for USA 2014; aswell as a 40-under-40 Eu-ropean Young Leader in

2017. Antoniadou participates onthe Advisory Committee of theResearch and Analysis Organiza-tion, DIANEOSIS, in Greece and

has been honored by the Euro-pean Patent Organization in Ger-many.

When one reads the biographyand the achievements of Eleni An-toniadou, it's like going uphill – it’sbreathtaking. The "gorgeous littlegirl," who always excelled inschool, received her diploma fromthe Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλίας Πλη-ροφορική with a degree in Bio-medicine and then left for London,where she completed her post-graduate studies at the UniversityCollege of London (UCL) in Nan-otechnology and RegenerativeMedicine. She went on to IllinoisUniversity in the United States andshortly thereafter, NASA made hera job offer to work in the field oflife sciences – focusing on the ef-fects of radiation on the centralnervous system. "My biggest de-sire is a trip into space. Our galaxycontains about 400 billion stars.It would be very pessimistic if Idid not have hope for discoveringan alien form of life. Whenever Itravel to a new place, I always get‘thirsty’ for the next new place Iwill go to. And as late as I comeback from work in the evening, Ialways look forward to the nextsunrise.”

It is important for Antoniadouto appreciate the value of thingsin life, to learn and to want to beuseful, not simply successful. "Todo this, you have to invest int h e evolution and develop-

ment of yourself andfill yourself up with

many different experi-ences."

Antoniadou applies thesewords in practice. An activistagainst the illicit trafficking ofhuman organs, she travels (asa volunteer) to various medical

missions in Peru, Uganda, andCosta Rica, where she saves

lives from organ trafficking. It isfor this reason that she leads acompany that aims to create ar-tificial organs, as an alternative

to traditional transplant methods,that ultimately has the goal ofending this nightmare. "At Trans-plants Without Donors LLC, wecreate artificial organs. By doingso, we seek to put an end to theinterception of human organs,which is unfortunately boomingin the third world. Artificial or-gans, once considered a sciencefiction scenario, is now a reality,and I hope we will soon see therevolution that this therapeuticpathway will bring to the clinicalworld.”

Antoniadou is a prime exam-ple of a way of life, thinking, andhumanity, a role model for youngchildren, but also for many adultswho have not found their pur-pose yet. She speaks using theGreek language with a philolo-gist's ease, has the values of aphilosopher and big dreams forthe future of mankind. "I do notthink my motivation is to realizeall my dreams – my motivationis to get to a place where, withconfidence and courage, I willpush the finish line to a more dis-tant and ambitious location. I be-lieve there are people who wantto be (an astronaut, Olympicchampion, prime minister,woman of the year, etc.) and oth-ers who want to do. Those in thissecond category are those whosucceed in transforming theworld and rewriting the rulesfrom the beginning.”

Antoniadou became the firstGreek scientist Barbie RoleModel Doll, designed by the toycompany Mattel, to mark and cel-ebrate the 60th anniversary of In-ternational Women’s Day. "I hopethe girls that will be inspired bythis campaign are eager for pos-itive change, have a convictionof optimism and self-esteem,fight for those less fortunate, andnever forget to whisper to them-selves in good and in bad times,"You can be whatever you dreamto be!"

many reactions: that we movedfrom ‘tsarouchia’ (the traditionalGreek shoes that are still worn bythe Greek Presidential Guards, theEvzones) to Tod’s. “From therefugee tents we moved on to‘take out a loan,’ to ‘buy a car,’and while you’re at it, ‘buy a sec-ond, and a third.’”

She said, “Greeks haveceased to have their priorities inthe right place. At one time,these priorities were nationalones – they have subsequentlybeen replaced or transformedinto personal ones. The real crisisis a cultural one – not an eco-nomic one. This will take gener-ations to change and to correct.The economic crisis can [be over-come on a day by day basis]. Ourcountry, religion, and familiesneed to place more emphasis oneducation and to cease telling thechildren to pursue only success,instead of happiness.”

When I asked her if she be-lieved in God, she responded, “Ido not believe in God, but I amafraid of him. I did not come upwith that on my own – those arethe words of Gabriel Garcia Mar-quez.”

“It’s quite alright, Ms.Ahrweiler – let someone else saysomething as well,” we re-sponded. She thought aboutthose words for a moment, andlaughing, said, “that’s right!”

One thing is certain regardingsuch an inexhaustible source oflife and endurance: that God willnever recreate this unique andunrepeatable person. There is norecipe for creating a woman ofsuch genius, courage, rebellious-ness, multifaceted knowledge,humor, and beauty. Just likeSpix’s Macaw, now extinct in thewild, people like Ms. Ahrweilerare a rapidly disappearing endan-gered species.

Ahrweiler: A Critically

EndangeredSpecies

Eleni Antoniadou:You Can Be Whatever You Dream to Be

Continued from page 2

Eleni Antoniadou, President of the European Health Parliament,NASA Academy member, and co-founder of TransplantsWithout Donors with the honorable European Commissioner, Dr.Vytenis Andriukaitis, heart surgeon.

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Lydia Angelopoulou is one ofthose people who chases theirpassion silently. She didn’t be-lieve that everything would hap-pen easily, in one day, but shehad faith that one day all of herhard work would pay off.

The Greek National Opera'ssinger-songwriter continues tosing operas and operettas, butsince March of 2017, she hasbeen tasked with another dailyperformance – this time in hernew state-of-the-art installationat the Stavros Niarchos Founda-tion (SNF).

Through her many years ofexperience in the National Opera,as well as her training at the Na-tional Conservatory and the Mu-sic Academy in Vienna, the Uni-versity of Athens trained chemist,who always preferred piano, the-ater, and classical singing to ex-periments in laboratories, wasconsidered the most suitablecandidate to take over the PublicRelations/Press Office of the Al-ternative and Central Stages ofthe National Opera.

Since 1995, she has been apermanent soloist of the GreekNational Opera. She has ap-

peared in at least 25 leading rolesin various operas and operettas(including The Troubadour, Car-men, Cavalleria Rusticina, Adri-ana Lecouvreur, The Baptist, TheBat, Apaches of Athens, SummerDreams of Pericles Koukou, Rigo-letto, Aida, Zorbas and others) inGreece at the National Opera, theAthenian and Epidaurus Festi-vals, the Athens Concert Hall, theThessaloniki Concert Hall, as wellas abroad in Vienna, Valencia,Salzburg, Turin, Sofia, and manyother cities. Additionally, she of-ten appears in concerts and hascollaborated with the AthensChamber Opera and ERT. Shealso teaches at Philippos NakasConservatory and at the NationalConservatory.

She is responsible, along withtenor Stamatis Beiris, for pre-senting an important social proj-ect and performance, the Suit-case Opera, the currentinstallation of SNF which hasdrawn large crowds.

The Suitcase Opera waslaunched in 2011 by the NationalOpera as an artistic action, themain purpose of which was toattract and captivate a new audi-ence, enticing it to enter into themagical world of opera. The pro-

duction of the Suitcase Operawas easy and flexible and thus ithas traveled to various muse-ums, libraries, and archaeologicalsites accompanied by the excep-tional singers of the Greek Na-tional Opera, with a piano insteadof an orchestra – and with all ofits necessary props in a suitcase.These performances took placethrough an SNF donation which,

by enhancing the efforts of theNational Opera to make the lyri-cal theater accessible to a wideraudience, supported and sup-ports the cultural development ofGreece.

Lydia Angelopoulou becamefamous in the world of opera en-thusiasts because of some de-

manding roles she performed,such as when she played Azu-cena in Verdi's Il Trovatore,George Bizet’s Carmen, Santuzzain Cavalleria Rusticana by PietroMascagni, and Adriana Lecou-vreur by Francesco Cilea.

She remains one of the bestand most talented teachers forher students, whom she “cannotbe separated from,” and takesthe necessary time to devote tothem, because “she loves themand loves everything she does."

She has become particularlyinvolved in her charity work,which is touching – especially be-cause she did not begin her char-itable efforts when the crisis hit(like many others). Instead, shebegan her philanthropic worksmany years ago. Truly affectedby the people living on the streetsand in shelters, she embraces allof those who are in need of moraland emotional support with herangelic voice and presence.Through Greek operettas andother favorite opera lyrics, LydiaAngelopoulou, along with thestaff of ELS, gives her best selfto all of those watching – hopingto lighten their despair and softenmisery, even for just a shortwhile.


Kiki Dimoula sleeps well, hermemories are light. Fortunately,they are still available. She hasnot exiled them. They emergedcalmly in an Athens-New Yorkmorning phone call like a letterstored carefully in a drawer. Inlove with word pairings, she usesthem as agile travelers, whomeet unexpectedly, impressingus by their feverish tour. FromKypseli, born in 1931, now 88years old, with roots from Kala-mata, Dimoula was raised verystrictly in a comfortable home,finishing high school though herfather forbade her to study. Latershe worked at the Bank ofGreece – from age 18 to 43 –working in the bank’s suffocating,for her, atmosphere, writing po-ems in order to keep her mindalive.

Dimoula has received manyawards, among them, the FirstState Prize for Poetry, the Excel-lence of the Letters of the Acad-emy of Athens, the European Lit-erary Prize, and the Grand StatePrize for Literature for her entirebody of work.

In 2002, she was elected afull member of the Academy ofAthens, only the third woman tohave been honored by the high-est intellectual institution inGreece, and in 2001 she wasawarded the Gold Cross of theOrder of Honor by the Presidentof the Republic, Konstantinos

Stephanopoulos. Dimoula is alsothe only woman included in thepoetry collections of the FrenchPublishing House Gallimard's.

Of her work, she says in herbiography that, “how many bookswere written, when were they

published, how many transla-tions into various foreign lan-guages, and what acclamationsthey received, is like saying in thedepths of winter there weresome days with brilliant sun-shine.”

Kiki Dimoula, one of the great-est poets of the post-war gener-ation, does not shy away fromfeeling, she does not escape it,does not fear it. Her intention isagainst everything that dancesaround feeling, that imprisons it.She is captivated and impactedby this, causing our "hinterland"to listen to it.

Death causes her anxiety,even as she accumulates yearsbehind her, “The years havepassed and I cannot help it. Thereis mourning for the time that waslost, for the things that have hap-pened and will not happen again.It's a death. If you gave me a timeextension, I would have very nicethings to tell you.”

But her voice neutralizes time,

for it gives meaning even to thetrivial. Although it claims to bemelancholy by nature, it has thecapacity that few have: to cap-ture the perceived world like ul-tra-sensitive film in a camera.

“Melancholy presents thingsas much more difficult and badthan they are...it spoils even thebeautiful. Melancholy grows re-gardless of the quality of the ex-

perience. That is, there is noneed for your life to be bad, tofeel melancholy. In utter sadness,distrust and doubt about every-thing, I say, it cannot, somethingmust be true, something mustbe beautiful.”

Many things were beautiful inthe life of this fascinating woman,whom the writer Nikos Dimouheralded as the greatest Greek

poet after Sappho:“Now that I'm looking at my

life from this age, I think I wasthrice blessed. Then I was trou-bled by commitments, the sever-ity of my parents, I wanted to livemore freely. The environment Iwas working in at the bank wasa very low position and the ac-ceptance of women, for whatwas good they got out of it, wasdone with great distrust. I wasnew and well-groomed. My fa-ther was very strict. He woulddrop me off at the cinema, so Iwouldn’t walk there alone. I couldnot do anything about this, but Iwould not want this not to existso I would be free. I'm nostalgicfor my parents!”

And the family, children, love,what role did they play in her life?

”Self-paranoid, I gave up tothe role of mother and with ten-der bravery I heard myself called“grandmother.” I roll now withcalmness and no aspirations forperpetuation in these new by-passes of my blood.”

And of the great love of herlife, Athos Dimoulas, a civil engi-neer and poet?

“My higher education was mylong life with the poet Athos Di-moulas. Without him, I'm sure Iwould have been satisfied witha meditative, ignorant laziness,to which, perhaps wisely, I stillam inclined. He was not the gen-erally accepted man. He was dryfeeling, but he knew all poetryvery well, and that helped me alot at his side. He did not like thefeeling poured out by many po-ems. He was an intelligent andwell-read creature. Next to him,I wasn’t even on the map. I al-ways wanted to walk in the streetwith him arm in arm. He did not.It was ridiculous. I was alwayscomplaining.”

Kiki Dimoula spends hermornings at the Academy ofAthens, but in the last year shedid not write poems. “My imagi-nation seems to have faded. If itstops permanently, I will lose myuniverse.”

“And what can trigger themalady of poetry, Mrs. Dimoula?”

Thinking about the question,she laughs wisely and answersself-deprecatingly,

"A love affair could, but at 88?I wish it could happen. I wouldnot be ashamed of falling in love,but with whom? With the air? Ihave every intention of resurrect-ing this feeling, but would theother have it? Where do we se-cure him? The problem has al-ways been in the lives of all ofus, especially women, the other,and the conflict with him. Lovehas the danger of driving you todespair. Love is not an angel. Itis the instant transformation thatgives you a sense of newness.”

How wonderfully she speaksto us!

“Shall I continue? I'm afraidyou'll get bored!”

50 Wealthiest Greeks in America6 THE NATIONAL HERALD ❙SPECIAL EDITION MAY 2019

Lydia Angelopoulou & National Opera’s New Era

Kiki Dimoula: The Poet of Our Unchartered Shores

COURTESY OF KIKI DIMOULA

Lydia Angelopouloubecame famous inthe world of operaenthusiastsbecause of somedemanding rolesshe performed

Kiki Dimoula, one ofthe greatest poets

of the post-wargeneration, does

not shy away fromfeeling, she does

not escape it, doesnot fear it

COURTES

Y O

F LY

DIA A

NGEL

OPO

ULO

U

❙ THE NATIONAL HERALD SPECIAL EDITION MAY 2019 750 Wealthiest Greeks in America


An invisible cohort of heroines follows in the wake of KaryofylliaKarabeti. Walking on a tightrope since the beginning of her career,she balances with absolute discipline and diligence in demandingroles. As Shakespeare’s Gertrude, Euripides’ Medea, Strindberg’sGerda, and Aeschylus’ Atossa, Karabeti has had a great impact onthe history of Greek theater. She impressed huge audiences withher dynamic performances at the theater of Epidaurus as Martha,the wild one in Vamena Kokkina Mallia (Red Dyed Hair), from theeponymous novel by Kostas Mourselas which in 1992, became oneof Greece’s most successful television series.

Karabeti begins to narrate. The phone call with her is a perform-ance, not an interview. The curtain opens and the prologue captivatesyou. The sound of her voice, the vowels and the consonants are acelebration of the beauty of speech. We proudly present KaryofylliaKarabeti!

From Doxa, a village in Didymoteicho, where she was born andwhere her parents farmed, Karabeti was taught to love and respectnature, the land, and the people who cultivate it. Summers and win-ters brought stories. She remembers the summer nights in the court-yard covered with colorful rugs, where they shucked corn during theharvest season. And then the sunflowers they struck with sticks toget the seeds.

“We children made small carts with wood and for the wheels weput the sunflowers. It was gorgeous over the years with celebrations,weddings, feasts, Thracian songs, and abundant laughter. The winterswere white with snow and we had icicles on the houses. In the sum-mer, we played all day and in the evening we chased fireflies. I missit very much. I hold the memories dear.”

She saw her first Greek films on the wall of the cafeteria in thevillage square, on a white sheet, and she slept with a radio, recordingin her 8-year-old mind all the classical repertoire, then the radio pro-grams for the theater, all the great actors of the Greek National The-ater. Ibsen, Tennessee Williams, Strindberg – they all entered intoher life through the voices of Katina Paxinou, Alexis Minotis, Antigoni

Valakou, Eleni Hatziargyri, stamping her future. She was already anactor, without knowing it.

Karabati was accepted as an honors student at the Polytechnic in1976 in the Department of Civil Engineering and at the same timeshe took the exam for the Drama School of the State Theater ofNorthern Greece in Thessaloniki. After completing the Drama School,she continued her studies at the Polytechnic School. She knew whatshe wanted to do now.

Karabeti became a founding member of the Experimental Stageof Art in Thessaloniki and later continued with performances at theTheater Workshop. In 1984, she went to Athens at the Open Theater.Her collaborations are many and her subsequent roles in theater,cinema, and television even more. She became known to a wide au-dience from the television series, Love Arrived Late One Day, DyedRed Hair, The Yellow Envelope, while her performances in ancienttragedy and her performances as Clytemnestra, Electra, Antigone,Medea, Atossa, and so many others, ranked her among the mostimportant younger tragedians in the ancient Greek theater. She hasbeen awarded for leading roles both in theater and in cinema, withher most recent awards from the Theater Critics Union in February2019 for her interpretation of Atossa in The Persians by Aeschylus,and in November 2016 she was nominated for the same prize forher performance as Clytemnestra in Aeschylus' Oresteia.

Of her credits Karabeti said, “I did something I worshiped and ittaught me a lot. I came into contact with all of these ontologicalproblems of these great writers and I made them my own, life, death,freedom, morality, justice, relationships, love. The dark places in oursoul. I was given the opportunity to explore deeply myself, but alsoto gain understanding about others. Human adventure, dreams, fears,anguish, love, joy, and sorrow are the same for all people.”

Her personality is a rare combination of sensitivity, seriousness,discipline, and an unexpected, intense, dynamic femininity trainedto support universal admiration. Karabeti sees egoism and narcissismas the great disadvantages of a person's character and always putsservice to others above herself. She serves the director’s vision with100% of her soul, even if she disagrees with him or her.

Karabeti’s existential questions are many. Life for her is a wonderfulgift, completely incomprehensible, that we have been given and thatit is our duty to honor our passage through it.

“We come from the unknown and we go to the unknown and be-tween these two darknesses, there is the bright line of life which forsome reason has been given to us,” she said, paraphrasing the Pro-logue of Kazantzakis’ Askitiki. “It cannot be just a series of random-ness,” she continued, because that sounds wild, scary, and pes-simistic. That is why I believe that what everyone owes to thisexistence is to live it in a nice and moral way. I wish people to perceivetheir mortality but concentrate only on the good things, away fromthe wars, violence, fascism, terrorism, the fear of the different, racism.I wish that all this disappeared from human thought and for theplanet to experience days of love and light. That's my great wish.This is my dream, this is my need.”

Our dream is to see her perform the “Right Speech” in Aristo-phanes' Clouds on August 2 and 3 at the Ancient Theater of Epidau-rus. We wish success to Karabeti!

“You with good habits, always honored the moral ancestors, cometalk, give voice, the voice you love, and reveal what you are,” (excerptfrom the Right Speech in Aristophanes’ Clouds).

Karyofyllia Karabeti:The Swan with theWings of an Eagle

COURTESY OF KARYOFYLLIA KARABETI


I do not know if Marina Lam-braki is well-versed in the tradi-tional cuisine of her native Crete,but she has definitely masteredthe recipe for success at the Na-tional Gallery of Greece. Born inArkalochori, Heraklion, to a black-smith father and a mother whofarmed, Lambraki grew up shel-tered from the outside world, butshe was an impressionable andfree soul. She worked at the gro-cery in the village at the age of15, after her parents allowed herto attend only two high schoolclasses in Heraklion. On a Satur-day morning, the grocery dooropened and a tall and handsome26-year-old philology professor,Dimitris Plakas, the man whochanged her destiny, walked in.

Lambraki married the manwho introduced her to the beautyof knowledge and became dis-tinguished everywhere. She suc-cessfully completed her degreein Archeology at the University ofAthens and continued with statescholarships, postgraduate stud-ies of History and Sociology ofArt in Paris at the Sorbonne, andin 1973 she received the StateDoctoral Diploma from the sameuniversity. In 1975, Lambraki wasvoted, unanimously, the first fe-male full-time professor in thedepartment of Art History at theAthens School of Fine Arts. Shetaught as a visiting professor atuniversities in France, the UnitedStates, and the University ofCrete in Rethymnon, accumulat-ing many honors and awardsalong the way.

Beginning in 1992, Lambrakiwas appointed to the NationalGallery by Anna Psarouda-Be-naki, then-Minister of Culture andin her mind and soul, NikosKazantzakis' phrase “Reachwhere you cannot” led her on atotally different career path than

that of teaching.She said, “the main point of

my policy and the goal I madewhen I became director of theNational Gallery was to turn it intoa great school for Hellenism, agreat home open to all peopleand not just to the privilegedclasses. I knew that it was notpossible to equally share the ma-terial goods in the Western world.Spiritual goods, however, belongto all, and everyone has to be-come conscious of this to learnto claim and enjoy them. Culturalgoods are a vehicle of escapefrom everyday life, from the suf-ferings of everyone, from disap-

pointments and the frustrationsof time. The person who has con-tact with art and books nevergrows old.”

Bearing in mind the tech-niques of marketing, coupledwith her excellent diplomatic abil-ity, her customary professional-ism, and seriousness, in 1992,justly appointed to her position,she and Psarouda-Benakiknocked on the door of the Met-ropolitan Museum of Art in NewYork and as co-organizers theysucceeded in establishing a pio-neering art exchange.

The monumental exhibition, ti-tled From El Greco to Cezanne,

which brought the then-unprece-dented number of 600,000 peo-ple to the National Gallery inAthens and included 72 master-pieces from the Metropolitan Mu-seum and the National Gallery ofArt in Washington, DC, estab-lished Lambraki as the ideal di-rector, who would change thehistory of the National Gallery.

The two American museumsthen hosted the exhibition titledThe Greek Miracle as an ex-change, where sculptures of the5th century BC were exhibitedoutside of Greece for the firsttime.

“When I saw so many thou-

sands of people at the NationalGallery, ordinary people, house-wives, cleaners, children, elderlypeople, then I realized that I hadentered my real role as a media-tor between the general publicand the art of the teacher who

does not want to disappoint herstudents,” said Lambraki.

Then, through fundraising ef-forts she organized all overGreece, and with the belief thatthe purchase of a work of art isof national interest, she managedto bring to the Gallery two impor-tant works by El Greco(Domenikos Theotokopoulos),Saint Peter and The Burial ofChrist.

Through the years, with thehelp of her invaluable associates,Lambraki organized 200 majorexhibitions of Greek and foreignartists, attended by about5,500,000 visitors.

The Koumantareios ArtGallery of Sparta created threenew annexes through her efforts,in Nafplion (sponsored by theOnassis Foundation), Corfu, andthe Kapralos Museum in Aegina.

The National Glyptotheque inGoudi was created as a wonder-ful museum to exhibit Greeksculpture. During her term of of-fice the 20,000 works of the Mu-seum's collections, its library andarchives, the photographicarchive, and the maintenanceworkshop, were digitized, whileeducational browsers and infor-mation was provided for re-searchers, accessible on the up-dated website in Greek andEnglish. The costs of all these ini-tiatives were covered 70-100%by sponsorships, state resources,and funds from the EU’s Devel-opment Partnership Compact.

Lambraki feels great appreci-ation and love for Hellenism inAmerica. “I remember a phrasethat Tsarouchis said, ‘You be-come Greek when you leaveGreece.’ This is true for our ex-patriates. The Cretans, namelythe Pancretan Association ofAmerica, have honored me withthe Ariadne Award and I have no-ticed how deeply the Greeks inAmerica hold Greece in theirhearts and how much they arepatriots. That is why I send thema deep and very moving greetingand I hope they continue to holdHellenism as high and as proudlyas our flag waves.”

The successes that markedLambraki’s personal contributionto the cultural development ofGreece will be recorded in thehistory of the Greek nation. Shehas taken the old National Galleryfacilities into her hands and theyare now being renovated and ex-panded with the addition of11,040 square meters of space,making its premises aestheticallyand functionally modern. Throughcommunity and state funding,and a generous donation from theStavros Niarchos Foundation, aswell as the help of brilliant archi-tects, the renovations should becompleted by June 2020.


Marina Lambraki:Director of the National Gallery of Greece

“...the main point ofmy policy and thegoal I made when Ibecame director ofthe National Gallerywas to turn it into agreat school forHellenism, a greathome open to allpeople and not justto the privilegedclasses...”

COURTESY OF MARINA LAMBRAKI




The name Marianna Poli-topoulou exploded like a bomb inthe Greek insurance industry in2016, when she went from herposition at the National Bank ofGreece to Chairman and CEO ofNN Hellas, the largest multina-tional insurance company inGreece. The experienced bankerleft the National Bank on March31, 2016, and became the firstGreek woman to head NN Hellas.The company’s Dutch central ad-ministration trusted that she wouldimprove and reform the large in-surance firm.

There is no need here for de-tails about how and why. Theodds, however, were stackedagainst Politopoulou, the youngestCEO in Greece, who had no expe-rience in the insurance market,and then emerged as the CEO ofthe Year for the European Insur-ance Industry, selected by thereaders of European BusinessMagazine in 2018, among strongcompetition from top European in-surance companies.

Having aced the PanhellenicExams in her youth, she was ad-mitted to the National TechnicalUniversity of Athens and specifi-cally to the Department of Civil En-gineering, from which she gradu-ated first in her class. However,she did not join her father's man-ufacturing company in Lamia,where she came from, but instead

headed to the Wharton School ofthe University of Pennsylvania, oneof the best and most difficult busi-ness schools in the world to getinto. Politopoulou was acceptedby the prestigious MBA programafter scoring in the top 2% of theGMAT exam. When she com-pleted her studies, her profes-sional career took her abroad andback to Greece, with senior man-agement positions since 1994, in-cluding at Honeywell Europe, EFGEurobank as CEO Group RetailCollections, at Credit Agricole In-dosuez in Luxembourg, as well asat Inchape Hellas Group.

Today, she is a member of theBoard of Directors of the Hellenic-Dutch Trade & Industrial Associa-tion, the Association of Greek In-surance Companies and the YouthEntrepreneurship Association. Shealso participates in the Hellenic-American Chamber of Com-merce's Leadership Committeeand is a member of the Board ofDirectors of the Wharton BusinessSchool Club of Greece.

Politopoulou’s extensive andmultifaceted service at all thesecompanies and her deep knowl-edge of the financial industry havehelped to introduce best practicesfor corporate governance to NNHellas. Well-designed and imple-mented, with immediate positiveresults, the organization's newstrategy focuses on human-cen-teredness, teamwork, innovation,and digitization.

NN Hellas is the only sponsorof the Hellenic Olympic Group forthe period 2018-2020, which, shesaid, is NN’s most important spon-sorship in almost 40 years of ac-tivity in Greece.

From a wealthy, highly-edu-cated family and with parents whosupported each initiative, sheworked very hard to move up inthe hierarchy and pursue the ca-reer she chose for herself. The girlfrom Lamia with a restless spirit,the middle sibling between her

two brothers, she went to a publicschool and took her own creativeroad, grounded only on her merits.Looking deep into the intelligenceof her big blue eyes, one is notsurprised how she managed to bea "top model" in the male-domi-nated world of managing directorsfor so many years.

“If you ask me what is differentabout me, I would tell you that it isnot the great success in my work,because there are many othersuccessful people in their jobs.

What is different about me, I be-lieve, is that I emit positive energy,I am always happy, and never getdepressed, and that inspires those

around me. At the same time, Iam organized, I manage with in-tegrity, I am very accessible, andvery clear. I do not think I'm thatsmart or something special. WhatI consider to be my great successis that I feel happy, balanced, andintegrated.

Politopoulou has three childrenand between her great time man-agement challenges she has man-aged to continue working out atthe gym with absolute disciplinesince her teenage years.

“I left the sales conference to-day and I hurried so that when mysons are finished with their Ger-man lesson, I will be with them. Ihave three boys, my eldest son is

21 and the twins are 14. I am sep-arated from an extraordinary manand father with whom we wereunable to continue in our marriage,but I am proud that he is the fatherof my children and I have a goodrelationship with him. I'm not abusinesswoman in essence. Iwork, because I want to raise mychildren.”

The dynamic CEO who oncefounded the pioneering "red loans"company Eurobank FPS under theguidance of the well-knownbanker Nikos Nanopoulos, Poli-topoulou wants to raise her chil-dren and then work with musicand learn to play a musical instru-ment. “I'm artistic in nature. I wassinging when I was little in thechoir. I'd like to be more profes-sionally involved with music.”

Politopoulou is not spoiled andthere is no hypocrisy in her char-acter. She is deeply emotional,loves her family, is a fighter, and issupportive of people. She is theconductor who with her magic ba-ton orchestrates a competentteam of 430 employees and 1200associates.

“I'm working with an amazinggroup of people. We provide serv-ices that have to do with health,with hospital programs, and withlife insurance. I love my work. Ifeel much closer to people and itfeels less like a bank. NN is myfourth child and the insurance mar-ket is the place I think I was des-tined to enter.”


Maria Komninou bears aheavy inheritance upon hershoulders that she was unableto escape. At the Film Archive ofGreece, where she assumed theposition of President just oneyear ago, she continues to pro-mote and highlight the impor-tance of preserving not only ourcinematic heritage but also ourcontact with cinematic directorsfrom all over the world.

Komninou’s mother, AglaiaMitropoulou, a fanatical collectorof films, in 1950 founded the firstCinematography Club in Greece,which in 1963 was transformedinto The Film Archive of Greece,saving invaluable information andartifacts for future scholars,which would otherwise surelyhave been lost.

It causes us no great feelingof surprise to know that MariaKomninou grew up hearing fromher mother, not fairytales, butrather the stories of Kafka, Her-man Melville, and Gertrude Stein,living in the magical world of filmthat would impact her for her en-tire life. Her personality wasforged through the dreams of aLuchino Visconti, a Luis Bunuel,and an Alain Resnais – they in-

fluenced her to such a degree,and prepared her for the de-manding work of heading theFilm Archive of Greece.

Komninou, as a professor inthe department of communica-tions and mass media at the Na-tional and Kapodistrian Universityof Athens, has contributed to thecreation of the audiovisual work-shop of the department.

She studied psychology, so-ciology, and philosophy of eco-nomics (P.S.E. Brunell University)and earned her PhD in Sociologyat the London School of Econom-ics.

Her research interests pertainto Political Communication andcultural and cinematographicstudies. Her bibliography in-cludes, Community, Society andIdeology, and From the Marketto the Spectacle: The Formationof the Public Sphere and Cinemaof Modern Greek Society 1950-1996. Additionally, she has writ-ten many articles for Englishreaders and magazines.

In her first year as president,Komninou realized, with fundingfrom the Stavros Niarchos Foun-dation, the restoration of themost important film of 1950,Apaches of Athens, directed byDimitris Gaziadis and Yannis

Prine. It is an adaptation of NikosHatziapostolou’s operetta of thesame title, which takes us toAthens circa 1920, where the ro-mantic-comedic adventures of anapache were presented as thefirst Greek Talkie – with thesounds of the film recorded on

gramophone discs.Along with preserving and

restoring the precious contentsof the Film Archive and the dis-tribution of films in a new era,Komninou has also taken impor-tant steps towards digitizing partof the collection of the Film

Archive, which connected twodigital databases: FilmarchivesOnline (www.filmarchives-on-line.eu), which makes accessibleto scholars its non-fiction collec-

tion, and the European EFG Cin-ema Portal (www.europeanfilm-gateway.eu), which is linked tothe European Digital Library "Eu-ropeana".

The Film Archive is located atthe junction of the Iera Odos withAlexander the Great Avenue, inKerameikos. With funds from theThird Community Support Initia-tive of the EU, the old Lais cin-ema was transformed in 2002into a worthy place for a moderninstitution dedicated to thepreservation of Greece’s cine-matic heritage. There are twohalls for screenings, a summer

cinema, and a library, cinemamuseum, reading room, audio-visual archive, and offices. TheFilm Archive is also held at a pri-vately-owned site in AgiaParaskevi, and in addition to itsown collection of about 10,000titles, the space also houses thearchives of the Greek CinemaCenter.

Despite the huge problemfaced by the audio-visual sectorin Greece with unemploymentrates in the range of 85-90%,Maria Komninou remains opti-mistic and, as she tells us, "Giventhe bleak situation in our country,we see movement, a resistanceto these catastrophic conditions.With the collapse of productionon television, private and publicalike, most people found them-selves without work, but on theother hand, it does not cease topleasantly surprise that featurefilms and short subjects man-aged to survive after the crisis. Abig boost for the Film Archive isthe recognition and support wehave received from similar foun-dations abroad and from impor-tant people who stand as crucialallies at the side of the Greek cin-ematographic world, whichknows that the Film Archive ofGreece is Greek cinema’s home.”

Maria Komninou:Gatekeeper of the Film Archive of Greece

Marianna Politopoulou: The Ace up the Sleeve of NN Hellas

Komninou has alsotaken importantsteps towardsdigitizing part of thecollection of theFilm Archive

“...What is differentabout me, I believe,is that I emitpositive energy, Iam always happy,and never getdepressed, and thatinspires thosearound me....”

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COURTESY OF MARIA KOMNINOU



This story resembles a fairy-tale, but one where you do notknow how to start. It began so-mewhere around the year 1500AD in Margaux, a small town inthe south of France, when thenew owner of the Pierre de Le-stonnac tower rebuilt the struc-ture filled with cereal productsthat he inherited from his ance-stors, who also possessed vi-neyards.

These vineyards still makinghistory five centuries later. The262 hectares of land have passedthrough many hands and thewine made from these preciousgrapes was named Chateau Mar-gaux. Today, they are among thefew wine producers who have

been awarded the important Pre-mier Cru distinction, which wasfirst awarded by Napoleon III in1855 to characterize the bestareas of Bordeaux in terms ofwine production.

But let’s fast forward to the20th century. In 1977, ChateauMargaux was bought, to the greatsurprise of many, by a very weal-thy Greek businessman who livedin Paris, Andreas Mentzelopoulosfrom the Peloponnese. The manproved to be a visionary and a ge-nius as he decided to invest inChateau Margaux, which had lostsome of its luster, particularlyafter the energy crisis of 1973when the market for high-end wi-nes worldwide found itself in adeep recession.

Within two years, he was able

to bring Chateau Margaux backto the ranking it deserved. Men-tzelopoulos turned the wineryback into a producer of the bestand most expensive wines in theworld that can only be enjoyed bya select, lucky, few!

In 1980 Mentzelopoulos pas-sed away at just 65 years old. Hehad lost his 18-year-old son justfive years before in 1975. He co-uld not overcome his great senseof loss and his health rapidly de-clined shortly thereafter. We se-arched for his daughter, CorinneMentzelopoulos, the sole heir ofthe billion dollar fortune her fatherleft behind and one of the sixmost wealthy people in France,so that she could speak to usabout Chateau Margaux.

A phone conversation was ar-ranged between New York andChateau Margaux at 3 PM Francetime. She had just come out of acellar that was built in 1982 whichwas being restored from scratchto create better conditions for thebarrels of wine it housed.

“When we harvest the grapeswe put them in open barrels andlet them sit for two years. Thebarrels are oak and have theirown history. The oak trees usedto make the barrels grow in onlyone place in central France, wh-ere they were first planted by aminister of Louis XIV when he

ascended to the throne as Kingof France.

The oft-laughing lady who isoptimistic and full of kindness,with broken Greek answered myquestions. “Details are the mostimportant things because thereis nothing valuable that is madewithout attention to detail,” shesaid, adding “Chateau Margauxis so valuable, so large, so impor-tant that you cannot let it leaveyour hands. We must continuethis great tradition.”

When Corinne Mentzelopou-los took over the business shedidn’t even drink wine, and wha-tever was wine-related was to-tally unknown to her. However,she knew how to listen and learn.

“My father had chosen excel-lent staff, so it was easy for meto get adjusted. I wasn’t by my-self. The only thing that I did inthe beginning was to listen, listen,listen. The only thing that I knewwas that I knew absolutely noth-ing about wine.”

She had studied Greek andLatin and pursued her MBA in Pa-ris. Initially, she worked in the fieldof advertising, and later was amember of the financial and ac-counting department of Felix Po-tin, a chain of stores owned byher father in Paris. She considersherself to be lucky that she wasable to take over a ready and eco-

nomically healthy business butshe is also proud that she hasmaintained it.

“It is my duty to serve this giftthat my father gave me and I amgrateful to him. If he were tocome now and see what I haveaccomplished, he would find1,000 mistakes!”

Since 1980, she has taken thebusiness into her own hands andmade it into an empire. Her winesnow travel to America, Australia,China, Russia, Mexico, and manyother places. The suitors lining upto buy her business are alwaysincreasing since wine is now thesecond-most consumed luxurygood in the world. The 3,200-acreestate produces 280,000 bottlesof wine annually, which are pricedfrom 200 euros to the most ex-pensive at 225,000 euros. “Agood wine depends on the soiland the weather more than onthe way that it is prepared. Con-sequently, we have stuck to aplace where the soil is ideal andwhere the seasons work harmo-niously alongside our grapes tocreate our high quality product.Our tradition is based on kno-wledge, hard work, and qualitycontrol. I cannot go tomorrow andplant 10 hectares in some othersoil type and create the samewine. It is simply impossible. Thesoil has been chosen for genera-

tions now for its own merit. Cha-teau Margaux is a rare, uniqueplace in the world, in Bordeaux,where the best wines in the worldcan be found.”

Chateau Margaux has about100 employees. It is the most fa-mous small business that existsin the wine industry. U.S. Presi-dent Thomas Jefferson in 1784characterized Chateau Margauxas the greatest wine he everdrank, and President of the FrenchRepublic Valery Giscard d’Estaingcalled it a “national treasure.” Thewine was sung about in an operaby Manuel Fernandez Caballero,Edgar Allan Poe included it in themystery short story Thou Art theMan, and Bruce Wayne as Ba-tman wakes up from a dream andhe pours himself a glass of Cha-teau Margaux. One has to won-der, what is the secret of CorinneMentzelopoulos’ success?

“I am very competitive, but Iam not wicked. I work hard. Imake good use of the land thatmy father left me and I cultivateit with the knowledge and wis-dom that I have gained over allthese years. I have in my handssomething unique in the worldand it will go to my children. I amgrateful for my family and my th-ree children. Alexandra, my dau-ghter, will continue to honor thelegacy that my father left to me.”


In many regards she remindsus of Karolos Koun, the greatteacher of the theater, who left ahuge void in 1987 when he died.Even the way they grew up is al-most identical – in wealthyhomes with educated parents inschools that few could approach– and the fact that they wereboth born outside of Greece andyet they chose to come back andgive back to their homeland start-ing, with the American Collegeof Deree, by teaching acting intheatre.

Eleni Skotti, an acting teacheras well as the director and cre-ator of the NAMA group, couldsay that when she came toGreece in 1993, she was meantto continue the teachings left byKarolos Koun: redefining the the-atrical landscape, eschewing thesophisticated play and sophisti-cated scenes and incorporatingmore innovative theatrical tools.

A Greek-American born inBeirut with a Greek-American fa-ther, who was the U.S. ambas-sador who opened the U.S. Em-bassy in Syria under HenryKissinger, and a Greek motherfrom Persia, she was happy tosee and live in unique places andto meet interesting people.

She began her theater studiesat age 17 at the American Acad-

emy of Drama in New York, andcontinued at Sarah LawrenceCollege in Bronxville. She laterattended Royal Holloway in Lon-don and New Bedford College.The big, new chapter in her bookof life, titled Greece, began whenshe was 27 years old.

"My mind thinks like an Amer-ican, but my soul is clearly Greek.That's why I'm here. Eventually Ifollowed my soul, and ended upin Greece. I did not want to be inEnglish-speaking ghettos, Iwanted to adopt the attitude ofthe Greeks. I love this countryand the people. The Greeks aresympathetic, hospitable, and re-ceptive to new things and newpeople."

Starting from small under-ground theaters as an actressand a director, and always havingher alter ego, George Hatziniko-laou (the well-known playwrightwho trusted her and supportedher from the very beginning) byher side, she was met with manydifficulties, seen both as awoman and as a ‘foreigner’. Shewas eventually able to overcomethese ‘obstacles’ so that shecould finally be recognized for her20 years of hard work as one ofthe most important female direc-tors present in Greece, and to besought after for her particularway of teaching, which does notallow the soul of the artist to hide

or to find excuses – not even fora minute. Actors often find it dif-ficult to defend themselvesagainst this deep psychoanalyticapproach, which starts withStanislavski's methods by under-mining the pre-conceived notionsthat the actor has of himself. Asshe told the National Herald(TNH), "I work very much withthe actor. I do not care if I am

seen. I enjoy the process of find-ing the character in relation tothe story we want to tell. I willtire out the actor – both brain andbody will sweat."

That is why the projects ofEleni Skotti’s NAMA team, whowork with the psychologically re-alistic theater better than every-one else in Greece today, havebeen recognized as important.

Eleni and her team choose actorsfor their talents and their ethos,not by their names. Wild Seed,Dear Elena, The Power of Dark-ness, The Foxes, Never SwimAlone, They Call me Emma, andLa Chunga are just a few of themany successful and award-win-ning performances of great the-atrical writers who have been el-evated by the contemporary Epi

Kolono Theater, which is thesame name of the space thathouses the NAMA team.

The competition never causesher to veer from her goal. Hersurvival instincts served her wellin the challenging landscape shechose to enter, as did her ethos,but also the particular culture shebrought with her – her originsand her knowledge – ‘con-strained’ her to a close circle ofremarkable people, with whomshe exchanges ideas, love, re-spect, and knowledge.

Her advice to young peoplewho want to become involvedwith theatre is valuable. "To be-come an actor, you have to feellike you're going to die, like a fishout of water, if you do not be-come one! Of course, if the fishcomes out of the bowl, then itwill fight. But this fight is wild andugly. Because he/she will hear alot of ‘no’s’ and will start to feeluncertainty. And the love for thetheater – it can suddenly becomea very bitter process. It is betterfind a way to get a steady pay-check and keep theater work onan amateur level. Theater educa-tion is a beautiful and useful ex-perience for everyone, but themore formalized profession is ahard one. Few can withstand itand few succeed. Try to keep itbeautiful!”

Corinne Mentzelopoulos:Truths from the Vineyards

Eleni Skotti: From the Desert of Yemen, a Director and Teacher at the Theater "Epi Kolono"

Sofia and Angelo K. Tsakopoulosand

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1JIM DAVIS & FAMILYMassachusetts

$5.6 BILLION* (Forbes)NEW BALANCEMiddlebury College (Biology/Chemistry);Married, 2 Children

With a slight drop in net worth from last year,James S. “Jim” Davis, the owner and Chairman ofNew Balance (NB) tops The National Herald’s 50Wealthiest Greek-Americans once again.

A graduate of Middlebury College, Davis, now76, is the Massachusetts-born son of Greek immi-grants. Davis bought the now 113-year old retailsports footwear company in 1972 and took thecompany to new heights four years later with thedevelopment of the New Balance 320 runningshoe. Davis’ wife, Anne, serves as NB’s Vice Ch-airman, having joined the company in 1977. Thecompany has since grown, remaining one of thefew shoemakers that continues to manufacturesome of its shoes in the United States, and nowfeatures clothing and equipment for lacrosse andsoccer. Davis and his family own an estimated 95%of the company, which is still private.

In April of 2019, NB Development Group brokeground on The TRACK at New Balance near BostonLanding, featuring a multi-sport athletic complexspanning a city block, as well as a concert venuewith The Bowery Presents (with room for up to3,500 fans) and a New Balance Athletics SportsResearch Lab. The 250,000 square foot complexwill also include ground floor retail and food serviceswith an expected completion by late summer 2021.Of the project, Davis said, “The TRACK at New Ba-lance will set a new performance standard in pro-fessional and amateur sports due to its innovativedesign, location and amenities.” The project willalso drastically change the area from a sprawlingmass of decrepit warehouses.

Davis is also a co-founder of Major League La-crosse (MLL), which was founded in 1999, debutedin 2001, and in 2015 averaged almost 4400 fansper live game. On April 1, 2019, MLL announcedthat it would eliminate 3 of its 9 teams this year tofocus on the “expansion of strategic markets.” TheLeague, spanning the United States’ Eastern sea-board, will no longer include the Ohio Machine, theFlorida Launch or the Charlotte Hounds. All threeof these teams were previously owned by Davis.The owners of the 9 teams met earlier this yearand decided they wanted to implement a new po-licy: “one team, one owner, one vote.” Davis stillowns one franchise: the Dallas Rattlers.

Davis’ Bloomberg business profile also notesthat “he co-founded a private business in real estateacquisition and management. He served as UnitChairman, Chairman, Director and Trustee Emeritusof Middlebury College. Davis also serves on a num-ber of nonprofit boards including the Children'sMuseum in Boston and the Sports Museum of NewEngland. He is a Board Member of the SportingGoods Manufacturers Association. He serves onthe boards of the International Athletic Footwear &Apparel Manufacturers Association and theTwo/Ten Foundation, Inc. He is a Member of theAthletic Footwear Council and serves on the boardof the Monterey Institute of International Studieswhich specializes in international studies and lan-guage.

He is a Trustee at Newbury College and a Trusteeof Worcester Academy in Worcester, MA. He serveson the Executive Committee of the Rubber andPlastic Footwear Manufacturers Association. Heserves on the Industry Sector Advisory Committee(ISAC) on footwear, leather and leather productsas well as the Industry Policy Advisory Committee(IPAC) which is the trade advisory committee to

the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Secre-tary of Commerce.”

2TOM GORESCalifornia

$4.1 BILLION (Forbes)EQUITY INVESTMENT, SPORTSMichigan State University (ConstructionManagement); Married, 3 Children

Jumping up one spot from last year, Tom Goresis number 2 on the National Herald’s 50 Wealthiestlist this year. Gores, 54, was born in Nazareth, Israelto a Greek father and a Lebanese mother. Whenhe was only four, the family moved to Genessee,MI. Throughout his youth, Gores stocked shelvesat his father’s small grocery store in Flint, MI. Afterearning a bachelor’s degree at Michigan State Uni-versity, he joined his brother Alec (also featured inthis edition) in buying out companies.

Gores oversees more than 25 companies withsome $13 billion in assets through his Los Ange-les-based private equity firm, Platinum Equity –which he founded in 1995. PlatinumEquity is oneof the largest private companies in the United Sta-tes and has offices in California, New York, Boston,London, and Singapore. Its in-house business de-velopment, M&A, transition, legal, real estate, mar-keting, finance, and operations teams enable themto resolve matters expeditiously.

Platinum Equity structures acquisition solutionsto help sellers achieve their divestiture objectives.These usually include corporate sellers sheddingnon-core assets, public sellers seeking to maximizeshareholder value, or private sellers seeking capitaland operational support. It has also developed al-ternative deal structures to meet the current capitalenvironment.

Since its founding in 1995, Platinum Equity hascompleted nearly 200 acquisitions in a broad rangeof market sectors. The current portfolio includescompanies in diverse industries, acquired in a rangeof corporate divestitures, public-to-private transac-tions, and transactions with private sellers. Eachportfolio company operates independently with thegoal of creating long-term, sustainable value.

In 2011, Gores and Platinum became ownersof the National Basketball Association’s Detroit Pi-stons. In August, 2016, he purchased Platinum’sstake and became sole owner.

In 2016, he launched FlintNow to address thewater crisis in his hometown of Flint, MI.

In April of 2019, Gores threw his hat in the ringto become the next owner of Fox Sports Detroit.The regional sports network has been for sale aspart of the Walt Disney Company’s acquisition of21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets. It hasbeen reported that the final bids, all in the neigh-borhood of $10 billion, have been received by Dis-ney.

Gores, his wife, Holly, and their three childrenlive in Beverly Hills, CA, but also maintain a homein Birmingham, MI. Mrs. Gores, a Michigan native,has longstanding roots in the state and joins herhusband’s commitment to community initiativesthroughout Michigan.

3JOHN A. CATSIMATIDIS -New York

$3.1 BILLION (FORBES)OIL, REAL ESTATE, SUPERMARKETSNew York University; Married, 2Children

At a personal fortune estimated at $3.1 billion,John A. Catsimatidis remains very close to the topour list again this year.

When Catsimatidis was an infant, he and hisfamily moved to an apartment in Harlem from thesmall Greek island of Nisyros. Catsimatidis, now70, is a true self-made billionaire – getting therethrough decades of hard work and innovation.

Catsimatidis attended New York University, butwithdrew before completing his degree require-ments because of business demands. He openedhis first grocery store in 1969 and owned ten storesby the age of 24, making $25 million a year in re-venue. He plowed $5 million into Manhattan realestate in 1977; that property was worth $100 mil-lion just five years later.

Catsimatidis stumbled upon the Chapter 11 pro-ceedings of United Refining in Warren, PA. and pur-chased the oil refiner’s stock for $7.5 million. Thefirm now owns 375 gas outlets and conveniencestores in Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio.

In a self-funded campaign for mayor of NewYork City in 2013, in which he finished a strong se-cond in the Republican primary, Catsimatidis hashosted his own Sunday morning radio program onNew York City’s AM 970 radio station, Cats Round-table. The show is really two in one, featuring localand national news, with an array of local and natio-nally-known politicians and other influential guestsstopping or calling in on a regular basis. Having noneed for sponsors, Catsimatidis says that the mottoof his show is: “Get the truth out.”

Catsimatidis is chairman and CEO of the RedApple Group, which is among the country’s largestprivately held companies with 8,000 employeesand estimated annual revenues of $5.2 billion. RedApple has holdings in oil refining, retail petroleumproducts, convenience stores, supermarkets, andreal estate. With a major focus on energy, Catsi-matidis’ fortune accelerated with rising oil prices.

Catsimatidis’ most recent projects include buil-ding mixed-use developments in Brooklyn's FortGreene and Coney Island neighborhoods. He isplanning to build Ocean Dreams – a 425-unit luxuryrental complex overlooking the Atlantic in ConeyIsland. He is also planning to construct a 50-storytower in St. Petersburg, FL. In March of 2019, San-tander Bank provided Red Apple with a $200 millionrefinancing package for its downtown Brooklyn 32-story project, the Eagle.

Catsimatidis is a licensed pilot, though eye sur-gery has grounded him over the past few years.He has helped raise millions for Alzheimer’s, Par-kinson’s, and Juvenile Diabetes research. He ser-ved as co-chairman and founder of the BrooklynTech Endowment Foundation. At the time, the $10million fund was the largest gift to a secondaryschool in the United States. Since 1988 he has

funded scholarships at the NYU School of Business. Catsimatidis is married and the father of two

children, Andrea and John. His wife, Margo, runshis company’s in-house advertising agency.

4JOHN PAUL DeJORIA -Texas

$2.6 BILLION (Forbes)HAIR CARE PRODUCTS, SPIRITSMarried, 4 Children

John Paul DeJoria’s net worth is significantlylower this year in comparison to last ($3.1 billion)– perhaps because he is a member of The GivingPledge, a charity led by Warren Buffet and Bill andMelinda Gates (a campaign to encourage wealthypeople to contribute a majority of their wealth tophilanthropic causes). In 2016, DeJoria pledged togive more than half of his fortune away. "The moreI make, the more I get to give back. Success unsh-ared is failure,” he told CNBC.

Born to an Italian immigrant father and a Greekimmigrant mother, who divorced by the time hewas 2, DeJoria has known poverty repeatedly: firstduring his childhood being raised by a single motherin Los Angeles, CA, and two periods of homeless-ness as an adult.

DeJoria has been quoted telling a story thatwhen he was 5, his mother didn’t have enoughmoney to buy her sons Christmas presents. Asthey walked through downtown Los Angeles, hismother pointed to a woman wearing a navy bluesuit ringing a bell. “Boys,” his mother said, “I’m gi-ving you a dime. See that lady ringing the bell? Putthis in her bucket.” DeJoria didn’t understand; 10cents was a lot for a kid who didn’t have much in1950. Why did he have to give it away? “That’s theSalvation Army. They need it more than we do,”was her reply. From that experience, he learnedthat “success unshared is failure.”

DeJoria’s very first job, at age nine, was sellinggreeting cards door-to-door. He and his brother hadpaper routes through their school years. After highschool and two years in the U.S. Navy, DeJoria didwhatever it took to make ends meet – from sellingencyclopedias and working as a janitor to pumpinggasoline. During his first homeless period, after heand his then-wife separated, he collected bottlesto stay afloat, all while caring for his two-year-oldson. Eventually, he took his talents to several haircare and cosmetic companies before becoming anindependent consultant.

In 1980, DeJoria teamed up with his friend PaulMitchell to launch John Paul Mitchell Systems, aline of high-end hair care products. The partnersbegan with $700 and with DeJoria living in his carat the time. He said he knocked on salon doorsuntil he got 12 orders and checks. After two yearsof hand-to-mouth work, the company grossed $1million.

In 1989, after Mitchell died, DeJoria found ano-ther partner and launched Patron, a premium te-quila, something unheard of at that time. His friendClint Eastwood placed it in his film In the Line ofFire, celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck endorsed it, andDeJoria gave it away at John Paul Mitchell events.

Today, DeJoria is on lists of the world’s billio-naires, and one of America’s richest living veterans.His John Paul Mitchell Systems hair products, stillprivately held, is worth more than a billion dollars.They are available in more than 100,000 salons inthe United States and are distributed throughoutthe world. Patron Spirits, the original ultra-premiumtequila was recently acquired by Bacardi Limitedfor $5.1 billion.

In June 2014, DeJoria co-founded (with Britishentrepreneur Jonathan Kendrick) ROK Mobile, amusic streaming service combined with a contract-free mobile phone plan offering unlimited voice,text, and data that runs on the rails of larger cellphone carriers T-Mobile and Sprint. On March 20,2019, ROKiT (part of ROK Mobile) announced aline of five mobile handsets, including three smart-phones, to market (sold at ROKit.com and Wal-mart.com). Unlike other phones, these are pairedwith vital life services like family telemedicine, legalcounsel and more. “We started ROKiT with a mis-sion to provide people with well-being and security,and offer a realistic entry point to top notch tech-


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nology. It has been incredible to see our vision re-alized as people react to the phones,” said JohnPaul DeJoria.

Most recently, DeJoria partnered up with Ma-stronardi Produce, the leading greenhouse com-pany in North America, to make quality, flavorfulproduct more widely accessible. The partnershipwill focus on developing Advanced High-DensityFarming Systems to grow local fresh food in un-derserved markets around the globe.

DeJoria has been quoted saying the key to suc-cess is to be prepared for rejection. As a lifelongsalesman, he has faced more than his share. Re-membering his three-year stint selling Collier’s en-cyclopedias door-to-door, he said: “doors literallyslam in your face – maybe 30, 40 doors before thefirst customer will actually talk to you.” But, he ad-vised would-be entrepreneurs, no matter howmany rejections you get, go to the next door withthe same enthusiasm as you had at the first, witha smile on your face.

The vast list of charities supported by John PaulMitchell Systems includes the Boys & Girls Clubsof America, the American Cancer Society,Food4Africa, Grow Appalachia, and Chrysalis, anonprofit group that helps homeless and low-in-come people get back on their feet and find thepath to self-sufficiency. DeJoria is also a patron ofMineseeker, a non-profit organization dedicated toseeking solutions to the worldwide problem of land-mines. In 2006, he was appointed Admiral by thegovernor of Texas, and he received the Citizen ofthe Year Dolphin Award from The Malibu Times.DeJoria was also honored with the SustainabilityAward for his dedication to environmental preser-vation at Fashion Group International’s 25th AnnualNight of Stars event, and was inducted as a lifetimemember into the Horatio Alger Association of Di-stinguished Americans in honor of his journey to

overcome humble beginnings to achieve success.He and his third wife, the former Eloise Brady,

are based in Austin, TX. Dejoria has four children,one of whom is professional drag-racer, Alexis De-Joria.

4AMB. GEORGE L. ARGYROSCalifornia

$2.6 BILLION (Forbes)REAL ESTATE, SPORTSChapman University (Business &Economics); Married, 3 Children

George L. Argyros is well known in a wide varietyof prominent circles, as his long and illustrious lifehas included achievements ranging from real estate,to sports, to international diplomacy.

Argyros served as U.S. Ambassador to Spain andwas an owner of the professional baseball team,the Seattle Mariners. But Argyros, 82, made his for-tune in grocery stores and real estate.

A second-generation American of Greek descent,he was born in Detroit, MI and raised in Pasadena,CA. He worked his way through high school and col-lege in southern California as a paperboy and groceryclerk. Argyros went into real estate in 1962, sellingland at busy intersections to gas stations. Today, hisprivately held Arnel & Affiliates owns and manages5,500 apartments and 2 million square feet of com-

mercial space. In 1987, Argyros founded Westar Capital, a pri-

vate equity firm. He is a director of First AmericanFinancial Corp and Pacific Mercantile Bancorp. For-merly the largest shareholder and a board memberof Kansas software developer DST Systems(NYSE:DST), he sold off the bulk of that stock in2014, reducing his shares from 20% to 4% of thecompany’s stock. He also retired from the board.

Argyros developed a friendship with scientist/in-ventor Arnold Beckman in California in 1962. Soonafterward, he began a 22-year service as chairmanof the board of the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Fo-undation, which awards research grants in chemistryand the life sciences. In 2013, the foundation deve-loped the Beckman-Argyros Award in Vision Rese-

arch. The annual award offers a $100,000 prize anda $400,000 research grant to an individual who hasmade a significant achievement in vision research.

In 2001, then-President George W. Bush appoin-ted Argyros U.S. ambassador to Spain. Years later,Argyros hosted a $25,000-per-couple dinner for U.S.Senator and then-presidential hopeful John McCain(R-AZ) at his home in 2008. Argyros also served onthe Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Fred-dieMac) under President George H.W. Bush.

A resident of Harbor Island in Newport Bay, CA,Argyros is a recognized business leader and philan-thropist. He was the 1993 recipient of the HoratioAlger Award of Distinguished Americans, and a 2001recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

Chapman’ University’s School of Business andEconomics was renamed in his honor in 1999. Hehas served on the board of trustees for several com-munity organizations, including the California Instituteof Technology, the Beckman Foundation, the HoratioAlger Association, and Chapman University.

Argyros sold the Mariners in 1989, after trying tomove them elsewhere, and had also pursued pur-chase of the San Diego Padres.

In January 2012, Argyros became a member ofthe Board of Regents of the Orange County CouncilBoy Scouts of America. In April 2011, he and hiswife made a $5 million gift to an ambulatory surgerycenter at the University of California. In 2018, theArgyros family foundation pledged $7.5 million torenovate the Los Angeles Coliseum, home of the

USC Trojans and, according to the Los Angeles Ti-mes, the foundation donated $750,000 to help getthe Balboa Island Museum & Historical Society esta-blished in its new location in Newport Beach, CA.

Most recently, the Argyros family is part of an esti-mated $17-million campus renovation for the MarinersChristian School in Costa Mesa. Their contributionwent towards a new 900-seat auditorium (the ArgyrosCenter for Worship and Performing Arts) and a rede-signed gymnasium (Living Legacy Athletic Center).

Argyros is an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriar-chate’s Order of St. Andrew the Apostle. He and hiswife, Julia, have three children and seven grandch-ildren. The Argyroses were honored by the city ofCosta Mesa, CA in May 2016 with a Lifetime Achie-vement Award for service to the community.

6C. DEAN METROPOULOS -Florida

$2.5 BILLION (Forbes)MANAGEMENT, ACQUISITIONSBabson College; Married, 2 Children

C. Dean Metropoulos, age 71, is Chairman andCEO of Metropoulos & Company, a boutique buyoutand management firm. He remains very high onour list, as a result of his $2.5 billion estimated networth. He accumulated his fortune by purchasingand resurrecting food brands such as Hostess,Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer, Chef Boyardee, GhirardelliChocolate Company, Pinnacle Foods, Bumble BeeTuna, Vlasic Pickles and Utz Snacks. He also re-cently helped produce the film Cliffs of Freedom.

The Greek-born Metropoulos moved from Tripolito Massachusetts with his parents at age 10. Typi-cal of many immigrants, his parents worked hardand encouraged their children to pursue their dre-ams. Metropoulos made his first American acqui-sition at the age of 32, when he acquired a cheesecompany in his wife Marianne’s, native Vermont.

After graduate school, Metropoulos joined GTEInternational as director of finance for Europe, theMiddle East and Africa residing in Geneva, Swi-tzerland, and later returning to the United Statesto become GTE’s youngest senior vice presidentresponsible for their international business, inclu-ding operations in 62 countries.

Metropoulos is very well known in the privateequity, investment banking, and financial commu-nity, having spent nearly three decades acquiring,restructuring and growing nearly 80 different busi-nesses involving approximately $14 billion in capitalin the United States, Mexico and Europe. Many ofthese were subsequently taken public or sold tostrategic acquirers.

“We love acquiring and transforming underma-naged companies by investing heavily in operatingefficiencies, systems, new products, innovationand unique marketing,” Metropoulos said, “thusturning them into vibrant, growing businesses. We

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have been particularly privileged and fortunate toacquire and revitalize brands with deep roots in ourAmerican culture and tradition, such as the recentacquisitions of the 170-year-old PBR and 100-year-old Hostess. Our European-acquired brands, suchas Perrier Jouet and Mumm Champagnes, amongothers, often go back 300-plus years: truly hum-bling heritages.”

In July 2013, Metropoulos paid $410 million tobuy Hostess Brands and return Twinkies to groceryshelves after the company had filed for bankruptcyprotection and closed its doors. Hostess has madea remarkable turnaround; in the past few years ithas released several ice cream flavors and rolledout a new upscale line of snacks. In 2016, The Go-res Group (see Alec Gores, infra) acquired Hostessvia a spin-off, under a special-purpose acquisitioncompany process.

Metropoulos sold Pabst Brewing for an estima-ted $750 million in September 2014, nearly triplinghis 2010 investment.

In 2016, Metropoulos sold his equity stake inUtz Quality Foods LLC back to the snack maker’sfamily – roughly doubling his money 15 monthsafter he invested nearly $150 million of equity inthe Utz company.

Metropoulos’ sons, Evan, 38 and Daren, 35, areand have been an integral part of the turnaroundof the acquired companies. He has said that hissons have been the “the creative catalysts for re-positioning and reinventing these brands.”

In August of 2016, his son Daren purchased thelegendary Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, CA for$100 million. Metropoulos and his wife are bothmembers of the Leadership 100 Foundation, a le-adership organization that supports the activitiesof the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States.Metropoulos is also a founding member and presi-dent of Faith Endowment, a New York based orga-nization promoting the Greek Orthodox religion,culture and interests.

7JAHARIS FAMILYNew York

$2.4 BILLION (TNHE)PHARMACEUTICALS

The Jaharis Family Patriarch, Michael, passedaway in early 2016 at age 87. He founded Key Ph-armaceuticals, Kos Pharmaceuticals, & Vatera Heal-thcare Partners.

The son of Greek immigrants from the island ofLesvos, Michael Jaharis was born in Evanston, IL.He earned a bachelor’s degree from Carroll Uni-versity in Wisconsin, served in the U.S. Army Me-dical Corps during the Korean War, and later atten-ded night school at DePaul University to earn a lawdegree while working as a sales representative forMiles Laboratories.

In 1972, Jaharis and partner Phillip Frost acqui-red Key Pharmaceuticals and transformed the smallcold remedies producer into a prominent companywith cutting-edge, top-selling asthma and cardio-vascular drugs. Under Jaharis’ leadership, Key’ssales increased 100-fold before the company’s$836 million merger with Schering-Plough in 1986.Two years later, Jaharis launched Kos Pharmaceu-ticals, which pioneered the HDL cholesterol marketwith its good cholesterol-raising drug Niaspan, be-fore being sold to Abbott Laboratories in 2006 for$4.2 billion.

He remained Chairman Emeritus of the Kos bo-ard until his passing.

In 1999, Jaharis founded Arisaph Pharmaceuti-cals Inc., a privately held drug discovery and biotechcompany, and had served as director since 2005.

Jaharis was also the founder of Vatera Health-care Partners LLC, a venture capital firm focusingon the healthcare industry, which is a key investorin Arisaph. In June 2013, Pearl Therapeutics, inwhich Vatera was the largest investor, was acquiredby AstraZeneca for $1.15 billion.

Proud supporters of Hellenism, the late Jaharisand his wife, Mary, have been longstanding majorbenefactors of the New York Metropolitan Museumof Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the MetropolitanOpera, and many cultural, religious, higher educa-tion, and healthcare institutions through the JaharisFamily Foundation, Inc.

In October 2010, the Mary Jaharis Center forByzantine Art and Culture was inaugurated at Hel-lenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Theolo-gical Seminary in Brookline, MA.

In 2014, the foundation donated $10 million toHaverford College in Haverford, PA to finance anew music center and a student loan debt relieffund. In 2013, the foundation announced a donationof $2 million to support humanitarian relief effortsin Greece. The money, supporting the work of theInternational Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC),Doctors of the World, and SOS Children's Villages,was offered as a challenge gift to inspire other do-nations from Greek-Americans.

In late 2017, the Jaharis Family Foundation, Inc.,announced a new $1 million challenge gift to IOCCto expand its programs, implemented in partnershipwith Apostoli, the humanitarian organization of theGreek Orthodox Archdiocese of Athens, to offersustainable access to safe and nutritious food forchildren, families, and the elderly, and providingrelief to refugees. That ‘challenge’ gift was surpas-sed with IOCC supporters giving more than $1.2million to help people in need in Greece.

Jaharis was the driving force behind the effortto rebuild St. Nicholas Church destroyed in theSept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towersof the World Trade Center. “When finished,” Jaharistold the Archdiocesan Council in 2012, the newstructure will provide “a shining spotlight on theGreek Orthodox faith and our core values of love,respect, peace, healing, and forgiveness.”

Jaharis’ wife, Mary, continues to live in NewYork. The couple had two children and now havefive grandchildren. The Mary Jaharis Center conti-nues to support book-length publications for majorarticles in the field of Byzantine studies broadly

conceived. Grants are aimed at early career aca-demics.

8PETER NICHOLASMassachusetts

$2.3 BILLION (AffluenceIQ)Duke University; Married

Peter Nicholas, 78, co-founded the medical de-vice company Boston Scientific with scientist JohnAbele in 1979, after meeting Abele at a children’s’soccer game.

According to a report published by the Partner-ship for a New American Economy, Nicholas wasraised by Greek immigrant parents. His father, whohad come as a child from Constantinople, settledin the Munjoy Hill neighborhood in Portland, ME –a Greek community that produced “dozens of im-migrant children who grew up to achieve real suc-cess.” Speaking of his father, Nicholas said, “It’salmost like a gift they inherited from their mothersand fathers – these funny looking Greek kids allhad embedded in them this ambition to work hardand achieve a better life than what their parentscould have ever imagined.” In the same study, Ni-cholas was quoted saying that he was “very aware”of the old country his family came from and howmuch his parents wanted him to work to take ad-vantage of the many opportunities that Americaoffered.

A graduate of Duke University, Nicholas wenton to earn an MBA from the University of Pennsyl-vania’s prestigious Wharton School of Business.He is Chairman Emeritus of Duke’s Board of Tru-stees. In 1996, Nicholas gave $20 million to Dukefor its School of the Environment, which was na-med in his honor. Since then, he and his wife, Vir-ginia (Ginny) Lilly, have made other gifts of tens ofmillions of dollars to Duke.

Ginny is the great-grand daugther of Eli Lilly, fo-under of the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Com-pany, where Nicholas worked prior to founding Bo-ston Scientific.

Boston Scientific is a worldwide developer, ma-nufacturer, and marketer of medical devices whoseproducts are used in a range of interventional me-dical specialties, including interventional radiology,interventional cardiology, peripheral interventions,neuromodulation, neurovascular intervention, elec-trophysiology, cardiac surgery, vascular surgery,endoscopy, oncology, urology and gynecology. Thecompany went public in 1992 and currently em-ploys almost 30,000 people.

The company is primarily known for the deve-lopment of the Taxus Stent, a drug-eluting stentwhich is used to open clogged arteries. With thefull acquisition of Cameron Health in June 2012,the company also became notable for offering aminimally invasive implantable cardioverter-defi-brillator (ICD) which they call the EMBLEM Subcu-taneous Implantable Defibrillator (S-ICD).

In 2016, Nicholas announced that he would stepdown as Boston Scientific’s chairman, a year aheadof his intended retirement. President & CEO MikeMahoney, who succeeded Nicholas as Chairman,said this about his predecessor: “These changesrepresent a major milestone in the history of thecompany, as Pete’s dedication, passion, and com-mitment were instrumental in bringing the benefitsof interventional medicine to patients in need. Un-der Pete’s leadership, Boston Scientific has becomea leading global healthcare corporation serving 22million patients each year, and we are deeply in-debted for his decades of service and love of thecompany.”

9ALEC GORESCalifornia

$2.2 BILLION (Forbes)TECHNOLOGY, LEVERAGED BUYOUTSWestern Michigan University (Computer Science); Married, 5 children

Alec Gores, 65, like his brothers Tom and Sam(also featured in this edition) was born to a Greekfather and Lebanese mother, in Nazareth, Israel.The family, which included 6 children, moved toGenesee, MI when he was a teenager.

"My father was willing to give up literally every-thing he had [in Israel] and pack his bags and bringus here," Gores told Forbes in October, 2016. "Hedid it for the kids, to make sure we have a betterfuture."

The elder Gores, Charlie, emphasized hard workand an appreciation for the opportunities the UnitedStates presented, his son told Forbes. "The day welanded in America, my dad sat us down and hesaid, 'This is your new country. You have to respectit. You have to embrace it,’" Gores remembers. Hisdad added: "You've got to work hard, and you cando anything you want in this country." Alec beganhis professional career by bagging groceries at hisuncle’s store soon after arriving in America (for 25cents an hour) – he didn’t speak any English at thetime.

Today, Gores heads the Beverly Hills-based pri-vate equity firm The Gores Group, which has $2.5billion in assets. He lives in an 11-bedroom mansionon 2.2 acres in Beverly Hills – near his brother Tom,who bought a palatial estate in Holby Hills in 2016as part of a reported $100 million deal.

After graduating from Western Michigan Uni-

versity with a degree in computer science (the firstperson in his family to finish college), he foundedExecutive Business Systems in 1978, for $10,000,and was selling computers out of his basement.His father “gave me his last $8,000 and had me gobuy a demo machine," Gores told Forbes. "That'swhat I needed to start the business." He grew thecompany tremendously, and sold it in 1986 to Con-tel for approximately $2 million.

In 2016, he joined C. Dean Metropulos, also fe-atured in this edition, to take the food snack giantHostess public. In February of this year, Gores andMetropoulos again joined forces and created a newblank check company, Gores Metropoulos Inc., wh-ich completed its $400 million initial public offering.

Gores famously lost over $17 million in a three-day backgammon series to fellow billionaire JPMcManus in 2012, the Independent reported, andGores promptly “paid up like a gent.”

The father of five, Gores is now married to KellyNoonan Gores, his second wife (John Legend per-formed at their wedding in 2016). Kelly releasedthe documentary Heal (83% on Rotten Tomatoes)on Netflix this year which is about the power ofthe mind to heal the body.

10HASEOTES FAMILYMassachusetts

$2.1 BILLION (Forbes)CONVENIENCE STORES

The Haseotes Family finishes off our top tenwealthiest Greek-Americans of 2019.

Their company, Cumberland Farms, was foun-ded by current CEO Ari Haseotes’ grandparents,Vasilios and Aphrodite, in 1938. That year, the Ha-seoteses emigrated from Greece’s Macedonia andEpirus regions to the United States and purchaseda one-cow, one-calf dairy farm in Cumberland, RIfor $84.

Cumberland Farms expanded across state linesand eventually grew to become the largest dairyfarm operation in Massachusetts. In 1956, the com-pany opened a jug-milk store in Bellingham, MA.During the 1950s, few convenience food storeswith dawn-to-midnight service every day of theweek existed in the northern part of the country. In1962, Cumberland Farms quickly expanded to be-come New England’s first true convenience store.

By the early 1990s, Cumberland Farms rankedthird among the country’s convenience store ch-ains, and was also a leader in both the retail andwholesale distribution of petroleum products thro-ugh the Cumberland Farms (and previously, alsoGulf and Mobil) names.

The company first added a gas station to one ofits stores in 1971 and expanded greatly in the wakeof the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo. By 1975 Cum-berland Farms opened its 1,000th store. The follo-wing year, it opened a 560,000-square-foot bakeryand warehouse in Westborough, Mass. In 1987, itpurchased all of the Northeast assets of Gulf Oilfrom the Chevron Corporation, including 550 ser-vice stations and a terminal network throughoutthe Northeast.

In 2010, Gulf Oil L.P., a subsidiary of Cumberland

Farms, announced it had acquired all rights, titleand interest to the Gulf brand in the entire UnitedStates and its territories. About 5 years later, Cum-berland Farms sold Gulf Oil for a reported $1 billionin order to “get out of the wholesale business andfocus exclusively on retail.”

Today Cumberland Farms is one of America’slargest family-owned convenience store chains –and one of the largest family-owned companies ofany kind in the United States. A closely held fa-mily-owned company since its inception, Cumber-land Farms has since grown to become a multi-bil-lion-dollar corporation – in 2017 alone, the companyreported $6 billion in revenues. Lily Haseotes Ben-tas, daughter of Vasilios and Aphrodite Haseotes,is chairman of the board of directors. Her nephew,Ari, succeeded Bentas as CEO in June 2014.

In June, 2016, Ari Haseotes told the BostonGlobe as a result of the sale of Gulf, Cumberlandcan now devote more resources to remodeling itsstores and revamping its distribution center. Bygetting out of the wholesale business and focusingexclusively on retail, Haseotes is returning the com-pany to its roots, more in line with how it was runby his grandparents.

Also in 2016, Lily Haseotes Bentas donated a$8.7 million 23,000 square foot academic wing atSalve Regina which houses the university’s busi-ness and nursing departments. She (fittingly) chri-stened the building (The Lily Haseotes Bentas Cen-ter) with a Cumberland Farms old-time milk bottle.

In April of 2019, The Oil Price Information Ser-vice (the gas industry publication) and the JournalInquirer (a newspaper based and published in Con-necticut) said that Cumberland Farms may be ex-ploring the possibility of a sale that could end eightdecades of ownership under the Haseotes family.

11PETER G. ANGELOSMaryland

$2.0 BILLION (Celebrity Net Worth)LAW, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL University of Baltimore; Married, 2 children

Peter G. Angelos, 89, is an attorney and is bestknown for being the owner, chairman and CEO ofMajor League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles, but hislaw firm and wealth expanded exponentially in1982, when he represented 8,500 plaintiffs – thelargest number of plaintiffs ever – in asbestos liti-gation and won. He reportedly made over $100million on this one case.

He bought the Orioles in August 1993, leadinga group of investors including prominent Marylan-ders such as novelist Tom Clancy, in purchasingthe team for $173 million, a record price at thetime.

The Orioles enjoyed some success early underAngelos’ ownership, making the postseason as awild card team in 1996 and winning the AmericanLeague East Division title in 1997. But managerDavey Johnson resigned after the 1997 season,and 14 straight losing seasons ensued. As of late,their fortunes have taken a roller coaster ride,clinching the division in 2014, just falling short ofrepeating in 2015 and making the playoffs again in2016, but currently in another slide towards thecellar.

Angelos and his wife, Georgia, have two sons:

John, who serves as the Orioles’ executive vicepresident and Louis, an attorney at the family lawoffice. Angelos began to cede control of the Oriolesto his sons starting in 2017. According to the Bal-timore Sun, in early 2019, the MLB asked the Ori-oles to inform it by June who will be in control ofthe club since Angelos senior has been dealingwith some health issues.

In 2016, Forbes reported that the Orioles’ valuehad increased 61% in two years, from $620 millionto over $1 billion. In April of 2019, Forbes reportedthat the team is worth $1.3 billion.

Angelos was born in Pittsburgh, PA on July 4,1929, to immigrants from the island of Karpathos.He went to Baltimore at age 11, where his familysettled in the Highlandtown section. His fatherowned a tavern in East Baltimore where Peterworked during his adolescence. He graduated fromthe University of Baltimore School of Law, wherehe was class valedictorian, and went on to a lucra-tive career in trial law, specializing in cases involvingharmful products, professional malpractice, andpersonal injury.

His firm, the Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos,



has attorneys and locations in Maryland, Delaware,Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Angelos began work-ing as a criminal defense lawyer following gradua-tion. For most of his legal career, he was a suc-cessful attorney representing Baltimore laborunions and their members through his own privatepractice, which he founded in 1961. Beginning inthe 1980s, he refashioned his firm’s focus fromcriminal law to civil class action suits. Angelos wasalso enormously successful in suing Wyeth, themakers of the diet pill fen-phen, and representingthe state of Maryland as lead attorney in a lawsuitagainst tobacco company Philip Morris. The agree-ment had stipulated that he would receive 25% ofthe recovery, but when it came to $4.5 billion, Mary-land refused to pay; Angelos’ team settled for $150million. It was after that he became a major playerin the Baltimore community. Commenting on win-ning settlements of that size on behalf of govern-mental entities, Angelos said, “If you get that kindof a fee, you’re fundamentally taking it from thepublic interest.”

A lifelong Democrat, he won election to the Bal-timore City Council and served on the Council from1959 to 1963. He ran for mayor as an independentin 1964, but lost. He has been an active supporterof national Democratic candidates.

Angelos has been active in charitable programsin the city and state. He enjoys horse racing andowns thoroughbred horses. He has given $10 mil-lion to his alma mater; in return, the new law schoolbuilding bears the name of his parents. The Johnand Frances Angelos Law Center at the Universityof Baltimore opened in April 2013. That same year,he gifted $2.5 million to the MedStar FranklinSquare Medical Center in Baltimore to open a lungdisease center.

12EFSTATHIOS (STEVE)VALIOTIS - New York

$1.6 BILLION (TNHE)REAL ESTATE, BANKINGUniversity of Athens (Theology);Married, 3 children

Efstathios (Steve) Valiotis, 71, is president andfounder of the Astoria, New York based Alma RealtyCorporation (‘alma’ is the Greek word for leap orjump), one of the largest privately-held landlordand real estate firms in the New York metropolitanarea. In 2007 he also founded Alma Bank. Today,he owns and manages more than 120 buildingsand 6,000 apartments in New York alone – andmore in New Jersey.

Born in Vordonia, near Sparta in Greece, heearned his degree in theology from the Universityof Athens. He immigrated to the United States in1972 and worked in the food industry (first as adishwasher at his brother-in-law’s restaurant andthen as a pizza-maker in a pizza parlor) and, withintwo years, purchased a newsstand and a food martfollowed by a pizzeria. His next venture was estab-lishing a custom-made furniture business, KnossosInc., in Astoria in 1976. Two years later, the busi-ness expanded to include two retail display storeson Manhattan’s Park Avenue and Sixth Avenue anda furniture-manufacturing factory in Queens. Vali-otis owned and actively managed Knossos until1994.

In 1978, he began his highly successful careerinvesting in real estate. Since then, Valiotis’ expert-ise in acquisition and development has included

the purchase, sale, construction, and managementof both residential and commercial properties. Hisfirst few real estate investments were conversionsof abandoned industrial and warehouse buildingsinto upscale residential loft buildings. In 1983, Vali-otis founded his own firm, known as Alma RealtyCorporation. Alma serves as the vessel throughwhich Valiotis develops, builds, manages, and ac-quires real estate. He has built a diverse portfolioover the last decades including multi-family resi-dential buildings, commercial buildings, ground-upconstruction of residential and commercial build-ings and a retail shopping center. Alma Realty alsoowns and manages over 15,000 apartments ofmarket and affordable housing properties in NewYork and New Jersey as well as more than five mil-lion square feet of commercial property. He is com-mitted to investing and improving communities byproviding safe residential and commercial devel-opments.

In 1989, Valiotis, along with several other in-vestors, formed Marathon National Bank. He servedas chairman of the bank’s board of directors andas a member for ten years. Marathon was eventu-ally acquired by Piraeus National Bank of Greecein 1999. In 2007, he formed Alma Bank, in whichhe serves as chairman of the advisory board. Thebank started with $50 million in capital and in al-most 12 years has grown to over $1.1 billion intotal assets with 13 branch locations.

Valiotis established his construction company,Vordonia Construction Corporation (eventually be-coming Vordonia Contracting and Supplies Corp.in 2002), in 1988, which served as the general con-tractor for the majority of his projects until 2002.He also formed Valco Building Materials and Sup-plies Corp. of Long Island City in 2006, a large re-tailer of building materials and appliances as a sub-sidiary of Alma operations.

Valiotis made news in late 2017, for convertingthe former Jewish Hospital in Brooklyn’s CrownHeights neighborhood into 700 units of long-termaffordable housing, the Real Estate Journal re-ported.

In 2019, it was reported in the RealDeal andLohud that Alma Realty was planning to build anine-story, 181-unit building called One Park Placein Peekskill, NY. The development was said to in-clude a public park, more than 300 below-groundparking spaces and an outdoor terrace with diningspace. The project has already secured the city’sapproval and is expected to “draw a lot of new res-idents.”

As of May 2019, Center City Partners, Alma Re-alty’s subsidiary (Valiotis is the managing member),is the developer of Center City Mall in Paterson,NJ and is seeking to partner with the New JerseyEconomic Development Authority to advance a$100 million investment in the city. They hope tobuild an arena, hotel, and parking garage at thestruggling downtown commercial complex – butfirst they must get the approval of the mayor.

Valiotis is a supporter of the St. DemetriosCathedral and School in Astoria and is a majorbenefactor of the Holy Cross Greek OrthodoxChurch, School and Community Center in White-stone (the church’s Efstathios and Stamatiki ValiotisGreek American School was named after him andhis wife, Stamatiki Kousoulas). Valiotis never forgothis roots and hometown; he financed and built aT.E.I. (technical college) in his hometown of Sparta,which also bears his name. A firm believer in edu-cation, he supports various educational institutions.

In November of 2016, the National Herald re-ported that the Valiotises donated $10 million for anew St. Michael’s Home for the elderly on Long Is-land.

13GEORGE M. MARCUS -California

$1.5 BILLION (FORBES)REAL ESTATESan Francisco State University(Economics); Married, 4 Children

Born George Mathew Moutsanas in 1941 onthe island of Euboea in Greece during World WarII, George Marcus, now 77, emigrated to the UnitedStates at the age of 4. His family settled in SanFrancisco’s blue-collar Potrero Hill neighborhood,where, he has said, his top priority was fitting in. Itwas in this neighborhood that Marcus eventuallymet his future wife, Judy. According to an interviewwith the Nob Hill Gazette, Marcus was friends with

Judy’s younger brother – they knew each othersince elementary school. However, it wasn’t untilafter Marcus came home from the military that hisfriend (and Judy’s brother) suggested that heshould go on a date with his sister.

Marcus founded G.M. Marcus & Company,which evolved into Marcus & Millichap Company(MMC), with the help of his business partner,William A. Millichap four decades ago. MMC is oneof the country’s premier providers of investmentreal estate brokerage services, and the parent com-pany of a diversified group of real estate, service,investment and development firms. According toForbes, MMC closed nearly 9,000 transactions val-ued at $42.3 billion in 2016.

MMC’s featured company, Marcus & MillichapReal Estate Investment Services, has establisheditself as a leading real estate firm with more than1,200 brokers in markets throughout the UnitedStates. With dozens of offices across the UnitedStates and Canada, the firm concentrates on in-vestment brokerage, and provides financing andresearch services to both buyers and sellers. Mar-cus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Serviceswent public with 6 million shares in October 2013,generating net proceeds to the company of about$34.6 million. In 2015, due to the company’s suc-cess, Marcus’ net worth catapulted him from mil-lionaire to billionaire.

Marcus is also chairman of Essex Property Trust,a publicly held, multi-family real estate investmenttrust (REIT). Located in Palo Alto, CA and tradedon the New York Stock Exchange, Essex is a fullyintegrated REIT that acquires, develops and rede-velops apartment communities in select west coastcommunities. The company, according to Forbes,currently owns more than 60,000 apartments alongthe West Coast (with sales of $1.4 billion). Marcusis also one of the original founders of Plaza Com-merce Bank and Greater Bay Bancorp. He servedon Greater Bay’s board of directors until it was soldto Wells-Fargo in 2007 for $1.5 billion.

Marcus completed his undergraduate studiesin Economics at San Francisco State University injust two and a half years, and founded the univer-sity’s first economics club. He also served as amember of the Board of Trustees of the CaliforniaState University System in 1981-89, and has helpedselect several SFSU presidents. He was namedSFSU Alumnus of the year in 1989 and one of its11 Distinguished Centennial Alumni in 1999. Heand his wife, Judy (also an SFSU alum), helped cre-ate SFSU’s International Center for the Arts with a$3 million gift. Marcus also helped develop SFSU’sGreek Studies program, and chairs its ModernGreek Studies Foundation, which supports theNikos Kazantzakis Chair for Modern Greek Studies.

Marcus supports many organizations of theGreek- American community. In 2008, he co-founded and is the current Chairman Emeritus ofthe National Hellenic Society, which brings togetherdistinguished Greek-Americans on a national levelto preserve their heritage. His considerable com-mitments to the Greek Orthodox Church and theCommunity include memberships on the boardsof directors of the Modern Greek Studies Founda-tion, the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Fran-cisco, International Orthodox Christian Charities,the Elios Society of Northern California, Leadership100, and many others. He is also involved with TheHellenic Initiative, the Washington Oxi Day Foun-dation, and the Taube Foundation.

Along with another Greek-American couple,George and Judy Marcus opened the successfulEvvia restaurant in Palo Alto in 1995, and its sisterrestaurant Kokkari in San Francisco in 1999. Knownfor both its rustic and elegant cuisine and environ-ment, Kokkari enjoys its standing as the premierGreek restaurant and a favorite of the local Demo-cratic establishment.

Marcus is a graduate of the Harvard BusinessSchool’s Owners/Presidents Management Programand the Georgetown University Leadership Pro-gram. Among Marcus’ professional membershipsare the Board of Regents of the University of Cali-fornia, the Real Estate Round-table and the PolicyAdvisory Board of the University of California inBerkeley’s Center for Real Estate & Urban Eco-nomics.

In February 2017, The National Herald reportedthat Marcus donated $1 million to the Hellenic Col-lege and Holy Cross Theological School (HCHC) inMassachusetts. Last year, the Marcus family gaveSan Francisco State University a $25 million gift tobenefit the school’s liberal arts program (the largestgrant ever given to that institution).

13JAMES S. CHANOS -New York

$1.5 BILLION (Celebrity Net Worth)INVESTMENTSYale University (Economics & PoliticalScience); 4 children

James S. Chanos, 61, is informally known as“Wall Street’s most notable bear.” Founder andPresident of Kynikos Associates, Chanos heads theworld’s biggest short-selling hedge fund. He isrenowned for predicting – and profiting from – the2001 Enron Corporation scandal. His speculationscatapulted him into billionaire status just a fewyears ago, where he has remained.

Chanos is a second generation Greek-Americanwho grew up in Milwaukee, WI. His father owneda chain of dry cleaning stores in Milwaukee andhis mother worked as an office manager at a steelcompany. He founded Kynikos Associates (in Greek,“kynikos” means cynic) in 1985 after a Wall Streetcareer as a financial analyst with Paine Webber,Gilford Securities, and Deutsche Bank. Jim Levitas,his former boss, partnered with Chanos to launchKynikos Associates with $16 million. A year later,Levitas, unable to endure the stress of short selling,left the company. Kynikos has offices in New Yorkand London.

Chanos has a long and distinguished history ofmaking shrewd predictions, having identified sev-eral financial meltdowns such as Boston Chicken,Conesco, and Tyco International. In 2000, he startedinvestigating Enron. One year later, predicting thecompany’s financial problems, he became Enron’sshort seller. By the time the Enron scandal waspublic, Kynikos Associates profited greatly. Financialmagazine Barron’s mentioned his early predictionof Enron’s fall as “the market call of the decade, ifnot the past fifty years.” Later on, Chanos success-fully predicted Sotheby’s stock drop – it plummetedin November 2007 from $57 to $10. He even fore-saw the global financial meltdown of 2008. In April2007 at a finance ministers’ conference in Wash-ington, DC, he warned that American banks andbrokerage firms were highly vulnerable to a realestate crash because of the vast amounts of dubi-ous mortgages they held. More recently, Chanoshas taken swipes at the electric car maker, Tesla(and Elon Musk), claiming that the company's eq-uity is “worthless.”

In March, 2006, Chanos created the Coalition



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of Private Investment Companies, an organizationaiming at promoting hedge funds in Washington.Recently, the lobbying group has shifted its atten-tion to Europe.

He appears regularly in the American media giv-ing financial advice and predictions. He has longbeen considered a “media operator” with a strongrelationship with journalists that respect and pro-mote his ideas. He continues to regularly predictthat China’s economy will crash, partly due to ex-cessive real estate development.

Chanos is a graduate of Yale University, wherehe studied economics and political science. Organ-izations he supports include the Washington OXIDay Foundation, the George and Olga Tsunis Centerfor Hellenic Studies at Stony Brook University inStony Brook, NY, and Faith: An Endowment for Or-thodoxy and Hellenism.

Chanos is currently a lecturer in finance and aBecton Fellow at the Yale School of Management,where he teaches a class on the history of financialfraud. He also serves on the Board of Trustees ofthe Brooklyn Museum, the New York Historical So-ciety and the National WWII Museum. He was di-vorced in 2006 and lives in New York City with hisfour children.

14DR. P. ROY VAGELOSNew Jersey

1.4 BILLION (TNHE)PHARMACEUTICALS, HEALTHCAREUniversity of Pennsylvania (Chemistry);Married, 4 children

Dr. Pindaros Roy Vagelos, now 89 years old,was born in Rahway, NJ in 1929 – just before theinfamous stock market crash. In 1943, his parents,Herodotus and Marianthi Vagelos bought a restau-rant (then known as Estelle’s Luncheonette), whereVagelos and his two sisters worked during theiradolescence. According to the Columbia UniversityMagazine, the family ate dinner there six nights aweek. Vagelos, described as a “violin-playing,sports-loving math whiz at Rahway High” workedbehind the counter every day after school as a sodajerk, a dishwasher, and as a potato peeler.

Vagelos eventually earned a medical degreeover half a century ago. Before assuming broaderresponsibilities of business leadership, Vagelos hadwon scientific recognition as an authority on lipidsand enzymes, and as a research leader. This fol-lowed a decision early in his career to put his prin-cipal energies into research, rather than the practiceof medicine. Vagelos, whose parents were born inAsia Minor and emigrated to the United States inthe 1920s, earned his bachelor’s degree with hon-ors in 1950 from the University of Pennsylvania.He earned a medical degree from Columbia Uni-versity in 1954. After an internship and residencyat Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston(1954-56), he joined the National Institutes ofHealth (NIH) in Bethesda, MD. At NIH from 1956to 1966, he served in the National Heart Institute,holding positions in cellular physiology and bio-chemistry – first as senior surgeon, then as headof Comparative Biochemistry. In 1966, Vagelosjoined the Washington University in St. Louis Schoolof Medicine as chairman of its Biological ChemistryDepartment where he founded the division of Biol-ogy and Biomedical Sciences.

Since then, he has had a long and distinguishedcareer in healthcare, and particularly in pharma-ceuticals. He served as Chairman and CEO of phar-maceutical giant Merck & Co. from 1985 to 1994.He joined the worldwide health products firm in1975 as senior vice president of research, and be-came president of its research division in 1976.Starting in 1982, he served as senior vice presidentof strategic planning. He continued to hold bothpositions until 1984, when he was elected execu-tive vice president.

The author of several books, including an auto-biography, Medicine, Science and Merck, and morethan 100 scientific papers, he was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts & Sciences and the Na-tional Academy of Sciences in 1972, and to theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1993. He hasreceived honorary degrees from 14 institutions, in-cluding the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia,Harvard, Princeton and Washington Universities.

After retiring from Merck (due to the companyrule that CEOs retire at age 65), Vagelos was chair-man of the University of Pennsylvania’s board oftrustees from 1994 to 1999, having served as atrustee since 1988. He has funded three of theuniversity's most elite undergraduate programs:the Vagelos Scholars Program in Molecular LifeSciences, the Vagelos Program in Life Sciencesand Management, and the Vagelos Integrated Pro-gram in Energy Research. He was also presidentand CEO of the American School of Classical Stud-ies in Athens from 1999 to 2001. He served on theNational Research Council Committee on Science& Technology for Countering Terrorism in 2002 andon the National Academy of Sciences, NationalAcademy of Engineering and Institute of MedicineCommittee that published “Rising Above the Gath-ering Storm” in 2005.

Merck was very respected under his leadership,having been voted “America’s Most Admired Cor-poration” in the annual Fortune magazine poll forseven consecutive years. During Vagelos’ tenurethere, Merck developed the cholesterol-loweringstatins, MEVACOR and ZOCOR.

Vagelos is sometimes called the father of ‘phar-macophilanthropy’ for his decision that Merck con-tribute the drug MECTIZAN free to cure millions ofAfricans of river blindness. His charity work at theUniversity of Pennsylvania includes sponsoringscholarship/study programs as well as the Roy andDiana Vagelos Laboratories. The Diana StudentCenter, named after Mrs. Vagelos at her alma mater,Barnard College, opened in 2010.

Since 1995, Vagelos has been chairman ofbiotech company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals,which employs 7,400 people and had sales of $6.7

billion in 2019 according to Forbes. (RegeneronPresident and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. GeorgeYancopoulos is number 20 on this list.)

Vagelos is also the founding chairman of Co-lumbia University Medical Center’s board of advi-sors, and chaired the center’s capital campaign,which passed its target of $1 billion. In 2010 theVagelos couple contributed the lead gift to ColumbiaUniversity Medical Center for a new medical andgraduate education building. Seven years later, itwas announced that the Columbia University’s Col-lege of Physicians and Surgeons would be renamedthe Columbia University Roy and Diana VagelosCollege of Physicians and Surgeons in recognitionof a $250 million gift given by Vagelos to the col-lege. A substantial part of the donation ($150 mil-lion) would be used to endow a fund that will helpeliminate student loans for medical students whoqualify for financial aid. Altogether, the Vageloseshave been responsible for about $450 million inphilanthropy to Columbia’s medical school alone.

Vagelos is currently on the boards of the NationalMath and Science Initiative and The Nature Con-servancy.

Between 2005 and 2013, the couple contributed$31.6 million to the University of Pennsylvania forstudies in energy research and the life sciences. InApril of 2019, the couple added to that sum bycontributing an additional $50 million to Penn inorder to build a center to connect physical scientistsand engineers who are focused on energy-relatedsolutions. It is the largest gift in the history of theSchool of Arts and Sciences. As The National Heraldreported in May 2016, the Vageloses’ philosophyis simple: “giving back.”

Vagelos has been married to the former DianaTouliatos for almost 65 years. They live in New Jer-sey and have four children and several grandchil-dren.

14JAMIE DIMONNew York

$1.4 BILLION (Forbes)FINANCETufts University (Psychology &Economics); Married, 3 children

Jamie Dimon, 63, is chairman and CEO of Amer-ica’s largest bank JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM),and considered one of the nation’s most powerfulpeople.

Dimon was born in New York City. His grandfa-ther, a Greek immigrant from Smyrna, was a brokerand passed his knowledge of the business ontohis son, Dimon’s father. Dimon’s father and grand-father worked together for 19 years and Jamiejoined them during the summers in their New Yorkoffice. In a 2016 interview with CNBC, Dimon saidthat he and his family were very ‘tight’ – so whenboth of his parents died within a few hours of eachother in that same year, it was very tough on him.

As a boy, Dimon attended the Browning School,a prestigious all-boys prep school on New York’sUpper East Side. He later majored in psychologyand economics at Tufts University, and earned hisMBA from Harvard University Business School.Upon graduating in 1982, Sanford Weill convincedhim to turn down offers from Goldman Sachs andMorgan Stanley, and instead to join him as an as-sistant at American Express. Through a series ofunprecedented mergers and acquisitions that en-sued, they formed Citigroup, then the largest fi-nancial services conglomerate in the world. Weillwas the one who made the deals, but Dimon wasthe whiz kid who made the numbers work. Dimonleft Citigroup in November 1998 due to an internalconflict with Weill.

Listed at a $1.1 billion net worth in 2015, Forbesknocked him out of the “billionaire’s club” early in2016, estimating his net worth had fallen to justunder $900 million due to a portfolio wane, andlisted him at $700 million later in the year. But thatnumber was back up into the billion range only afew years later with Dimon being characterized asone of the biggest beneficiaries of the Wall Streetboom.

For the 2013 fiscal year Dimon received a 74%pay raise to $20 million, which has continued toincrease since (his current salary is $31 million).According to Forbes’ 2019 list of the world’s largestcompanies, JPMorgan is the largest and most pow-erful public company in the country, and secondlargest company in the world behind one Chinesebank (ICBC). Its market value was estimated atnearly $370 billion.

JPMorgan Chase was at the center of severalhigh-profile investigations in 2013, paying $20 bil-lion to settle legal claims, and reported a much-publicized $6 billion loss in 2012. Despite this, Di-mon has managed to keep JPMorgan well aheadof the curve since taking the helm in 2006. Evenwhen all the country’s major banks – e.g., Bank ofAmerica and Citigroup – were barely managing tostay afloat, the $2 trillion-in-assets bank thrived re-cently, earning Dimon the respect of his peers. Hehas been on Time magazine’s list of the 100 mostinfluential people three times since 2006.

In July 2014, Dimon said he had been diagnosedwith throat cancer. The following December, he an-nounced to his staff that he had concluded treat-ment and that after testing, his doctors found noevidence of cancer in his body, although he willcontinue to be monitored. Even though he contin-ued to work during his treatment, he had cut backon his schedule. By 2016, it appeared the cancerwas in remission and he had a good long-termprognosis.

More recently, Forbes reported that Dimon hadtold Donald Trump’s presidential transition teamthat he did not want to be considered for Secretaryof the Treasury, though it is unclear if that was be-cause if he accepted the position he would haveto divest his JPMorgan Chase holdings.

Dimon is on the Board of Directors of HarvardBusiness School. He is also on the Board ofTrustees of New York University School of Medicine.

In April of 2019, Dimon tapped two seniorwomen insiders as his possible successors at JPM:Marianne Lake and Jennifer Piepszak – eventhough he intends to run the largest U.S. bank forat least another five years (according to Fox Busi-ness).

16TED J. LEONSISMaryland

$1.1 BILLION (Celebrity Net Worth)INTERNET, VENTURE CAPITAL,PROFESSIONAL SPORTSGeorgetown University (AmericanStudies); Married, 2 children

Theodore J. Leonsis, 62, has been the toast ofour nation’s capital’s sports world and isn’t planningon slowing down anytime soon. He is the founder,chairman, CEO and majority owner of MonumentalSports and Entertainment (formed in 2010), whichowns and operates the professional sports teamsWashington Capitals (National Hockey League –the team won the 2018 Stanley Cup in a 4-3 game5 victory over the Las Vegas Knights), WashingtonWizards (National Basketball Association), Wash-ington Mystics (Women’s National BasketballLeague), and the Verizon Center in downtownWashington, D.C. The partnership also operatesKettler Capitals Iceplex (the Washington Capitals’training facility and front office headquarters) andthe George Mason University Patriot Center. Healso served as the mayor of Orchid, Florida in theearly 1990s.

After surviving an airplane crash landing in 1983,he resolved to “rethink [his] priorities and how [he]planned to lead [his] life going forward.” He drafteda list of 101 goals to accomplish. To date he hascompleted 74 of the tasks, including owning asports franchise, playing one-on-one basketballwith Michael Jordan, and starting a family charityfoundation. (See the complete list at tedstake.com.)In 2010, he published The Business of Happiness:6 Secrets to Extraordinary Success in Life andWork.

Few people have roots as deep in the computerindustry, or as much knowledge and experience ofits history and potential. A pioneer of the Internetand new media, Leonsis participated in launchesof the Apple MacIntosh, the IBM PC and Wang of-fice automation systems. He has led four busi-nesses that have grown at record rates: he builtWang WP (the first word processor) from a $200million to a $1 billion company with the largest fe-male management team in the country. He wasfounder and CEO of Redgate Communications Cor-poration, considered the first new media marketingcompany. He built AOL into the first $1 billion in-teractive services company and the world’s biggestmedia company, helping to increase its member-ship from fewer than 800,000 to more than 8 mil-lion in a four-year span (1994-97).

The grandson of Greek immigrants, Leonsis wasborn to a family of modest means in Brooklyn, andspent his early years there. His family later movedback to his mother’s hometown of Lowell, MAwhere Leonsis, now a teenager, worked mowinglawns in order to make some money. According toan interview with N-Magazine, Leonsis said thatwhen his guidance counselor evaluated his skillset,she concluded that he was destined to work in agrocery store. She was very wrong. Leonsis grad-uated from Lowell High School in 1973 and at-tended Georgetown University with the financialhelp of a businessman named Jim Shannon forwhom Leonsis had worked as a lawn mower. Aftergraduating in 1977 (the first in his family to obtaina university education), he moved back to his par-ents’ home in Lowell and began working for WangLaboratories. In 1980, Leonsis started his owncompany, which grew quickly. He sold it to Inter-national Thompson for $60 million in 1981. He thenstarted Redgate, which he sold to AOL in 1993,commencing his relationship with the once-perva-sive online juggernaut. He completed his tenureas AOL’s president and vice chairman before step-ping down in 2006.

In 2015 he became Board Chairman of the Dis-trict of Columbia College Access Program (DC

CAP), a private non-profit organization that encour-ages and enables public high school students toenroll in and graduate from college.

Leonsis is a co-founder and partner at Revolu-tion Growth Fund, chairman of the Groupon boardof directors, and founder/chairman of SnagFilms,a website that allows online audiences to find,watch and share documentary films. He has pro-duced award-winning documentaries including“Nanking,” which told the story of the 1937 invasionof Nanking, China by the Japanese army. It pre-miered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival andwon a Peabody Award and an Emmy Award in2009.

Leonsis and his wife, Lynn, live in Potomac, MDin a 20,000 square foot home that Franklin Roo-sevelt, and later, Joe Kennedy (the father of Presi-dent John F. Kennedy), used to rent over the sum-mer. They have a son, Zachary, and a daughter,Elle.

17KOSTA & TOMKARTSOTIS

$1 BILLION (TNHE)WATCHES, LEATHER ACCESSORIES

Kosta, 66, and Tom Kartsotis, 59, are foundersof the Fossil Group, Inc., whose brand is widelyassociated with watches, jewelry, and other ac-cessories, as well as clothing.

Kosta serves as chairman and CEO of Fossil.Meanwhile, Tom, who founded the company, stillowns a small stake, but in 2003 also foundedBedrock Manufacturing (named after the Flint-stones hometown), a Texas-based private equityand brand management firm, which takes up mostof his time. Under this firm, Tom launched Shinola,a high-end watch brand, famous for being manu-factured in Detroit.

Tom dropped out of Texas A&M and traveled toAsia with a plan to import cheap toys – but ulti-mately decided on Asian-made, moderately priced,watches. With $200,000 that he had earned fromscalping tickets, Tom opened an importer ofwatches from Hong Kong – which ultimately mor-phed into the brand called Fossil. Tom and Fossilhead designer Lynne Stafford (whom he later mar-ried) put their own spin on the watches and to thisday, the company does billions in sales annually.

Based in Richardson, Texas, Fossil was foundedin 1984 and has almost 11,000 employees andsells its products in 120 countries around the world.The company designs and manufactures acces-sories and its brands include Fossil, Relic, Abacus,Michele Watch, and Zodiac. Fossil also branchedinto the sale of leather goods and other accessoriesin the 1990s. The company works closely withother brands such as Burberry, DKNY, Emporio Ar-mani, Columbia Sportswear, Diesel, Michael Kors,Kate Spade and Adidas. Fossil also produces col-lectibles, some of which are based on popular filmsor pop culture characters.

In 2011, Tom Kartsotis’ Bedrock and Swissmovement maker Ronda embarked on a joint ven-ture to create Shinola, a Detroit-made watch col-lection. As the website says, the company operatesan “in-house watch and leather factory on the fifthfloor of the Argonaut Building, where a team of ar-tisans hand-assembles luxury timepieces and craftspremium leather straps.” In 2019, Marc Jacobs an-nounced a partnership with the makers of Shinolato launch a new line of watches. The company alsomanufactures bicycles and just a few months agoopened up its first hotel, Shinola Hotel. The 129-room, eight-story boutique hotel is part of amulti¬million-dollar development project by Shinolaand Bedrock, which has acquired and developedmore than 100 properties in Detroit since 2011 –


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as reported by The New York Times and The StarTribune. The company has hired hundreds of peoplein Detroit and across the country (over 600).

Priding himself a creator of American jobs, Tomwas featured in Business of Fashion in 2016 fordoing just that. Among the fans of Shinola watches,are former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and BarackObama and former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder.President Obama in 2016 also presented a specialShinola watch, engraved with the Presidential sealon the back and with a case also featuring the seal,to then-UK Prime Minister David Cameron, theWashington Post reported.

18GEORGE D. BEHRAKISMassachusetts

$930 MILLION (Affluence IQ)PHARMACEUTICALSNortheastern University; Married, 4 children

George D. Behrakis, 85, Founder and Chairmanof Mythos, LLC, a private investment companybased in Lexington, MA, also serves on the boardof the Lexington-based venture capital firm Gaines-borough Investments, and is a renowned philan-thropist.

Born on New Year’s Day in 1934, the son ofGreek immigrants, Behrakis was born and raisedin Lowell, MA. His wife Margo and he have estab-lished chairs and scholarships at various universi-ties and medical centers.

Of all his philanthropic endeavors, the most dearto Behrakis is the anti-smoking campaign (SmokeFree Greece) in Greece he helped to fund. Almosta decade ago, he was shocked to see two womenpassing out free cigarettes to 11- and 12-year-oldgirls in front of a school in the wealthy Atheniansuburb Kifisia. Behrakis gave a $1.8 million grantin 2010 to a Harvard University School of PublicHealth to study smoking in Greece. His goal wasto reduce smoking among Greece’s youth by 35percent and to date, he has come very close, cut-ting smoking by approximately 32 percent. Sincethen he has donated more funds to publish a self-help guide to quitting, produce school programs,

and further study at the academy of Athens on theeffects of smoking.

A 1957 graduate of Northeastern University inBoston, Behrakis also studied at Boston University,and is a recognized leader in the pharmaceuticalindustry. He became best known, perhaps, for histalent in solubilizing previously insoluble chemicalsand making them stable for medical use. With thehelp of Behrakis, Northeastern University and theMedical Center in Boston opened the BehrakisHealth Sciences Center (which houses the North-eastern Schools of Health Professions Nursing andPharmacy) and created the Center for Drug Dis-covery in 2003.

After completing his military service, Behrakisbegan his career in 1959 at McNeil Laboratories (adivision of Johnson & Johnson) where he and histeam created Tylenol (eventually becoming a house-hold name). In 1968, he founded Dooner Labora-tories, which developed and manufactured a lead-ing asthma medication, Slophyllin and Slobid. Hesold the company to Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (nowAventis) and purchased ophthalmic firm Muro Phar-maceuticals in 1978. Behrakis sold his eye careproducts to Bausch and Lomb and searched fornew products, including pharmaceuticals forasthma and allergies. Behrakis sold the firm toAsta-Medica AG, a division of German conglomer-ate Degussa, retiring as president and CEO in 1998.

A recipient of many awards for his contributionsto business, science, the arts, and the Greek Or-thodox Church, he sits on the board of trustees ofthe Boston Symphony Orchestra and is vice chair-man emeritus of Northeastern University. He hasserved on many boards of both public and privatecompanies. He is on the advisory board of the Har-vard School of Public Health.

Probably no institution has received as muchfrom Behrakis as the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.His relationship with the museum dates back tohis high school days, when his uncle, John Zaroulis,took him to see the galleries. Later, Behrakis wouldhost parties at the Museum. He became a memberin 1989, a patron in 1996, and an overseer in 1998.Then, one day in 2001, Behrakis showed up forlunch with MFA Director Malcolm Rogers and


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handed him a sealed envelope. Inside was a checkfor $2 million to endow Christine Kondoleon’s po-sition as curator of Greek and Roman Art. He hasgiven $25 million to the museum since 2006 andthe museum now has the new George D. andMargo Behrakis Wing, which houses Greek, Romanand Egyptian galleries.

In 2011, the 50+year member of AHEPA washonored with the organization’s Archbishop IakovosHumanitarian Award in Orange, CT. In October2014, he was honored by The Hellenic Initiative, anon-profit institution focused on supporting Greecethrough crisis relief, entrepreneurship support andeconomic development.

Behrakis, a former president of the Holy TrinityGreek Orthodox Church in Lowell, is a member ofthe Archdiocesan Council’s Executive Committeeand an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Heis a chairman emeritus of Leadership 100. He andMargo have been married for over 50 years andhave four children and several grandchildren.

In December 2015, Behrakis was given an hon-orary doctorate from the Medical Faculty of theNational and Kapodistrian University of Athens forhis contributions to science, pharmaceuticals, andmedicine, and for his extensive humanitarian en-deavors.

Extremely moved by the experience, he toldTNH in February, 2016 that “you can receive a lotof honors, but when you receive an honor fromyour own, your family, being first-generation Greek,to receive an honor from Greece is one of the highpoints of my life.”

19MARCUS A. LEMONISIllinois

$900 MILLION (Celebrity Net Worth)PHARMACEUTICALSMarquette University (Political Science);Married

New to our list this year, Marcus Anthony Lemo-nis, 45, is a Greek-American businessman, investor,politician, and television personality.

Born in Beirut, Lebanon during a violent civilwar, he was adopted by a Greek couple living inFlorida, Leo and Sophia Lemonis, from a Beirut or-phanage at nine months old. He grew up learningabout the operations of the automotive industriesas his grandfather owned two of the largest Chevro-let dealerships in the country (in Tampa and Miami).At the age of 12, he started a lawn-mowing busi-ness to raise funds to open a candy business. Dur-ing his time at Marquette University, he served asthe president of the Student Athletic Committeeand organized clothing drives for the homeless inMilwaukee. At the young age of 22, he ran for theFlorida House of Representatives and was en-dorsed by the Miami Herald, but ultimately lost thecampaign.

Lemonis eventually took a job at AutoNation,

the country's largest car dealer, and worked hisway up to regional manager. Then he took someadvice from a family friend, Lee Iacocca (the formerhead of Chrysler Corporation), who told him thepath to long-term success lay in finding an industrythat was ripe for transformation. Iacocca advisedhim to get into the camping and RV business, whichput him on the path to eventual chairmanship atAmerica's #1 source for RVs, camping accessories,RV maintenance and repair, Camping World andGood Sam. His new company, FreedomRoads, be-gan buying up independents and, in less than threeyears, has become the country's largest RV dealer,selling 18 brands and racking up more than $1.5billion in its third year.

The entrepreneur is the current CEO of compa-nies like Camping World Holdings, Inc. (which ac-quired FreedomRoads – an American corporationspecializing in selling recreational vehicles, motorparts and motor services), Good Sam Enterprises(a subscription-based products and membershipclub targeted towards recreational vehicle and otheroutdoor enthusiasts), and Gander Mountain Com-pany, Inc. (a retail network of stores for hunting,fishing and camping). Apart from these companies,he is the presenter of the American reality televisionshow, The Profit which focuses on saving smallbusinesses across the country.

In 2005, he was included in Crain’s ChicagoBusiness’ list of 40 Under 40. Three years later, hewas named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of theYear.

20DR. GEORGEYANCOPOULOSNew York

$886 MILLION (Forbes)PHARMACEUTICALSColumbia University; 4 children

Dr. George Yancopoulos, 60, joined RegeneronLaboratories in 1989 as its Founding Scientist andis currently President and Chief Scientific Officer.

Dr. Yancopoulos earned MD and PhD degreesfrom Columbia University, and was the eleventh-most cited scientist in the world in the 1990s.

He was selected in 2004 as a member of theNational Academy of Sciences. Along with keymembers of his team, he is a principal inventorand developer of Regeneron's four FDA-approveddrugs – including Praluent (alirocumab) Injection,

Eylea (aflibercept) Injection, and Arcalyst (rilonacept)Injection – as well as of its foundation technologiesincluding the Trap technology, VelociGene, and Ve-locImmune.

Encouraged by his father, a first-generationGreek immigrant who complained how little theuniversity life paid, Yancopoulos in 1988 jumpedship to a small Tarrytown, NY Biotech firm calledRegeneron and helped its worth rocket 2,240 per-cent in the past five years.

His career, featured in Forbes, showed how hisscientific ability and humility combined to help himdevelop drugs for patients with illnesses fromasthma to cancer and made the company a forceto be reckoned with in its field.

“We were a tiny company, but we had the mostpowerful technology,” he says. “And sometimesthat’s what counts,” he told the magazine.

Sanofi, Regeneron’s partner on most of itsdrugs, has re-upped on the value of the technolo-gies Yancopoulos has created, recently announcingit would pay $640 million to kick off a new partner-ship in which Regeneron will invent cancer drugsthat harness the immune system.

“George sees and feels biology in ways veryfew scientists really can,” said Elias Zerhouni, thePresident of Global R&D at Sanofi. “It is this creativeintuition combined with scientific rigor that makeshim special in my view.”

Yancopoulos defers to his team of scientistsand the man who hired him, fellow billionaireLeonard Schleifer, who said his find has “immensetalent and genius.”

Yancopoulos’ fourth drug, Praluent (for loweringcholesterol in people already maxed-out on statins),was approved in July 2016.

He's also working on a big project to sequencepatients’ DNA and Deutsche Bank estimates thathis experimental drug for allergic conditions couldgenerate $10 billion in annual sales by 2025.

Forbes reported in 2015 that “he has aimed tobe a different kind of R&D chief, and a bit of athrowback to his role model – and Regeneron’schairman – Roy Vagelos, whose run as R&D headand then chief executive of Merck is legendary.”

In the same interview, Forbes reported: "Yan-copoulos works at his science like a scientist, nota man interested in the money it brings." He isdeeply involved in Regeneron's drug discovery andis a principal inventor on all the technology patentsthat underlie the invention of all of Regeneron'sdrugs.

Despite this, "[i]t hasn't gone to his head. . .[He] does his kids' laundry and dresses in the wornOxfords and khakis of an academic scientist,"Forbes wrote.

He is uncomfortable discussing his wealth buthopes that the very thought of it, generated by life-saving drugs, might serve "as an inspiration to kidswho (might) otherwise become hedge fund man-agers."

21JOHN P. CALAMOS, SR.Illinois

$816 MILLION (TNHE) GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENTIllinois Institute of Technology(Economics); Married, 2 children

John P. Calamos, Sr., 79, is founder and chair-man of Calamos Investments, a global asset man-agement firm.

The son of Greek immigrants, he grew up abovehis family’s grocery store on Chicago’s west sideand attended Chicago public schools. He developedhis passion for the stock market as a teenager andbegan his investment career when his parents en-trusted him with the family’s $5,000 nest egg. Withthis responsibility, Calamos got a taste for the mar-kets but ended up attending the Illinois Institute ofTechnology on an ROTC scholarship to pursue an-other passion – architecture. Finding that he had“very little design talent,” Calamos shifted his focusto economics, finance, and philosophy. Interest-ingly, Calamos has said that economics is moreabout philosophy than it is about math; “In collegeI learned that economics is not a math problem. Itis economic philosophy: how are we organized asa society? Reading many philosophers from Platoto Socrates and others, I felt it taught me a greatdeal about life and gave me a perspective of historygoing back thousands of years.”

After graduating from college (the first in hisfamily to achieve this great feat), Calamos spent15 years in the service with the United States AirForce – 5 of which were in active duty flying the B-52 bomber, and during the Vietnam War as a for-ward air controller. He later spent about a decadein the USAF Reserves flying the A-37 jet fighterand earned the rank of major.

Throughout his Air Force years, Calamos con-tinued to study books on finance and investingstrategies. In 1977, he flexed his confidence andstarted his own company, taking out a $60,000second mortgage on his house to help bankroll the

endeavor. One of his early employees was his olderbrother, Angelo, who retired from the company in2004. Calamos also ended up taking the companypublic in 2004 under the NASDAQ ticker CLMS.

In 2016, Calamos stepped down as CEO (andwas replaced by another fellow Greek andChicagoan - John Koudounis) and now serves asthe Chairman and Global CIO of the company. Thecompany traces its roots to the 1970s whenCalamos used convertible securities, which werelittle known at the time, to help his clients growand preserve their wealth.

Today, the firm, headquartered in Chicago withadditional offices in London, New York, San Fran-cisco and Miami, serves clients worldwide, includ-ing major corporations, pension funds, endow-ments, foundations and individuals. The firm alsoprovides wealth management services to high networth individuals and families. The company offersits investment capabilities through separately man-aged portfolios, mutual funds, closed-end funds,private funds and UCITS funds. A recognized expertin risk-managed investing, Calamos has writtentwo books (Investing in Convertible Securities: YourComplete Guide to the Risks and Rewards andConvertible Securities: the Latest Instruments, Port-folio strategies, and Valuation Analysis) and con-tributes to industry publications. He is interviewedregularly by CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and Fox Busi-ness Channel.

The factors to which Calamos attributes his suc-cess include his Greek heritage, a strong workethic, and entrepreneurial spirit. Calamos also cred-its his military service as a key factor in his success,as it solidified his view of the importance of disci-pline, risk assessment, and teamwork.

His entrepreneurial activities extend beyond thefinancial services sector, with a private real estatearm, Calamos Real Estate LLC.

In 2018, the Chicago Bulls and Calamos Invest-ments announced a multi-year partnership thatmade the Chicago-based company the first com-pany to display its logo on the Bulls court apron inthe United Center arena.

Calamos established the John P. Calamos Foun-dation, which supports a number of scholarshipinitiatives in the Greek community. He and his wifealso endowed Illinois Institute of Technology’s firstendowed chair in philosophy. Since 2012, he hasalso served as chairman of the board of directorsof Chicago’s National Hellenic Museum, of whichhe is a major benefactor. He says of the museum:“We have built a national institution to honor ourparents and grandparents, to honor our rich Hellenichistory.” In addition, he and his wife were recog-nized as 2014 Distinguished Citizens by the ThreeFires Council, Boy Scouts of America. Holy CrossSchool of Theology and Hellenic College and alsohonored Calamos in 2018.

Calamos is married and has two children. Heand his wife, Mae, are active philanthropists. He isa trustee of the Illinois Institute of Technology andof Benedictine University.

22JOHN PAYIAVLASOhio

$739 MILLION (TNHE)FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRYMarried, 2 children

John Payiavlas, 87, is chairman of AVI Foodsys-tems, the country’s largest independent, family-owned and operated contract food service com-pany, providing vending, institutional dining, andcoffee service operations.

A son of Greek immigrants from Ohio and rootsfrom the island of Chios, Payiavlas grew up in aworking-class family with hopes of realizing theAmerican dream. In 1951, Payiavlas was draftedinto the United States Army and promptly left forbasic training in Fort Riley, Kansas. In 1952, hewas deployed to join the UN forces supporting

South Korea and later transferred to the Greek Ex-peditionary Force Battalion. He was one of fourGreek-Americans to serve in this Battalion and wasawarded the Commander’s Silver Cross of Valour,the highest military decoration of the Greek state.Payiavlas completed his service in 1953 and washonorably discharged as Sergeant First Class.

Payiavlas’ successful journey in food servicebegan when he and two friends opened and oper-ated a local diner, the Village Café, in their smallhometown of Warren, Ohio. It was there that a fre-quent customer presented John an opportunity topurchase a very small vending company known asAutomatic Vendors. His decision to seize the op-portunity later resulted in him running a multi-milliondollar corporation.

He founded AVI in 1960, and from the beginning,he was determined to make his business a suc-cess. Insisting on absolutely no shortcuts, he dif-ferentiated himself from the competition by pro-viding homemade “from scratch” fresh foods forthe refrigerated vending machines he serviced. Thecompany currently serves millions of consumersdaily in some of the most prestigious institutionsin America, including industrial centers, corporateheadquarters complexes, universities, school sys-tems, and healthcare facilities throughout the coun-try. Their clients include Ohio State University,FedEx, DirecTV, BMV of North America, GeneralElectric, Wellesley College, Progressive Insurance,University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Verizon,and Xerox. Intensely private, Payiavlas runs thecompany as chairman of the board, while his sonAnthony is president and CEO, and his daughterPatrice (Patsy) Kouvas serves as vice chairman.

Family values, a strong work ethic, and dedica-tion to customer needs continue to permeatethrough thousands of team members in every facetof the business. As Chairman, Payiavlas has beenactively involved while his children lead the organ-ization with the same enthusiasm, commitment,and vision. Payiavlas and his wife, Mary, were hon-ored in 2006 with the Cleveland Clinic’s Distin-guished Fellow Award. They have supported severalof the clinic’s initiatives, including the Heart andVascular Institute, Taussig Cancer Center, GlickmanUrological Institute, and Department of NutritionTherapy. In April, 2017, the Payiavlas family donated$500,000 to Youngstown (OH) State University fortheir new sports media center.

In 2000, Payiavlas was inducted into the Busi-ness Hall of Fame of Northeast Ohio's Inside Busi-ness Magazine (ibmag.com). In October, 2016, atthe Oxi Day Foundation in Washington, DC, Payi-avlas was honored with the Service Award of theJaharis Family Foundation (also featured in this edi-tion).He is a Lifetime Chairman of the ArchbishopIakovos Leadership 100 Endowment Fund, an Ar-chon Depoutatos of the Ecumenical Patriarchate –the highest honor in all Christendom for a lay per-son, dating back to the 4th century, as well as amember of AHEPA and other community and busi-ness organizations.

23GEORGE SAKELLARISMassachusetts

$719 MILLION (MassLive)ENERGY, ENVIRONMENTUniversity of Maine-Orono;Married, 2 children

George Sakellaris, 72, is Chairman of the Board,President, and CEO of Ameresco, which is one ofthe largest energy solutions companies in NorthAmerica. The Framingham, MA company special-izes in providing comprehensive services, energyefficiency, infrastructure upgrades, asset sustain-ability, renewable energy, and energy informationmanagement solutions.

Sakellaris was born in Laconia, Greece. Aftergraduating from high school there, he arrived inBangor, ME, as a college exchange student in 1965to go to college. He spoke little English when hefirst enrolled at the University of Maine-Orono, butworked his way through his studies and earned aBSEE degree, driven by a love of mathematics andthe sciences. His parents arrived in the UnitedStates in 1969 and the family settled in Boston.

He then worked at a local utility, New EnglandElectrical Systems (NEES), earning an MBA. andMSEE from Northeastern University along the way.Then, Sakellaris explains, “in 1979, while workingfor New England Electric, NEES Managementwanted to establish a company to promote energyefficiency to avoid the need to build new generationplants. They asked me to lead that initiative and Iwelcomed the challenge.”

The subsidiary he launched was called NEESEnergy. Then in 1990, Sakellaris purchased NEESEnergy and it became the energy conservationcompany he re-named NORESCO. In 1997, he soldthat industry-leading independent energy servicescompany to Equitable Resources (EQT), a Fortune500 company. Sakellaris continued to leadNORESCO and was appointed as a Senior VicePresident of Equitable Resources. In January 2000,he left EQT and three months later foundedAmeresco.

Sakellaris took Ameresco public 10 years later.Today it has dozens of offices throughout NorthAmerica and Europe and over a thousand employ-ees providing strong local operations. “Green.Clean. Sustainable” is the motto of the companythat increases energy efficiency for federal, stateand local governments, healthcare and educationalinstitutions, housing authorities, and commercialand industrial customers.

In October 2014, Ameresco was chosen to con-struct a $25.4 million solar project at the Minneapo-lis-St. Paul International Airport with the Metropol-itan Airports Commission (MAC). Minnesota’slargest solar generation site to date, the airporthouses a 3-MW solar installation on the top deckof two Terminal 1 parking structures.

About sustainability, Sakellaris says: “We havea sharp focus on our customers’ needs for com-prehensive energy efficiency services and budget-neutral solutions, particularly in today’s environment


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of aging infrastructure and budgetary constraints.As an entrepreneurial, technology-agnostic com-pany, Ameresco is in the best position to offer ourcustomers the optimum solutions to suit their re-quirements.” He continued, “Being in the servicebusiness 'you are as good as your people.' We al-ways strive to hire and retain the best in our field.”

Sakellaris is a Distinguished Member Inducteeof the Frances Crowe Society at the University ofMaine, which gave him the Edward T. Bryand Dis-tinguished Engineer Award in 2007. In May 2012,the University of Maine granted him an HonoraryDoctorate for his lifetime of achievements, recog-nizing his dedication and exemplary leadership inthe field of energy efficiency and renewable energy.His awards include winning an Ernst & Young En-trepreneur of The Year 2011 New England award,and Business Leader of the Year 2012 for LargeBusiness by the Worcester Business Journal. In2009, he received a Gabby Award (named looselyfrom the acronym “Greek America’s Best andBrightest”) from the Greek America Foundation.The Web TV station NewGreekTV named him“Greek of the Week” in August 2014.

He supports numerous educational institutions,including Northeastern University, Holy Cross/Hel-lenic College, and the University of Maine. AtUMass Lowell, he established an endowment inmemory of his mentor, the late MassachusettsSenator Paul Tsongas. In addition, he was a found-ing member of Faith: An Endowment for Orthodoxyand Hellenism. He is an Archon of the EcumenicalPatriarchate, and a major benefactor at his localchurch, St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church inBraintree, MA.

An avid sailor, Sakellaris has won the RORC Car-ribbean twice – once in 2014 and then again in2016. He has also won the sailing competition “LesVoiles de St. Barth” three times consecutively – in2016, 2017 and 2018.

24DEMOULAS FAMILYMassachusetts

$694 MILLION (The Boston Globe)SUPERMARKETS

The Demoulas family, one of America’s richestfamilies, is difficult to gauge, both in terms of networth and current status of control of their lucrativeMarket Basket Supermarket chain which cele-brated its centennial anniversary two years ago.Nonetheless, the family’s history and contributionsare notable.

Their supermarket empire began in 1917, whenGreek immigrants Athanasios (Arthur) and EfrosineDemoulas opened a small market selling fresh lambin Lowell, MA. In 1950, the original store modelwas revamped and premiered as the DeMoulasSuperette. Arthur turned the business over to histwo sons, George and Telemachus (Mike) in 1954.The following year, the Superette tripled in size andbecame DeMoulas Super Market. Over the next17 years, the two brothers converted the lamb

shop into a successful grocery store chain of 15stores. The brothers each signed a will naming theother as executor of his estate, and reportedlyagreed to divide the business equally between theirtwo families in the event of one of their deaths.Both brothers had four children, and both named ason Arthur, after their father. From their youth, bothcousins (George’s son Arthur S. Demoulas andMike's son Arthur T. Demoulas) followed their fa-thers in the family business.

In 1971, George, then 51, died unexpectedlywhile vacationing in Greece with his family. Mikecontinued to expand the chain and began openingstores under different names, including MarketBasket. Tensions began brewing between the twofamilies and erupted in the 1990s, when it cameto light that Mike had been secretly shifting hisbrother’s half of the company assets under his ownname after George’s death. Two decades of law-suits followed, Mike and his family on one side andGeorge’s heirs on the other. The feud was settledin December 2014, when Arthur T., who ran thebusiness after his father’s death in 2003, finalizeda buyout of Arthur S., and the rest of George’s heirsfor $1.6 billion in cash, according to Forbes.

Despite those difficulties, the business has flour-ished. Over the past decade it added approximately30 new stores and a new perishable/produce dis-tribution center, and doubled sales. Today, theTewskbury-based DeMoulas Market Basket, Inc.owns 79 stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire,and Maine, employs 20,000 people, and earnsmore than $5 billion in annual sales. The company

was ranked by Consumer Reports as the second-best among all national supermarket chains, behindWegmans. It was also ranked number 79 onForbes’ list of America’s largest private companiesin 2018.

In October 2014, National Labor SecretaryThomas Perez spoke at the National Press Club ofDemoulas, saying that he “maintained a family-friendly work environment, paid his workers well,and contributed generously to their retirement.”

According to the Lowell Sun, two foundations –the Telemachus and Irene Demoulas Family Foun-dation with $61 million in assets and the DemoulasFoundation with $30 million in assets – have do-nated millions to Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCAs,schools, camps, hospitals, the Boston Ballet, andthe Boston Museum of Science, TransfigurationGreek Orthodox Church in Lowell, Mass., BentleyUniversity and Boston College. The greatest bene-ficiary, however, is the Lowell Plan, an economic-development organization for the city, which hasreceived well over $10 million in the last decade.

25JOHN PAPPAJOHNIowa

$681 MILLION (TNHE) VENTURE CAPITALUniversity of Iowa (Business);Married, 1 child

John Pappajohn is an entrepreneur, a philan-thropist, and at 90 years old, a self-proclaimedworkaholic – still working 7 days a week (as re-ported by the Iowa Magazine in September 2018).

In the same interview, Pappajohn said, “I never an-ticipated being 90…I'm in my office every Saturdayand Sunday. Mary is a very understanding wife,and when she calls, I go home. But I'm very activein my venture business, and I'm doing very excitingthings. My incentive isn't to be rich; it's to do whatI want in philanthropy. Mary and I feel strongly thata successful life must include service to societyand our fellow man. This is how we will be judged.We must all try to make a difference in this world.”

Pappajohn emigrated from Euboea, Greece tothe United States with his mother when he wasjust nine months old to join his father, who was aU.S. citizen. He struggled during kindergarten be-cause he spoke limited English. In the early 1930s,right before the Great Depression, Pappajohn’s fa-ther opened a grocery store (where Pappajohncould earn 10 cents a day by stocking shelves andperforming various odds around the story). His fa-ther provided for families in the community duringthose pressing times, often allowing them to pur-chase on credit that he knew they wouldn’t be ableto repay. The lessons that Pappajohn learned atthe grocery store guided his eventual business ca-reer.

When Pappajohn was older, he had to occasion-ally miss school to sell scrap to help support hisfamily. “I became a scrap junk dealer. The junk yardwas one block from our house. The man there –Harry Wolf – became a friend and a mentor; I wouldsell him something every day,” Pappajohn says.“I’d pick up pennies I found on the street. I still do;habit I guess.”

His father died when he was 16 years of age.He worked his way through college and alternatedworking and attending school with his brothers.He graduated from the University of Iowa’s Collegeof Business Administration in 1952. He did not in-terview for a job after graduation – instead he knewhe wanted to own his own business and thus hedecided to establish an insurance agency. Eventu-ally, in 1969, Pappajohn organized Equity Dynamics,Inc., a financial consulting entity, and PappajohnCapital Resources, a venture capital firm in DesMoines, Iowa. He became one of the early venturecapitalists.

Throughout his career as a venture capitalist,he has been an early investor in more than 100companies, most of which are dedicated to health-care and biotechnology industries. He has alsobeen involved with over 100 startups and over 50IPOs, and has served as Director in over 40 publiccompanies.

Pappajohn serves as director on the boards ofthree publicly traded companies: Cancer Genetics,Inc., American CareSource Inc., and CNS Re-sponse, Inc., a company which uses EEG-gener-ated biomarkers for use in personalized medicinein psychiatry.

Both Pappajohn and his wife, Mary, are avid phi-

lanthropists, having gifted more than $100 millionto various causes. They have partnered in numer-ous endeavors, providing millions for scholarships,business opportunities and community enhance-ments. His charitable donations include the John& Mary Pappajohn Clinical Cancer Center, and Pap-pajohn Entrepreneurial Centers at five Iowa uni-versities and colleges. To date, over 150,000 col-lege students have taken part in the latter, whichhave sparked over 1,000 new businesses. The Pap-pajohn Scholarship Foundation has distributed over$4 million in grants to support ethnic, disadvan-taged, and/or minority students over the past 10years.

In September 2009, the Des Moines PappajohnSculpture Park opened, featuring $40 million of theavid collector couple’s outdoor sculptures fromtheir personal collection. In December 2010 thePappajohns pledged $26.4 million towards a newUniversity of Iowa biomedical research building. In2017 the Chronicle of Philanthropy identified thebiggest donors to charities in each of the 50 statesand named Pappajohn the top philanthropist inIowa.

Pappajohn has demonstrated a great love forthe fine arts: he was named by Art News Magazineas one of the top 200 collectors in the world from1997-2014. He was appointed to the advisoryboard of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Per-forming Arts in Washington, D.C. by PresidentsRonald Reagan and George Bush. He currentlyserves on the National Committee of the Perform-ing Arts for the Kennedy Center. He also serves asa member of the Trustees Council of the NationalGallery of Art as well as on their Collectors Com-mittee (formerly Chairman). He is a vice chairmanof the board of trustees of the Hirshhorn Museumin Washington, DC, a member of the national com-mittee with the Whitney Museum in New York City,and honorary director at the Des Moines Art Cen-ter.

Pappajohn’s church activities include serving onthe Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America’s Arch-diocesan Council and executive committee, andLeadership 100’s board of directors. He receivedthe title of Archon from the Ecumenical Patriarchof Constantinople in 2000.

Pappajohn is the recipient of many prestigiousawards, including the Horatio Alger Award (1995),the Ellis Island Medal of Honor (2000) and theWoodrow Wilson International Center Award forCorporate Citizenship (2007). He is the first Iowanand the second Greek-American (Pete Petersonwas the first) to receive the Woodrow WilsonAward. He has received four honorary doctoratedegrees and in 2013 he received the Gabby Awardfor philanthropy from the Greek America Founda-tion.

The Pappajohns live mainly in Des Moines. Theyhave one daughter, Ann Vassiliou.

26ANGELO K.TSAKOPOULOSCalifornia

$600 MILLION (Celebrity Net Worth)REAL ESTATECalifornia State University (PoliticalScience & Business), Sacramento; 6 children

Born in Arcadia in Greece, Tsakopoulos, now82, came to America at the age of 15, sailing intoNew York City. He moved to Chicago to live withfamily, before eventually continuing west to theSan Joaquin Valley in California. Encouraged by aclose mentor to continue his education, Tsakopou-los studied political science and business at Cali-fornia State University, Sacramento. While attend-ing school, Tsakopoulos supported himself as a


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Tsakopoulos founded AKT Development Cor-poration in Sacramento, California, which becamea leading real estate developer in the area underhis leadership and has built tens of thousands ofhomes and more than 30 million square feet of of-fice space. AKT also maintains a large commercialbuilding portfolio and manages approximately20,000 acres of farmland.

Tsakopoulos and his family have also been ded-icated supporters of civic and community causes.Tsakopoulos has made lasting contributions to theeducation and cultural life of the greater community.The Tsakopoulos family has donated land and fundsto cultural institutions including the Greek OrthodoxChurch, the Crocker Art Museum, and the RosevilleArts Center. Tsakopoulos has also had a strongcommitment to supporting education through theAngelo and Sofia Tsakopoulos Endowment Fundand as a co-chair for California State UniversitySacramento's Capital Campaign. To support thestudy and celebration of Greek heritage and history,Tsakopoulos served as an instrumental figure inthe creation of the S.B. Vryonis Center for the Studyof Hellenism in Sacramento. In 2018, the Tsakopou-los family donated $1 million to establish the Jus-tice Anthony M. Kennedy Endowed Chair at thePacific McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento.

In 2016, Tsakopoulos, on his 80th birthday, washonored as a permanent part of the United StatesCongressional Record for “his legendary career inreal estate development and his long history of phi-lanthropy in California.”

Tsakopoulos has also carved out a niche forhimself as a major player in and fundraiser for theDemocratic Party, and as a standard bearer forGreek political and cultural interests in America.He and his children have raised and contributedmillions to national, state and local campaigns andissues over the past decade. Democratic presiden-tial candidates aside, a few of the major recipientsinclude former California Governor Gray Davis, U.S.Senator Dianne Feinstein, and House SpeakerNancy Pelosi. Tsakopoulos is also dedicated to ad-vancing the careers of Greek-American politicians,including former California state treasurer andonce-gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides. Hisdaughter, Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis, was ap-pointed U.S. Ambassador to Hungary in 2010 andin 2018 was elected as California’s 50th LieutenantGovernor. Tsakopoulos and his family have estab-lished Hellenic Studies chairs at several majorAmerican universities across the country, George-town, Stanford, and Columbia universities amongthem.

27JOHN G. RANGOS SR.Pennsylvania

$468 MILLION (TNHE)ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENTHouston School of Business; 3 children

John G. Rangos Sr., 89 a renowned industrialistand philanthropist, made his fortune through thetransportation, waste management and disposal,as well as security services.

Born in Steubenville, OH, Rangos grew up dur-ing the Depression in northern West Virginia andFredericksburg, VA. His education at the HoustonSchool of Business was interrupted when he joinedthe Active Force Reserve unit in Pittsburgh, PA. Heserved with great distinction in the Army from1951-54, including a stint on a combat signal teamin the Far East. Rangos returned to civilian life withmilitary honors, to include the National DefenseMedal, United Nations Medal, Korean CampaignMedal, and a Presidential Unit Citation from Presi-dent Truman and President Syngman Rhee of SouthKorea.

Rangos began his career with the RockwellManufacturing Company in Pittsburgh, where hedistinguished himself by becoming the youngestgeneral agent in company history. He formed sev-eral companies in the 1960s, and pioneered tech-nological advances in the transportation and dis-posal of industrial waste. He founded ChambersDevelopment Inc. in 1971, a firm that providedwaste treatment services, developed commercialrecycling programs, and broke ground with spe-cially lined, layered landfills to protect groundwatersupplies.

Rangos’ many innovative achievements includeconverting power plant boiler ash into a useful com-

ponent of cinder blocks and anti-skid material forhighways. He also played an instrumental role ininventing techniques for recycling bituminousbyproducts and disposing sewage and sludge. Hedeveloped methods for liquid industrial waste dis-posal, and created a resource recovery system thatconverts waste-generated methane into usable en-ergy.

Together with his sons, Alex and John Jr., Ran-gos advocated standards for regional sanitationsites that resolved many environmental concernsnationwide. They initiated present-day environmen-tal protection standards decades ago, to includethe design and strict enforcement of federal lawsforbidding corrupt practices in the transporting ofillegal waste. Across the eastern seaboard and intothe Midwest, they built the largest, most sophisti-cated land disposal facilities in the industry – in-cluding double-composite-lined HDPE (high-densitypolyethylene) facilities to protect ground water –long before other waste management companiesemerged.

In October 1991, Chambers Developmentowned and operated a number of large regionallandfills, worth a reported market value of $1.7 bil-lion. Chambers went public and, in 1995, wasmerged with USA Waste, then the country’s secondlargest waste management company. Rangosserved as vice chairman of USA Waste, duringwhich time Waste Management Inc., the country’slargest trash hauler, acquired USA Waste. Thatmerger in 1998 has proven to be a major continuedsuccess.

The massive Okeechobee, FL. landfill (approvedin 1993, and now operated by Waste Management)is just one example of Rangos’ commitment tosound environmental practices and regional eco-

nomic development. That site has a 100-year ca-pacity and receives 7,000 tons of waste daily. Suchmonumental, environmentally friendly disposal siteshave also been an economic boon to the areas inwhich they function. Okeechobee County still re-ceives millions of dollars in royalties from its landfilleach year, boosting the local government’s abilityto finance schools and roads, as well as improvepolice and firefighting services.

Rangos also founded U.S. Utilities in the mid-1960s. A precursor to Chambers Development,USU was part of a conglomerate, which eventuallybecame part of Chambers. USU subcontracted withStone & Webster (now part of the Shaw Group), amajor engineering services firm, to help buildatomic energy plants.

Together with his partner Ian McLennan, a re-spected FBI agent, Rangos co-founded SecurityBureau Inc., one of the most prominent securitycompanies in the country, in the mid-1970s. SBIguarded everything from banks and shopping cen-ters to industrial and atomic energy plants. It grewinto a company with a license in every state in theunion, and was eventually sold for more than $40million.

Rangos has three children and several grand-children. He is founder and director of the John G.Rangos Sr. Family Charitable Foundation, founderand former president of the Congressional Medalof Honor Foundation, founder and chairman emer-itus of International Orthodox Christian Charitiesand former fundraising chairman for UNICEF. Hesits on numerous boards.

The Rangos Foundation supports medical re-search at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, one ofthe world's finest pediatric care centers, and JohnsHopkins University School of Medicine, where heestablished an innovative new program which in-vites and challenges the brightest young minds atJohns Hopkins to find a cure to metastatic cancer.The Rangos Foundation also supports programs atDuquesne and Carnegie Mellon Universities, andmany other programs and organizations (e.g., theLeukemia & Lymphoma Society). Rangos has re-cently taken an active interest in helping the coun-try's wounded warriors readapt to civilian life.

In early 2016, he received an honorary doctoratefrom St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminaryin Crestwood, NY. In 2018, Rangos was honoredat Johns Hopkins to celebrate a decade of progressat the highly successful innovation hub that he wasinstrumental in initiating. The John G. Rangos Sr.Life Sciences Building was the first building inJohns Hopkins’ Science + Technology Park, amixed-use redevelopment of 88 acres adjacent tothe Johns Hopkins University medical campus andhospital in East Baltimore. Today, more than 40 lifescience companies and research institutions havelocated there to partner with Johns Hopkins in com-mercializing scientific discovery.



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28PETER J. BARRISVirginia

$466 MILLION (TNHE)VENTURE CAPITALNorthwestern University (ElectricalEngineering); Married, 2 children

Peter J. Barris, 67, is a venture capitalist knownfor helping to launch companies including Groupon,CareerBuilder, SalesForce, TiVo, Jet.com, and Dia-pers.com. Forbes included him on its Midas List ofthe world’s best venture capitalists and technologyinvestors every year between 2007 and 2014. Hewas managing general partner of leading venturecapital investor New Enterprise Associates, Inc.(NEA) from 1999 to 2017, having joined the com-pany in 1992.

At NEA, he led investments in over 25 compa-nies that have gone public or had successful ac-quisitions. NEA invested $14.8 million in Grouponearly on and received $70 million back in 2011.That year, Groupon went public, reaping one of thegreatest venture returns ever with an initial publicoffering value of $12.8 billion.

Under his leadership and management, accord-ing to the NEA website, the company’s assets grewfrom $1 billion to over $20 billion and the organi-zation scaled-up its operations to become one ofthe world’s largest venture capital firms. The com-pany with offices in Maryland and California’s Sili-con Valley now has branches in India, China – andmost recently – New York City. NEA, founded morethan 35 years ago, has seen 200+ portfolio com-panies go public and 320+ acquisitions. He nowserves as the Chairman and General Partner of thecompany.

Barris grew up in Chicago, IL. His father, James,was an engineer, and his grandparents were fromGreece. His father encouraged Barris to follow thesame career path that he did – but Barris had hiseyes set on the law – more specifically, patent law,which he had heard required an engineering de-gree. Northwestern had excellent law and engi-neering schools, so he enrolled as an electrical en-gineering major. Eventually, he realized that patentlaw wasn’t where his passion lay but continuedhis studies of electrical engineering and then wenton to earn his MBA from Dartmouth College.

He started his career in various managementpositions at General Electric Company. In an inter-view with Forbes, he counted his first bosses, whileat General Electric, Greg Liemandt and Jack Welch,as having “the most profound impact” on his career.He went on to become president and COO of Leg-ent Corporation (LGNT) and senior vice presidentof the Systems Software Division of UCCEL Cor-poration (UCE), both of which experienced prof-itable acquisitions.

At NEA, Barris took $570-million company Neu-tral Tandem public in 2007 and the $590-millionEcho Global went public in 2009. He is involvedwith NEA affiliates, including Groupon, TV soft-ware/hardware company Hillcrest Laboratories, In-ternet service provider Boingo Wireless, online jobrecruitment site Career Builder, digital distributioncompany SnagFilms (whose founder, Ted Leonsis,is also on this list), and social media managementcompany Sprout Social. He is on the board of di-rectors of public companies including Groupon(NASDAQ: GRPN), Goji Food Solutions Ltd., Bench-prep, Hillcrest Laboratories, Inc., MediaOcean,SnagFilms, and Sprout Social.

He is Vice-Chair of the Northwestern UniversityBoard of Trustees and serves on the Board of theTuck School Private Equity and Entrepreneur Cen-ter. He also launched the Barris Incubator Series atDartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, which aimsto encourage student start-ups. He previouslyserved on the executive committee of the board ofthe National Venture Capital Association and wasalso a founding member of Venture PhilanthropyPartners, a philanthropic organization in the Wash-ington, D.C. area.

Barris, a member of Leadership 100 and an Ar-chon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, lives inMcLean, VA. with his wife, Adrienne. They havetwo daughters. His interests include traveling, ski-ing, “any and all Greek food,” boating, and spendingtime with his family.

29DR. NICHOLASGALAKATOSMassachusetts

$379 MILLION (TNHE)BIOMEDICAL TECHNOLOGY, VENTURE CAPITALReed College; Married, 2 children

Nicholas Galakatos, 59, is the Head of the Black-stone Life Sciences business since December of2018. He had been Managing Director of Clarus

Ventures from the company’s beginnings in 2005to 2018 and moved to Blackstone when Blackstoneacquired Clarus. Blackstone Life Sciences wasformed out of the acquisition as a firm which wouldbe a key source of capital for large pharmaceuticalcompanies that would bring cutting-edge treat-ments to patients.

Blackstone Life Sciences is a private investmentplatform that seeks to invest in companies andproducts within the life science sectors. The com-pany looks to bring the necessary funding requiredto advance medicines and healthcare technologiesto the broader market instead of languishing asideas.

The Greek-born Galakatos has over two decadesof healthcare sector industry and investment ex-perience. He was vice president of New Businessat Millennium Pharmaceuticals (from 1997 to2000), a leading biopharmaceuticals company pur-chased by the Takeda Oncology Company for $8.8billion in May 2008, and a member of its manage-ment team. During that time Galakatos co-foundedMillennium Predictive Medicine and TransFormPharmaceuticals, where he was chairman. Prior tohis stint at Millennium, he was an associate at Ven-rock Associates focusing on early stage biotech-nology investments. Before Venrock, he was headof Molecular Biology Research at Novartis.

Galakatos was born in Athens and raised inThessaloniki. He earned his undergraduate degreeat Reed College and a doctorate in organic chem-istry at MIT before his post-doctoral studies at Har-vard Medical School.

He is director of ophthalmology company Oph-thotech, cardiovascular therapy company Portola,and diagnostics company Nanostring, all of whichhad successful IPOs in 2013. Before that he soldTransForm Pharmaceuticals to Johnson & Johnson,and as the chairman of Hypnion, Galakatos “madeout well with 2007 sale of Hypnion to Eli Lilly for$315 million,” Forbes reported.

He and his wife, Alice, have two sons. Galakatosis a member of the Director’s Council of the KochInstitute at MIT, and the Genetics Advisory Councilat Harvard Medical School. He is also on AnatoliaCollege’s board of trustees.

In 2016, Galakatos joined Entasis, an As-traZeneca spinout, as Chairman of its Board of Di-rectors.

30JOHN GEORGESLouisiana

$350 MILLION (Celebrity Net Worth)FOOD SERVICES, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT,PHILANTHROPY, MEDIATulane University; Married, 3 children

John Georges, 58, is an entrepreneur in multipleindustries, an avowed philanthropist, and a strongsupporter of Hellenic causes. He is Founder andCEO of Georges Enterprises, a company based inElmwood, LA, specializing in acquiring and growingbusinesses. It invests in food vending, grocery dis-tribution, video/arcade entertainment, restaurants,and media outlets.

Georges Enterprises began as Imperial Tradingin 1916, a wholesale grocery distribution companyfounded by Georges’ grandfather Gus Pelias. Thecompany is now the eighth largest conveniencestore supplier in the nation.

Georges started out in the family business at ayoung age, sweeping warehouse floors at age 11and making deliveries by age 15. His father, DennisGeorges, immigrated to the United States afterserving in the Greek Resistance and the RoyalGreek Air Force at a young age during World WarII.

In April 2013, Georges Enterprises acquired TheAdvocate, a Baton Rouge daily newspaper with aNew Orleans edition and websites covering nearbytowns Ascension and Acadiana. It is the largestnewspaper in Louisiana.

He completed his studies at Tulane Universityin 1983, turning his attention to Imperial Trading,expanding its sales from $29 million to $1 billiontoday, with 5,000 retailers in 12 states. Recent ac-quisitions by Georges Enterprises include: $50 mil-lion food distributor Clifford D. Fite Company (2011),$100 million Union Grocery (2010) and historicBourbon Street restaurant Galatoire’s (2009).Georges said in a related press release, “We arelooking to make more acquisitions in the food dis-tribution sector.”

In 2006, Imperial Vending merged with WhitenerSnacks to become Refreshment Solutions, aGeorges Enterprises subsidiary. Georges Enter-prises’ AMA Distributors specializes in entertain-ment from video games and pool tables to juke-boxes. Among Georges Enterprises’ portfolio ofreal estate holdings are 25 acres of industrial realestate in the greater New Orleans area, includingthe site once occupied by Louisiana Film Studios.

Georges Enterprises was previously very in-volved with marine services. However, as Georgesconfirmed to the TNH immediately after the BP OilSpill in January 2010, the company sold its fleet of

offshore tugs under Dolphin Marine InternationalCompany to concentrate on its food distributionbusiness. The family of his wife, the former DathelColeman, owns cleanup company Oil Mop OMI.

Georges is very involved with both Louisianapublic life and the community of the Greek Ortho-dox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. As Parish Councilpresident, he hosted Ecumenical PatriarchBartholomew when he visited New Orleans in Oc-tober 2009.

In May 2019, Georges’ New Orleans Advocatepurchased the The Times-Picayune and the accom-panying nola.com website from Advance Local.The Advocate will continue to serve as a seven-day, home delivered newspaper in the New Orleansmetro area as it uses the brands of both publica-tions, and the papers will be formally merged inJune of this year. The websites will merge intonola.com at approximately the same time.

A notable campaign financer, Georges ran forgovernor of Louisiana as a democrat in 2007 andMayor of New Orleans in 2010, but fell short inboth efforts.

He is a member of Tulane University’s Presi-dent's Council and is a foundation member of theUniversity of New Orleans and LSU Medical. He ison the New Orleans Business Council, JeffersonBusiness Council, and the New Orleans Chamberof Commerce board of directors. He has alsochaired and been vice president of the WesternRegion of the Young Presidents Organization. Hehas chaired the Metairie Park Country Day SchoolRecovery and been on the board of both Crimestop-pers and the Young Leadership Council of New Or-leans. He is also on the board of The Hellenic Ini-tiative, and he and his wife, Dathel, are involved innumerous other philanthropic endeavors.

The Georges have three children: Zana, Liza,and Nike.

Georges was instrumental in rebuilding theGreek community in New Orleans after HurricaneKatrina in 2005. Everything was “a wasteland,” hetold TNH in 2015, “and we rebuilt everything in 90days – it was a miracle.” He is featured in a full-length interview in this issue.

31MICHAEL D. CAPELLASCalifornia

$340 MILLION (TNHE)CORPORATE ADMINISTRATIONKent State University; Married, 2 children

Michael D. Capellas, 64, a 30-plus year veteranof the information technology industry, founded At-lanta-based Capellas Strategic Partners, a strategictechnology advisory firm, in 2012.

From 2007 to 2010, he was the Chairman andCEO of First Data Corporation (FDC), the world’sleading payment processing company. He was onthe board of directors of VCE, the Virtual ComputingEnvironment Company, from January 2006 to No-vember 2012, serving one year as chairman andCEO. The company was formed by tech giant Ciscoand EMC Corporation with investments fromVMware and Intel, offering technology productsand solutions for cloud-based computing. He serveson the board of Cisco, the leading multinationalcorporation networking and communications tech-nology and services company.

Capellas was also senior advisor for Silver LakePartners, a $13 billion private equity firm focusedon making large-scale investments in leading tech-nology companies, from October 2006 to July2007.

Capellas’ earlier executive roles include chair-man and CEO of Compaq Computer Corporationbetween 1999 and 2001. Following Hewlett-Packard’s acquisition of Compaq, he stayed on aspresident of HP for six months to ease the integra-tion of the two companies. He then left HP to be-come chairman and CEO of MCI WorldCom be-tween 2002 and 2006, presiding over the eventual

Verizon-MCI merger. He had joined WorldCom,which was in bankruptcy, to help it overcome amassive accounting scandal. After the transfer toVerizon was completed, Capellas received a $40million severance package.

Capellas took charge of First Data shortly afterKohlberg Kravis Roberts acquired the credit cardgiant for $29 billion in April 2007. In 1992, FirstData had spun off from American Express. It han-dles e-commerce processing services, includingmerchant and bank transactions, credit, retail anddebit card issuing and processing. It also providesmoney orders and paper check processing.

Capellas says he inherited his gritty determina-tion from his father, a Greek citizen who foughtwith the Greek Army against the Germans in Italyduring World War II. After the war, the elder Capel-las met and married his wife, Juliet, in Italy. Thefamily then immigrated to Ohio, where Capellas’father worked his way up from laborer to superin-tendent at the Republic Steel Corporation. Heworked there for 30 years. Capellas developed aninterest in computers as an undergraduate at KentState University. Shortly after he graduated, he methis wife, Marie Angelillo, a former nurse. The twomarried in 1979, and traveled the world for twodecades as Capellas’ business reputation grew. Hewas a senior vice president of Oracle Corporationfrom 1997 to 1998. In his work with Compaq, heis credited with making it Microsoft’s key strategicpartner for the release of its Windows 2000 oper-ating system. In December 2006, Capellas was ap-pointed acting CEO of Serena Software, selectedby Silver Lake, which took Serena private in March2006.

Capellas and his wife have two daughters. Heenjoys golf and rock and roll. He is also actively in-volved in community and charitable work. In 2002,he became the first recipient of the Hope Technol-ogy Award from the Center for Missing & ExploitedChildren. He is a member of the board of governorsof the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Capellas pre-viously served as a member of the American Uni-versity Board of Trustees, and is recognized as aglobal thought leader in the technology industry.He recently served as co-chair of the CLOUD Com-mission, including specialists who offered theObama Administration recommendations on cloudcomputing policies. In mid-2015, Capellas was ap-pointed to Tenable Network Security’s Board of Di-rectors.

In early 2017, JDA Software named CapellasChairman after Bal Dail stepped down from thatposition.

32NICHOLAS G. KARABOTSPennsylvania

$335 MILLION (TNHE)PUBLISHING, REAL ESTATE, WINERYMarried, Children

Geographically, Nicholas G. Karabots, now 85,has gone from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, byway of the South Bronx.

Financially, though, he has transcended galaxies:from shining shoes to donating tens of millions ofdollars at a time. “The issue here is not ultimatelyyour net worth, but what you do with the value youhave created,” said Karabots, owner of Kappa Pub-lishing Group, Inc. the nation’s largest publisher ofpuzzle magazines and books, as well as companiesrelated to real estate and winemaking.

His parents, Konstantina Hrisomalis and Geor-gios Karabotsios, hailed from the Peloponnesianvillages of Anavriti and Malendreni, respectively.The family name was shortened when his fatherarrived on Ellis Island.

Karabots was born in New Jersey and raised inthe South Bronx, and attended the Greek AmericanInstitute. After his father lost his restaurant businessin the Wall Street crash of 1929, Karabots held hisfirst job at age 9, in 1942, as a shoeshine boy inManhattan’s Union Square. After graduating highschool in 1951, he entered the printing industry,learning the ropes at an RCA affiliate on Wall Streetbefore becoming a manager of printing operationselsewhere. Eventually he achieved sales and thenmanagement positions, offered by a Hellenophilefrom Austria, who was the owner of Polychrome,a manufacturer of supplies related to the printingindustry. In 1964, he launched, with a partner, PhotaInc., a company that manufactured photographicchemicals specific to the development of X-Rayfilm and assisted in the development and importa-tion to the United States of Fujifilm. In 1970 he ac-quired a printing company in Scranton, PA. and ex-panded it via the printing and binding of TV Guide,among other nationally known magazines. Thatcompany, today known as Kappa Graphics, LP.

Today he is Chairman of the Board and CEO ofThe Spartan Organization, a company he foundedthat provides management and legal services tothe various Karabots affiliates. He holds similar po-sitions in his other privately held companies whoseinterests include printing, publishing, product ful-fillment, land development, a country club and avineyard and winery. He is assisted by his daughtersAndrea Duloc and Despina McNulty, son-in-lawPaul Kolkka, and granddaughter Alecia Duloc. An-drea’s husband, Michael, is the owner and presi-dent of Kable Distribution and Product FulfillmentServices, Inc., former subsidiaries of Princeton,N.J.-based AMREP Corporation, Inc. (NYSE: AXR),a publicly held company in which Karabots is a con-trolling shareholder. From 1993 to 2013, he was adirector of AMREP Corporation, whose interestsrest in the real estate and media-related industriessuch as product and subscription fulfillment com-bined with newsstand distribution services.Karabots resigned in 2013 from his position as vicechairman of the board of AMREP in order to devotemore time to his pending acquisitions in the privatesector, but retains his significant shareholder in-terests in AMREP. The company has developed RioRancho, New Mexico’s third-largest city.

Karabots purchased Scranton LithographingCompany in 1970, which became Kappa Graphics.


ADVOCATE PUBLISHER

That led to a relationship with puzzle book publisherOfficial Publications, which Karabots acquired.

The Karabotses’ combined businesses employabout 1,600 people. His real estate interests beganwith a 1980 purchase of a farm outside of Philadel-phia. This led to other land acquisitions, primarilyin Pennsylvania, the subdivision of these other as-sets, and eventually the design and developmentof Jericho National Golf Club, Inc. in WashingtonCrossing, Penn. Karabots also owns Krasi, LLC, theoperator of Karamoor Estate Vineyards and Winery,and producer of Karamoor Estate Wines, whichhave won many awards in American wine compe-titions. Apart from its huge gamut of puzzle maga-zines and subscription services, the Kappa groupof companies also publishes wrestling, astrology,games, children’s activity books, and a wide varietyof atlases and street guides. Its affiliated printing-related companies in Pennsylvania and Indiana offercommercial and digital printing, and a variety ofproduct distribution services.

Together with his wife of 60 years, AthenaDikegoros Karabots, whose parents emigrated fromthe Macedonian village of Rhodohorion, he estab-lished the Karabots Foundation, Inc. as a result ofhis experiences as a youth in the South Bronx. Thefoundation specializes in expanding opportunitiesfor young people in inner city or otherwise under-served communities. He told TNH in 2009: “Myheart aches for the young children who are tied topoverty and don’t know that there is somethingout there that is better.” In fall 2012, the foundationgave $7.5 million to The Children’s Hospital ofPhiladelphia for a new pediatric care facility, dedi-cated and opened in February 2013. They donated$10 million to The Franklin Institute Museum toexpand its classrooms and exhibition capabilitiesat its existing location, which serves thousands ofchildren each year. The foundation has also con-tributed $15 million to support the Philadelphia ArtMuseum’s education center by its acquisition of apainting by Thomas Eakins, together with a rare16th century horse and man armor. Both have at-tracted youth from around the country. To date thefoundation has provided over $60 million to manyorganizations that focus on the foundation’s mis-sion. Nicholas and Athena Karabots have also sup-ported the University of Pennsylvania and currentlythe University of Arizona in their archaeological ex-cavations on Mt. Lykaion in Arcadia, Greece.

He and his wife live in Pennsylvania and havethree daughters and 10 grandchildren. Karabots isroutinely featured in publications as one of Penn-sylvania’s most generous philanthropists.

33MICHAEL E. KALOGRISPennsylvania

$330 MILLION (TNHE)TELECOMMUNICATIONSColumbia University (Business);Married, 2 children

Michael Kalogris, 68, co-founded Arete CapitalPartners, a private investment company, in 2008.Arete, where he is Managing Partner, functions asan operating partner of the New York based equityfirm Catalyst Investors.

Kalogris was chairman and CEO of SunComWireless, a wireless carrier which had operated inthe southeastern United States since 1999, and inparts of the Caribbean since 2004. Founded as Tri-ton PCS Holdings in January, 1999, the companychanged its name to SunCom in 2005. Based inBerwyn, PA, SunCom went through several dealswith other major cellular carriers. Before it was fi-nally acquired by T-Mobile for $1.6 billion in cashand $800 million in assumed debt in February2008, SunCom provided digital wireless commu-nications services to more than 1.1 million sub-scribers. Kalogris has a long history in the “buy it,build it, sell it” business. In November 1999, hereached an agreement with Rural Cellular Corpo-ration, which purchased portions of Triton’s assetsfor $1.24 billion in early 2000 (Verizon eventuallyacquired Rural for $2.66 billion in cash and as-

sumed debt in August 2007). He also built out Tri-ton’s network with Cingular Wireless in 2004 beforechanging Triton’s name to SunCom and ultimatelyselling SunCom to T- Mobile.

He still lives in Pennsylvania with Elizabeth, hiswife of many years (and high school sweetheart),with whom he has two children. Besides Kalogris’reputation of making money for his investors, itwas a deal with AT&T in the 1990s that attractedinvestors. In exchange for a small equity stake,AT&T gave Triton licenses covering 11 million peo-ple in areas contiguous with AT&T’s territories inthe southeast.

Kalogris earned a MBA at Columbia UniversityBusiness School in 1982. He worked at IBM wherehe was in the sales, marketing, product develop-ment and corporate finance divisions. While there,he was the youngest member of the IBM AcornTaskforce which was the key catalyst in introducingIBM’s original personal computer. Kalogris then en-tered the telecommunications business by takinga job with a Philadelphia-based outfit called Metro-phone, helping to build it into a $1.1 billion cellularcompany in Philadelphia and its suburbs before itsowners sold Metrophone to Comcast in 1991. Kalo-gris had no equity in Metrophone, so he left to buildHorizon to operate mostly in suburban Pennsylvaniaand Washington, D.C. Five years later, Horizon wassold in a series of deals for the $575 million, butKalogris and his fellow managers got to share just$10 million of that among them. This only madehim determined to get more of the action, so hefound backers in J.P. Morgan, Chase Capital Part-ners, and Desai Capital Management to give him10 percent of Triton as compensation for runningthe deal. The money flowed in: even before thebonds were placed, Kalogris received a $425 millionbank revolver loan and $140 million in equity com-mitments. That and junk bond proceeds built hissystem, and he has never looked back.

Kalogris has consistently distinguished himselfas a leader in the highly competitive wireless in-dustry, and is a former board member as well asformer chairman of the Cellular Telecommunica-tions & Internet Association (CTIA).

In 2016, Kalogris participated in a panel to eval-uate innovations by budding business entrepreneurstudents of Millersville University in Central Penn-sylvania.

34D. JAMES BIDZOSVirginia

$283 MILLION (TNHE)INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

D. James Bidzos, 64, is another Greek-Americanwho prospered in the technological revolution.Founder, Chairman of the Board, President, andCEO, of Verisign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), which pro-vides domain name registry services and Internetsecurity worldwide, Bidzos’ company offers a rangeof security services, including managed DNS, Dis-tributed Denial of Service (DDoS) mitigation andcyber-threat reporting. Verisign currently manages$21 billion worth of .com domains, with a domainselling for $7.85 per domain annually. Bidzos servedas its first CEO from 1995 to 2001. In 2010 thecompany’s authentication services were purchasedby Symantec for $1.28 billion. Bidzos returned tothe CEO job in 2011. The following year, he wasnamed Fortune’s 2012 Businessperson of the year

for reviving Verisign’s income, growth, and stockperformance, which previously had flagged. Hiscompensation increased by 46 percent in 2013 to$8.5 million, including his bonus and stock awards.

Born in Greece, Bidzos he came to the UnitedStates as a boy. His father worked as a barber, andhis mother managed a restaurant. A former com-puter programmer, he is credited with foreseeingthe need for online security in the early 1990s. Bid-zos is an Internet and security industry pioneer,whose accomplishments include building RSA Se-curity, an Internet identity and access managementsolution provider, into the early standard-bearer forauthentication and encryption, and launchingVerisign as a spin-off in 1995 to develop the digitalcertificate infrastructure for Internet commerce.Verisign operates infrastructure services that enableand protect billions of interactions every day acrossthe world’s voice, video and data networks.

The Mountainview, CA-based Verisign (nowmoved to Reston, VA) offered a variety of Internetand communications-related services in its globalaffiliate network. Verisign managed two of theworld’s 13 Internet root servers, a.root-servers.netand j.root-servers.net, considered national IT assetsby the U.S. Federal government. Since 2007, thecompany has been focusing on its core businessand whittling away less profitable side efforts. In2009 it sold its security service business to Se-cureWorks and its security consulting business toAT&T. Verisign focuses now on its Internet infra-structure services. Among the company’s servicesare providing .com, .net, .cc, .tv, .name and .jobs

domain names for websites. Bidzos served as pres-ident and CEO of RSA Security from 1988 to Feb-ruary 1999, and then served as RSA’s vice chairmanfrom 1999 to May 2002.

He has been named one of Time magazine’sDigital 50, and is in CRN’s Computer Industry Hallof Fame. In September 2013, the Federal AviationAdministration named Bidzos, who is a certified pi-lot, to the FAA Airmen Certification Database.

In late 2016, the National Cyber Security Hall ofFame honored Bidzos, who is an inductee, by nam-ing him keynote speaker at its fifth annual awardceremony in October in Baltimore, MD, for his “keyrole in the creation of the cyber security industry.”

35STRATTON SCLAVOSCalifornia

$259 MILLION (TNHE)COMPUTERS, CELLULAR TECHNOLOGYUniversity of California, Davis; Married

The son of second-generation Greek-Americanparents, Stratton Sclavos, 58, is a partner at RadarPartners LLC, a private equity and venture capitalfirm based in Palo Alto, CA He served on the boardof directors of Intuit, Inc. from 2001 to 2010, aswell as the company Juniper Networks. In June2014, he joined the board of digital security start-up BitGo. The company produces a digital walletdesigned to tackle theft of bitcoin, a form of digitalcurrency invented in 2009.

Sclavos earned his bachelor’s degree in electri-cal & computer engineering from the University ofCalifornia in Davis. From October 1993 to June1995, he was vice president of worldwide market-ing & sales for Taligent Inc., a software develop-ment company that was a joint venture among Ap-ple Computer, IBM, and Hewlett-Packard.

He was chairman, president, & chief executiveofficer of Verisign for 12 years before he resignedin May 2007, leading that company through manyacquisitions. He joined Verisign in July 1995 as oneof its first employees. He helped establish Verisignas a global corporation used by millions of con-sumers and businesses daily as they interact onthe world’s voice and data networks. Sclavos ledthe company through a decade of robust growthand technological innovation. His last years withVerisign were taken up with investigations into thecompany’s stock option program, but it is not be-lieved that Sclavos personally benefited from theoption grants in question, though it did occur underhis watch.

A San Francisco native, Sclavos still lives in Cal-ifornia with his wife, Jody, and their two children.His investments include co-owning upscale Greekrestaurant Dio Deka. A lifelong Bay Area resident,he formed the Sclavos Family Foundation to sup-port charitable efforts in children’s education andmedical research.

He enjoys playing basketball. He held an own-ership stake in Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment(SVSE), the parent company of the San Jose Sharkshockey team, until he sold his shares to majorityowner Hasso Plattner in January 2013. In June2002, he was honored with the Ernst & YoungNorthern California Entrepreneur of the Year Award.He was also honored with the 2001 Morgan StanleyMorgan Leadership Award for Global Commerce,named to Forbes’ Top 50 CEO’s list, and servedalongside 30 technology experts on former Presi-dent George W. Bush’s National Security Telecom-munications Advisory Committee.

Last June, Sclavos was among those featuredin the news regarding bitcoin, for his role as a Board

Member of bitcoin company BitGo.In early 2017, thescoresports.com wrote that

Sclavos invested in Echo Sports, a sports gamingcompany founded by former NBA star Rick Fox,although the amount invested was not reported.Sclavos is a firm believer that the future belongsto esports leagues and has invested heavily in thatfield.

36MICHAEL G. PSAROSNew York

$250 MILLION (TNHE)INVESTMENTSGeorgetown University (Business);Married, 3 children

Michael Psaros, 51, is a co-founder and co-man-aging partner of private equity fund, KPS CapitalPartners, LP, and a member of its investment com-mittee. KPS Capital Partners, LP is one of theworld’s leading private equity franchises, with ap-proximately $5.2 billion of assets under manage-ment. KPS acquires and then turns around, non-core, underperforming, or distressed manufacturingand industrial companies on a global basis. KPS’



AP PHOTO/RICHARD DREW


unique investment strategy has resulted in the cre-ation of world-class, industry leading companies.

KPS Portfolio companies currently have aggre-gate revenues of approximately $5.6 billion, operate162 manufacturing facilities in 30 countries, andemploy approximately 38,000 associates, directlyand through joint ventures. KPS has completedover 70 platform company investments that savedover 50,000 jobs world-wide.

Psaros is the son of George and Mary AnnPsaros and grandson of four Greek immigrantsfrom Chios and Halicarnassus (Bodrum) in Asia Mi-nor. He grew up in Weirton, W.V., where thelifeblood of the town was the steel industry, specif-ically National Steel. Psaros' father was a seniorexecutive in the mill, and his great-grandfatherworked in the open hearth furnaces. In 1983, unionsteelworkers voted to purchase the company withthe help of investment banker Eugene Keilin, re-naming it Weirton Steel. The buyout saved thetown, and inspired Psaros to think about how man-agement and labor could work together to revitalizethe flagging manufacturing industry in America.Psaros began his career as an investment bankerat Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc and then worked forKeilin in the 1990s. In 1997, Psaros co-foundedhis own firm, KPS Capital Partners, LP, in partner-ship with Keilin and David Shapiro.

Psaros is the former Treasurer of the Archdio-cese of North and served on its Executive Com-mittee. During his two-year tenure in office, he ledthe successful financial and organizational restruc-turing of the Archdiocese. The changes Psaros im-plemented, working with new leadership at theArchdiocese, were transformative, resulting in abalanced budget and accompanied by new prac-tices and procedures to promote accountability, re-sponsibility, and transparency.

He is an Archon Ostiarios, of the EcumenicalPatriarchate, Order of St. Andrew the Apostle,where he serves on its National Council. He is alsoa founding member of FAITH: An Endowment forOrthodoxy and Hellenism; and serves on the Boardof Trustees of The Leadership 100, the ExecutiveBoard of The Hellenic Initiative, and is a memberof AHEPA. He is a benefactor of the OrthodoxChurch in Sierra Leone, Latin America, Korea andJerusalem.

Psaros received the Archbishop Iakovos Lead-ership 100 Award for Excellence, the HomericAward from the Chian Association, the Humanitar-ian Award from the Hellenic Times ScholarshipFund, the Executive of the Year Award from theHellenic American Bankers Association, the Ho-meric Award from The Chian Federation, the Hel-lenic Heritage Award from the Three HierarchsGreek Orthodox Church, the Phidippides Awardfrom Hellenic Public Radio (Cosmos FM), and theInspiration Award from the Loukoumi Foundation.He was also honored by the Georgetown UniversityWall Street Alliance and by the Archdiocesan Cathe-dral of the Holy Trinity at its Chrysanthemum Ball.Psaros gave the keynote address at the CentennialGala of the All Saints Greek Orthodox Church ofWeirton, West Virginia.

Psaros supports the Washington OXI DAYFOUNDATON, and delivered the OXI DAY speechin the Armed Services Committee Chamber of theU.S. Senate in 2015.

He and his wife are benefactors of the St.Nicholas National Shrine.

Psaros is also the Executive Producer and un-derwriter of the documentary short film, “PISTEVO”,about the centrality of Iconography in the OrthodoxChristian Faith, which may be viewed atwww.theartofbelief.org. The film has been viewedin over 20 countries by tens of thousands of thefaithful. PISTEVO won “The Award of Excellence”at the IndieFEST Film Awards.

Psaros serves on the Board of Directors ofGeorgetown University. He and his wife createdThe Michael and Robin Psaros Endowed Chair inBusiness Administration at Georgetown Univer-sity's McDonough School of Business where healso serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Advi-sors.

37JENNIFER ANISTONCalifornia

$240 MILLION (Celebrity Net Worth) TELEVISION AND FILMNew York's School of Performing Arts

It is hard to believe that for Jennifer Aniston,the iconic face of millennial sitcoms and one of thebest-known personalities in Hollywood, the year2019 marked her 50th birthday.

Aniston lived in Crete and Athens during part ofher childhood as Jennifer Joanna Anastassakis.

The daughter of Nancy Dow (a direct descendantof the royal House of Stuart of Scotland – makingAniston a royal) and daytime soap opera star JohnAniston (Days of Our Lives), she eclipsed her fa-ther’s television fame and success with her ownrole as Rachel Green on the eternally popular situ-ation comedy, Friends (1994-2004). Aniston andher five castmates struck what was a record paydayat the time – $1 million each per episode for thelast three seasons of the show – and she still col-lects sizeable residuals from the still-wildly popularsitcom’s syndication ($20 million/year as per USAToday’s calculation in 2015).

Thanks to her portrayal, Rachel Green, the char-acter Aniston played on the show, became so pop-ular that the hairstyle she wore in the sitcom beganto be known as The Rachel. Aniston has continuedto appear in feature films and is often cast as the‘girl-next-door’ type, but sometimes as a quirky vil-lain.

In 2018, Aniston made her Netflix debut withthe musical comedy Dumplin. In 2019 she will beseen alongside Reese Witherspoon in the AppleTV and drama series The Morning Show. Her suc-cess has propelled her to even greater fortunes,topping $240 million in net worth this year.

Born in Sherman Oaks, CA, Aniston’s family re-located to New York after their stay in Greece. Herparents divorced when she was 9, and she wasraised by her mother, Nancy Dow.

Aniston began her professional training as adrama student at New York's School of PerformingArts – a division of Fiorello H. LaGuardia HighSchool of Music and the Arts. While she was atschool, Aniston thought there was somethingwrong with her – she thought she was ‘stupid’ –but she was later diagnosed as dyslexic. She wenton to appear in various off-Broadway productions,television series and films, until 1994 when Friendscame along.

Besides her lucrative acting career, Aniston isin demand as a spokeswoman for brands such asAveeno and Vitamin Water.

In 2011, she reportedly made over $20 millionselling her Beverly Hills home for $35 million, twicethe price at which she bought it.

The actress has also been a director and pro-ducer in recent years. She directed one of five seg-ments that made up the cable TV movie Five(2011), which focused on women living with breastcancer and was one of 100 artists and other publicfigures to narrate the documentary film Unity(2015), which investigates human existence andinterconnectivity.

She received her own Hollywood Walk of FameStar in February 2013 – the first actor from friendsto be honored with a star. Some of her awards in-clude the Screen Actors Guild (1996), Emmy(2002), Golden Globe (2003) and People’s Choice(four times) Awards, and has assisted and workedwith many charities like Rain (an anti-sexual assaultorganization), St. Jude’s, and various cancer-fightingorganizations. She was also named GQ magazine’sfirst ever Woman of the Year in 2005 and was EllenDegeneres’ very first guest for the very first episodeof The Ellen Show in 2003.

Aniston’s personal life was often a source ofmedia attention, especially her relationships withactors Brad Pitt, whom she first met on a blinddate and later married from 2000 to 2005, andJustin Theroux, whom she wed in 2015; the coupleannounced in 2018 that they were divorcing.

Ariston is a well-known activist and a philan-thropist. She has donated generously to differentphilanthropic organizations such as Doctors withoutBorders, AmeriCares, Feeding America, ClothesOff Our Back, EB Medical Research Foundation,OmniPeace, and Rape, Abuse & Incest NationalNetwork, Project A.L.S., Friends of Al Faro etc.Aniston has also contributed appreciably to thecause of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender(LGBT) rights, and has hosted shows like Stand UpFor Cancer and It Can’t Wait.

38DR. WILLIAM S.STAVROPOULOSMichigan

$230 MILLION (TNHE)CORPORATE ADMINISTRATIONFordham University (PharmaceuticalChemistry); Married, 2 children

William S. Stavropoulos was born in 1939 inSouthampton, New York. The son of Greek immi-grants, he grew up in the nearby town of Bridge-hampton, where his family owned and operated avery popular ice cream parlor and eatery – TheBridgehampton Candy Kitchen. He attended Bridge-hampton School, where he excelled both academ-ically and athletically. One of the sixteen studentsin his high school graduating class was his closeboyhood friend Carl Yaztrzemski, beloved futureHall of Fame baseball star who played for theBoston Red Sox for 23 years.

After a long and distinguished career at the DowChemical Company, where among other capacities

he served as Chairman and CEO, Stavropoulos ismoving in a different direction: he is president andfounder of minor league baseball team the GreatLakes Loons. In 2005, he was inducted into theMidland County Sports Hall of Fame as a Profes-sional Baseball Visionary for his work, which in-cludes founding the Michigan Baseball Foundation.The Loons are affiliated with Major League Base-ball’s Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the leaguechampionship in 2016.

The MBF’s mission, according to its website, is“to bring affordable, family-friendly entertainmentto Mid-Michigan. Through the Great Lakes Loonsand Dow Diamond, MBF hopes to revitalize andreinvigorate the region and promote greater eco-nomic and civic prosperity.”

Stavropoulos was a director at Tyco InternationalLimited from 2007 to 2012. A major diversified,multinational company, Tyco is a leading providerof security products and services, fire protectionand detection products and services, valves andcontrols, and other industrial products.

In May 2007, just two months after Stavropoulosbecame a board member, Tyco agreed to pay al-most $3 billion to defrauded investors, the largestsuch payment ever made by a single company. Heretired at the end of 2012.

Prior to joining Tyco, Stavropoulos spent 39years at Dow. In addition to leading the company,he held various positions in research, marketing,and general management. He also served in a va-riety of research and business positions in phar-maceuticals and diagnostics. Stavropoulos wasnamed president of Dow USA in 1990, and waselected vice president of Dow Chemical Company.He was then elected a senior vice president of Dowin May 1991, and became chief operating officerin 1993. He served as CEO from 1995 to 2000 andagain from 2002 to 2004, and was a member ofDow’s board of directors from July 1990 to March2006 (he was succeeded by Andrew Liveris, aGreek-Australian, who is also featured in this edi-tion).

Stavropoulos holds a bachelor of science degreein pharmaceutical chemistry from Fordham Uni-versity and a doctorate in medicinal chemistry fromthe University of Washington. He is a director ofTeradata Corporation, and on the advisory boardsfor Metalmark Capital LLC and Maersk Inc. He is atrustee of the Fidelity Equity and High IncomeFunds’ Board and is an Advisory Partner of Clayton,Dubilier & Rice LLC, a private investment firm. InMay 2019, it was announced that Stavropouloswould be replaced by Christopher D. Pappas as In-dependent Lead Director of Univar, the largestchemical distributor in the United States.Stavropoulos will continue to serve on the Board.

Stavropoulos is a past chairman of the AmericanChemistry Council, Society of Chemical Industry,and American Plastics Council. He served on theboard of trustees at the American Enterprise Insti-tute for Public Policy Research.

Among his awards and honors are AHEPA’s Manof the Year (1995), the Hellenic American BankersAssociation Man of the Year (1997), an honoraryDoctor of Laws Degree from Northwood University(1998), the Ellis Island Medal of Honor (1998) andinduction into Junior Achievement of Central Michi-gan’s Business Hall of Fame (2005). “InstitutionalInvestor” magazine named him one of America’sbest CEOs three times (1998, 2003 and 2004). In2010, he received the title of Archon of the Ecu-menical Patriarchate.

Stavropoulos and his wife, Linda, have two chil-dren, Bill and Angela, and several grandchildren.In 2016, the Bill and Linda Stavropoulos FamilyFoundation made a $10 million gift to the Universityof Notre Dame for the creation of a center special-izing in biophysical research in the College of Sci-ence.

39CHRIS & HARRIS PAPPASTexas

$220 MILLION (TNHE)FOOD SERVICE

Brothers Christopher J. and Harris Pappas – 71and 74 years of age, respectively, and still verymuch involved in their thriving family business –opened the first Pappas Restaurant in 1976. Today,the privately owned Pappas Restaurants, Inc. op-erate nearly 100 restaurants in seven states. Morerecently, Chris’ and Harris’ children, all in their 20sand 30s, have taken on more prominent roles inthe business, including marketing, real estate, culi-nary research and development, and construction.

Pappas Restaurants grew from the work of theirfather, Jim, and his brothers at Pappas Refrigera-tion, which they opened in 1945. Pappas' eightunique brands include Pappas Seafood House, Pap-pasito's Cantina, Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen,Pappas Bar-B-Q, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, PappasGrill Steakhouse, Pappas Burger, Yia Yia Mary'sPappas Greek Kitchen, and the original Dot CoffeeShop, which was established by their father Jimand his three brothers in 1967. Each company hasits own specialty, with Yia Yia Mary’s, for instance,specializing in Greek food, fish and mezedes

(Greek, with a hint of Texas). Pappas Restaurantsalso has a food catering business.

Chris and Harris Pappas also serve as CEO andpresident, respectively, of Luby's Inc., a publiclytraded cafeteria chain founded more than 50 yearsago. The brothers became majority shareholdersin the company in 2001. The years 2018 to 2019were tough for this particular company (closingseveral restaurants) but with the two Pappas’ atthe helm, a turnaround is surely on the horizon.

Chris Pappas serves on the board of directorsfor the Greater Houston Partnership and is also amember of the Dean's advisory board at the ConradN. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Manage-ment at the University of Houston. He was inductedinto the college’s Hospitality Industry Hall of Honorin 2009. Chris is a member of the board of directorsfor the National Restaurant Association, the TexasRestaurant Association, and the Greater HoustonRestaurant Association and is an advisory boardmember of Amegy Bank. In 2001, he was inductedinto the Texas Restaurant Association Hall of Honor.He is also a member of the Houston Food Bank’sCapital Campaign Committee and he has assistedin raising over $50 million for the organization. Chrisreceived his bachelor's degree in mechanical en-gineering from the University of Texas at Austin.He and his wife, Maria, have been married 30+years and have five children.

A graduate of Texas A&M, Harris Pappas wascommissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S.Army, serving one year in Thailand and one year inVietnam, earning two Bronze Stars and three ArmyCommendation medals. He is a member of theboard of directors of Oceaneering International,Inc., a publicly held oil and gas operations firm, andalso served a ten-year term on the board of trusteesof Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Hous-ton. He is an advisory director of the Boys & GirlsClubs of Greater Houston and of Bank-Frost Na-tional Houston. He is a member of the Texas A&MFoundation Development Advisory Committee andserves on the Education Development Council Ad-visory Committee. He has received awards fromboth Texas A&M University and the school’s MaysCollege of Business. Harris is a member of theWorld President’s Organization and on SchreinerUniversity’s advisory board. He is a founder of theHellenic Foundation, which endeavors to raisescholarship money for seminary students attendingHoly Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. Anavid boater and fisherman, he and his wife, VickyMarinos Pappas, have children and grandchildren.

The brothers’ grandfather, H.D., arrived in theU.S. in 1897 and became a restaurateur. Chris andHarris were encouraged to avoid the restaurant in-dustry and given warnings about its long hours andunpredictable schedules. The brothers managedto stay away – for a little while. But the lure of therestaurant biz proved too strong for both brothers.Soon, Harris found himself managing his fatherJim's first restaurant, the Dot Coffee Shop, only tobe followed shortly by Chris who stepped in at hisbrother's request.

The Pappas Brothers often help nonprofit groupsand churches renovate their kitchens. Highly in-volved in the Annunciation Cathedral of Houston,both brothers were granted the title of Archon ofthe Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2008.

In 2016, Pappas Restaurants donated $500,000to Texas Southern University which, in its newspa-per, quoted Chris Pappas on that occasion: “Onbehalf of Pappas Restaurants, my brother Harrisand I are proud to partner with Texas Southern Uni-versity with this donation of more than a half a mil-lion dollars. The work that TSU does enriches notonly the lives of the students on their campus, butalso the entire Houston community. As nativeHoustonians, we strongly believe in supportinghigher education in our hometown, and we are ex-cited that our contribution will provide a place forstudents to live, study and support one anotherwhile pursuing a college degree.”

40PETE SAMPRASCalifornia

$150 MILLION (Celebrity Net Worth)TENNISMarried, 2 children

Widely regarded as one of tennis’ all-timegreats, Pete Sampras, 47, retired in 2003 after asurprising win against Andre Agassi at the 2002US Open with a then-record 14 grand slam titles(a record until 2009 when Roger Federer broke it).Sampras, nonetheless, remains the only man tobe ranked number one in the world by the Associ-ation of Tennis Professionals (ATP) six consecutiveyears, and is best remembered for his epic battleswith fellow American Andre Agassi. He was in-ducted into the International Tennis Hall of Famein 2007.

Born in Potomac, MD to an American-born fa-ther (Sotirios) of Greek descent and a mother (Geor-gia) born in Sparta, Sampras from age threeshowed an unusually gifted athletic ability. Georgiagrew up with six sisters and two brothers and didn’tcome to the United States until she was 25. Notsurprisingly, Greek culture was an important partof Sampras family life. As a kid, Pete attended


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Greek Orthodox Church services every Sunday withhis parents and siblings.

In 1988, Sampras turned professional just be-fore his 17th birthday, and began the year rankednumber 893 in the world, but before the year wasover, he climbed up the rankings with lightningspeed, finishing at 97.

Sampras’ 14 Grand Slam titles include seven atWimbledon, five at the U.S. Open, and two at theAustralian Open. The French Open was the onlyGrand Slam title that he never won. In 1990, Sam-pras became the youngest US Open men’s cham-pion at 19 years and 28 days old. Because of hisprecise serve, he earned the tiled “Pistol Pete.” In1993, he became the first player to serve morethan 1000 aces in a season.

Sampras now plays exhibition tennis to raisemoney for charities, such as earthquake victims.

Sampras and his wife, the former Miss TeenUSA Bridgette Wilson, and their two sons, live inCalifornia.

In a recent interview in 2019, Andre Agassi com-mented on the importance of having a strong andgreat rivalry in your career. Agassi was quoted say-ing, "A great rival is like a mirror. You have to lookat yourself, acknowledge where you fall short, makeadjustments, and nurture the areas where you over-achieve. There were times my rivals brought outthe best in me; there were times they brought outthe worst. They probably helped me win things Inever would have otherwise; they also cost me ti-tles. I don’t know how you quantify what it wouldhave been like without a rival like Pete Sampras. Iwould have won more. But I think I would havebeen worse without him."

40SAM GORESCalifornia

$150 MILLION (Celebrity Net Worth)ENTERTAINMENT

American Academy of Dramatic Arts; 3 childrenSam Gores, brother to Alec and Tom Gores (also

featured on this list), founded the entertainmenttalent agency Paradigm in 1992 and has becomeone of the top agents in Hollywood. After arrivingin the U.S. with his family from Israel, Gores worked

as a butcher and as a grocer. Gores now overseesthe Paradigm’s 600 employees out of its BeverlyHills headquarters, in addition to offices in almosta dozen other cities. Over the years, he has grownhis company by wisely acquiring niche agenciesand diversifying Paradigm’s client base.

Gores worked his way up the Hollywood foodchain. He studied acting at the American Academy

of Dramatic Arts and was part of the first graduatingclass of the original California campus. In 1977 hetook a job at The Gage Group, a talent agencyheaded by well-known industry player Martin Gage.In 1986, he founded his own shop, SGA Repre-sentation, and after a series of mergers and acqui-sitions, the Paradigm Agency was born.

In 2014, he acquired a 50% stake in London-based CODA Music. Gores further expanded thefirm’s European reach by partnering with X-rayTouring and Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa in 2017. Paradigmfirst became a player in the music industry by pur-chasing Monterey Peninsula Artists (DaveMatthews Band, Phish, Aerosmith, Toby Keith) in2004 and Little Big Man (Coldplay, The Fray) in2006. Other noteworthy names in Paradigm’srepertoire include: Jason Mraz, Kacey Musgraves,Shawn Mendes, Tiesto, Imagine Dragons, JanetJackson, Zoe Kravitz, Halsey, Stephen King, Anto-nio Banderas, Neil Patrick Harris, Kenny Chesney,Ed Sheeran and The Black Eyed Peas.

In an interview with Billboard in 2014, Goreswas asked about his management style. He said,“I’m not a dictator. I want to be a good leader, nota good boss, necessarily. Sometimes a boss cre-ates fear and a leader brings confidence. A bosssometimes points fingers or blames, where a leadertries to fix mistakes. A boss will come at you withall the answers, but a leader asks questions. Bossescan make drudgery, and leaders make things in-teresting. Bosses are interested in themselves, andleaders are interested in the group. I always try toerr on the side of being more of a leader.”

Gores has donated to the Children’s Hospital ofLos Angeles. He is also an active participant in Con-servation International and Hand in Hand: Centerfor Jewish Arab Education in Israel which buildsschools in Israel for both Jewish and Arab children.He is a member of the Academy of Motion PictureArts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Artsand Sciences and the Recording Academy. He alsoserves as a Trustee at the American Academy ofDramatic Arts and is on the board of Geffen Play-house.

42CONSTANTINEIORDANOU

$122 MILLION (TNHE)INSURANCENew York University; Married, 3 children

Constantine “Dinos” Iordanou, 68, was presi-dent, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Arch Cap-ital Group, Ltd, a Bermuda-based insurance/rein-surance global entity.

Born in Cyprus, Iordanou arrived in the UnitedStates and worked his way through college, NewYork University, earning a BS in aerospace engi-neering before entering the insurance industry in atrainee role at American International Group (AIG).

Arch, a Forbes-rated powerhouse, writes insur-ance and reinsurance on a worldwide basis throughoperations in Bermuda and the United States. Itssubsidiaries offer a full range of property and ca-sualty insurance and reinsurance products globally,with a focus on specialty lines of business.

Iordanou told the publication Risk & Insurancein 1999 that he was promoted when AIG chairmanHank Greenberg noticed him in 1980. In 1987 hemoved on to Berkshire Hathaway, where he workedup to heading their commercial casualty operations.From March 1992 through December 2001, Ior-danou served in various capacities for Zurich Fi-nancial Services and its affiliates, including seniorexecutive vice president of group operations andbusiness development of Zurich Financial Services,president of Zurich American Specialties Division,chief operating officer and chief executive officerof Zurich American, and chief executive officer ofZurich North America.

He joined Bermuda-based Arch (NASDAQ:ACGL) in December 2001 as its president andmember of its board of directors. In 2003, Iordanouwas appointed president and CEO of Arch CapitalGroup, Ltd. In November 2008, he was appointedchairman of the board. He retired from the companyin March 2018. His stated reasons for retiring areto spend more time with his grandchildren, focuson philanthropy, play golf, travel for leisure andmany other activities.

He is also a director at Verisk Analytics, Inc. ofJersey City, N.J., the American Insurance Associa-tion (AIA) and the Association of Bermuda Insurersand Reinsurers (ABIR).

He is a founding member and lifetime trusteeof the Pancyprian Association of America, estab-lished in 1975. He also is a founding member ofFaith: An Endowment for Orthodoxy and Hellenism.Iordanou has previously served as a trustee of Roo-sevelt University and the College of Insurance andRisk Management. His awards include the Ellis Is-land Medal of Honor (1999). He is married to Mar-ianne Iordanou and they have three children.

Last May, for his philanthropic efforts Iordanouand Marianne received a Lifetime AchievementAward from Our Lady of Mercy Academy. “For thepast fifteen years, Dinos and Marianne have beenactively involved with Mercy: “As parents of Mercygraduates, they spearheaded the campaign to builda turf field ten years ago. They have continued towork tirelessly on many projects to benefit Mercystudents now and into the future.”

Iordanou was honored in May, 2016 by the Pan-Cyprian Association, whose president, PhilipChristopher, said that “we are honoring him in par-ticular because he has never forgotten his roots.He has been a trustee of our association from dayone and as CEO of Arch, for the fact that he wentto Cyprus and opened an office there employing20 Greek Cypriots, just to show what can be doneand hopefully other companies will follow.”

In December, 2016, Iordanou made news byselling 50,000 shares of stock. The shares weresold at an average price of $87.24, for a total valueof $4,362,000.00. Following the completion of thesale, Community Financial News reported, Iordanouthe chief executive was left directly owning242,622 shares in the company, valued at approx-imately $21,166,343.28.

43JOHN VARVATOSNew York

$120 MILLION (Celebrity Net Worth)FASHIONEastern Michigan University &University of Michigan (Pre-Med &Education); Married, 3 children

John Varvatos, 64, was born in Detroit, but hisroots are from Sparta and Thessaloniki.

Varvatos entered the design industry at 17, in1983, joining Polo Ralph Lauren, and in 1990moved over to Calvin Klein (CK), where he was incharge of menswear design and pioneered the con-cept of “boxer briefs,” which are men’s underpantsthat are a hybrid between boxers and briefs.

That innovation propelled Varvatos to the top-tier of the design industry, as boxer briefs werehighly touted as one of the greatest apparel revo-lutions of the 20th century.

Varvatos, later asked about what gave him theidea, said: “we just cut off a pair of longjohns andthought, this could be cool.”

Varvatos returned to Lauren in 1995, as headof all Polo menswear design, and he created thePolo Jeans Company.

Just at the turn of the century, in late 1999, Var-vatos started his own company, debuting his firstclothing line a year later, and opened a boutique inNew York City’s SoHo neighborhood. The brandnow includes belts, handbags, footwear, eyewearand fragrances and is available at retail stores aswell as his own stores.

Varvatos joined the cast of NBC’s Fashion Starin 2012. One year later he saw the release of alimited edition Chrysler 300 in his name. In 2014,he partnered with a music label to launch John

Varvatos Records, initially singing the Zac BrownBand.

Varvatos attributes his early interest in fashionto his love for rock and roll, observing the fashionstatements of various rock musicians, from AliceCooper to Green Day.

Music, he says, also inspired his philanthropiccauses, and he was influenced particularly by Bea-tles legend Ringo Starr’s involvement in “innerpeace and global, peace, both of which are impor-tant to me.”

Varvatos was named Gentleman Quarterly’s(GQ) Designer of the Year in 2007.

In 2015, Varvatos melded his three worlds: fash-ion, rock music, and Detroit, into the John VarvatosDetroit fashion line. An avid hockey fan, Varvatoshad the privilege of creating custom-blazers for theNational Hockey League’s top all-time 100 playersat an event in early 2017 during the League’s All-Star Weekend.

In March 2019 Varvatos and HBO launchedGame of Thrones upscale merchandise clothing –marking Varvatos’ first partnership with a televisionseries. The line includes 11 menswear pieces in-cluding a hand-dyed leather jacket, cross-over Hen-

ley shirts, pants, a textured messenger bag andgraphic prints over spray dyed t-shirts that featureemblems such as the ‘iron-throne’ motif.

In a fascinating 2019 interview with the Un-touchable Blog, Varvatos said the following whenasked about whether his Greek roots come throughin any of his collections: “I don’t know if they comethrough in my collections, but they definitely comethrough in my passion for what I do and my humilityfor what I do. I grew up in a 100% Greek familythat was very humble – seven people in an 800square foot house with one bathroom – and familywas very important, relatives were important, theheritage was important. And now, I am very true tothe heritage of my brand and have a respect forthe heritage of menswear.”

44ANDREW N. LIVERISMichigan

$110 MILLION (TNHE) CHEMICALS, PLASTICS,MANAGEMENTUniversity of Queensland (ChemicalEngineering); Married, 3 children

Andrew Liveris, 65, is the former chairman andCEO of international chemical, materials, agro-science and plastics global giant, the Dow ChemicalCompany, based in Midland, MI. The Australian-born Liveris succeeded Dr. William Stavropoulos,a friend and mentor (also listed in this edition) in2004 and became Chairman of the Board in 2006.Liveris, a 40-year industry veteran, left Dow afterpiloting the merger of the United States’ two largestchemical producers – Dupont and Dow – in a $130billion deal in 2017.

Liveris first started working at Dow in Australiain 1976 in manufacturing, engineering, sales, mar-keting, and business and general management.Much of this time he worked in Asia, including 14years in Hong Kong. He served as general manager


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for Dow in Thailand, and president of all Asia-Pacificoperations. He joined Dow's board of directors inFebruary 2004, and was named CEO in November2004. He was elected chairman of the board, takingover on April 1, 2006.

Liveris contributed in 2012 to spearheading TheHellenic Initiative (THI), a global, nonprofit, secularinstitution whose vision is to mobilize the Greekdiaspora and philhellene community to invest inthe future of Greece through programs focused oncrisis relief, entrepreneurship, and economic de-velopment.

Liveris is a firm believer in incentives for in-creasing manufacturing in the United States again.He wrote and frequently speaks on his book Makeit in America (2011) on that topic. Under his lead-ership, among the products that the new Dowaimed to make in America were new products, of-ten with an environmentally friendly or research-based core, such as solar shingles for homes.

He was tapped by the Trump Administration tohelp identify new ways to spur innovation and re-vitalize the U.S. manufacturing sector, and servedas Co-Chair of President Obama's Advanced Man-ufacturing Partnership steering committee (whichaims to pool the efforts of industry, schools, andthe government for innovation in fields like infor-mation technology, biotechnology, and nanotech-nology) and as a member of the U.S. President’sExport Council.

He also aligned himself in 2011 with the presi-dent and billionaire Warren Buffett in calling forhigher taxation rates for millionaires like himself.

With roots in Kastellorizo, Greece, Liveris wasborn in Darwin, Australia. As he told students in alecture in 2005, his grandfather was a Greek sailorwho made the impromptu decision to stay in Dar-win, after traveling there on a merchant ship at thestart of the 20th century. Liveris attended the Uni-versity of Queensland in Brisbane, graduating witha bachelor's degree (first-class honors) in chemicalengineering, and was awarded the University Medalfor that year. In 2005, he received an honorary doc-torate in science from the school.

Liveris sits on the Board of Directors of IBM,The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Novonix, andhe is a member of the Concordia Leadership Coun-cil and the Australian government’s Industry GrowthCentres Advisory Committee. He serves as atrustee of Saudi Aramco, The King Abdullah Uni-versity of Science and Technology (KAUST), theCalifornia Institute of Technology and the UnitedStates Council for International Business. He is alsoon the board of the U.S.-India Strategic PartnershipForum (USISPF) and serves as Co-Chair of theSaudi-U.S. CEO Forum. Previously, he was ViceChair of the Business Roundtable and an ExecutiveCommittee Member and past Chairman of the U.S.Business Council. In the fall of 2018, Liveris wasnamed special adviser to Saudi Arabia’s Public In-vestment Fund.

Liveris is a chartered engineer and a fellow ofthe Institute of Chemical Engineers, as well as afellow of the Australian Academy of TechnologicalSciences and Engineering. In 2011 alone he re-ceived awards from the Committee for EconomicDevelopment, the U.S. Council for InternationalBusiness (USCIB) and the Yale Chief ExecutiveLeadership Institute. He was awarded the Orderof Australia, the nation’s highest recognition foroutstanding achievement and service, in 2014.

44GEORGE J. TSUNISNew York

$110 MILLION (TNHE)HOSPITALITY/REAL ESTATENew York University; Married, 3 children

George J. Tsunis, 51, uses the quality of humanconnection in his successful Chartwell Hotels en-terprise, which he founded in 2006, building on afamily tradition of hotel and restaurant ownership.Chartwell, under Tsunis’ leadership, practices the“live well” philosophy, which focuses on healthyeating and going green at its hotels.

The company currently owns and manages tenhotels, including Chartwell’s Holiday Inn atWilliamsport, PA, which earned a “Newcomer ofthe Year award” from Holiday Inn in 2007.

Tsunis contributed nearly $1 million to PresidentObama’s 2012 reelection campaign. In September2013, Obama nominated him for ambassador toNorway. After a highly publicized series of chal-lenging confirmation hearings before the Senatelast year, however, Tsunis withdrew his nominationin December 2014.

As Chartwell Hotel’s chairman and CEO, Tsunismakes a point of visiting the hotels as often as hecan. “I don’t think there is any substitute for going

and visiting the hotels as a management tool,” hesaid. “Like all Greeks, my family started out in therestaurant business. And it’s all about hospitalityand taking care of guests. We went from feedingthem as coffee shop owners and restaurateurs, tonow providing overnight accommodations.”

Tsunis and his family build on the legacy of hisfather, the late James Tsunis. James and his cousinCharles Tsunis began with coffee shops, carvedout a name for themselves by building the BonwitInn on Long Island in 1971, and eventually investedin hotels and real estate. George Tsunis also over-sees his family's real estate and restaurant hold-ings, which include shopping centers and officebuildings in the Northeast. Tsunis is also the boardchairman of NuHealth which is the financial backerof Nassau University Medical Center, NassauCounty’s only publicly operated hospital. He wasappointed as board chairman by Nassau CountyExecutive, Laura Curran.

After studying at New York University, Tsuniswas trained as an attorney at St. John's University,also in New York. He was a partner at Long Islandlaw firm Rivken Radler LLP, working in real estatedevelopment, zoning and land use. Tsunis previ-ously also was a Special Counsel to the Town ofHuntington, Senator Alfonse D'Amato's appointeeon the U.S. Senate committee on Banking, Housingand Urban Affairs, and an attorney for the NewYork City Council. He has worked on campaignsincluding those of Governor George Pataki (1994)and Suffolk County Executive Robert Gaffney(1999). His decisions on whom to support arebased on what their stances are on the importantissues of the community – the Ecumenical Patriar-chate, Greece, and Cyprus. He donated $1.25 mil-lion in 2013 to enhance course offerings in Greeklanguage and culture at Stony Brook University inStony Brook, NY, establishing the George and OlgaTsunis Center in Hellenic Studies and the Jamesand Eleni Tsunis Chair in Hellenic Studies (in honorof Tsunis’ parents).

Active in both his local community and the GreekOrthodox Church, he was the youngest memberof the board of directors of Long Island’s DowlingCollege, his region’s American Red Cross chapter,and one of the youngest to receive the title of Ar-chon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate/Order of St.Andrew. He was named to the National Council ofthe Archons. He is also on the board of trustees ofTouro Law School. He often actively works behindthe scenes to promote Hellenism and Orthodoxy’sinterests in the United States and is a foundingmember of Faith: An Endowment for Orthodoxyand Hellenism. Along with Sen. Charles Schumer(D-NY), he was Grand Marshal of New York’s 2014Greek Independence Day Parade.

He and his wife, Olga, live on Long Island. Theyhave three children.

In August, 2016, Arbor Realty Trust welcomedTsunis as a member of its Board of Directors. Ar-bor’s Chairman, President, and CEO Ivan Kaufmansaid: "George comes to Arbor with extensive ex-perience as a business executive, attorney, boardmember and civic leader for numerous profit, non-profit and educational institutions throughout hislong and successful career. We look forward to themany contributions he is certain to make duringhis tenure as a board member for Arbor RealtyTrust."

46JASONCALACANIS

$100 MILLION (Celebrity Net Worth)INTERNET ENTREPRENEURSHIP,BLOGGINGFordham University (Psychology);Married, 3 children

Jason McCabe Calacanis, 48, is an Americanentrepreneur, noted angel investor and author whohails from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York. Calacanisstarted his professional career in earnest in the1990s, as one of a handful of people who went“all-in” on the internet from its outset. He created

a highly successful magazine called Silicon AlleyReporter to keep readers up to date on the hap-penings in the newly created mass-tech sector ofthe economy during the dot-com era. He was of-fered a sum of $20 million dollars which he turneddown and then the dot-com bubble burst forcinghim to sell the magazine for nominal value andthen was fired from it. Learning from the fickle na-ture of the internet, Calcanis didn’t waver in hispursuit of total immersion into the newly createdweb-based world and co-founded Weblogs, Inc. inSeptember 2003 along with Brian Alvey. Weblogs,Inc. was a blog networked platform that featuredentries of a variety of different interests, primarilytech news but which also had video game, auto-mobile and cultural features. About 18 months afterits founding, Calcanis sold Weblogs, Inc. to AOLfor $30 million. Since the sale of Weblogs, Inc. toAOL, Calacanis has amassed the majority of hisfortune by being an angel investor. Most notably,he was one of the first investors in tech behemothUber that was recently valued at more than $100billion.

Calacanis graduated from Xaverian High Schoolin 1988 and earned his B.A. in psychology fromFordham University.

47TINA FEYNew York

$65 MILLION (Celebrity Net Worth)ENTERTAINMENTUniversity of Virginia (Drama);Married, 2 children

With a celebrity star continuing to rise with nopeak yet in sight, Elizabeth Stamatina Fey, knownto the world as Tina, added to her net worth in2018-19 to finish in our top 50 once again.

Knowing from an early age that she was des-tined for a career in comedy, the native Pennsyl-vanian, now 49, joined the cast of Saturday NightLive (SNL) more than twenty years ago. After asuccessful stint on the show’s consistently popular“Weekend Update” mock news segment, Feyshined even brighter in 2008 with her spot-on im-personation of Republican Vice Presidential nomi-nee Sarah Palin. She also became the first femalehead writer in SNL history.

Fey reprised the role several times during thatcampaign season (and did so again around the timeof the 2012 and 2016 elections as well). In one bitcharacterizing Palin’s attestation that she is familiarwith world affairs because as Governor of Alaska,she had to deal with fly-over zones of airplanesfrom neighboring Russia, Fey blurted out in a com-ically ditzy manner: “I can see Russia from myhouse.”

In a classic example of how comedy bits caninfluence public thinking, many Americans polledsince them attributed that line to Palin, not realizingit was Fey who had said it.

Fey and her SNL sidekick, cohost for numerousaward shows, and “BFF” (Best Friend Forever),Amy Poehler, starred in the comedy film Sisters in2015. Poehler joined Fey to cohost SNL in Decem-ber 2015, reprising her own signature role as HillaryClinton.

Also a writer and producer, Fey has won to datenine Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards,five Screen Actors Guild Awards, three ProducersGuild Awards, and seven Writers Guild of AmericaAwards.

Fey created, wrote for, and starred in the multi-award-winning sitcom 30 Rock (it received 112Emmy nominations in total), and has appeared innumerous feature films besides Sisters, includingMartin & Orloff (2002), Mean Girls (2004), BabyMama (2008), The Invention of Lying (2009), DateNight (2010), and most recently, Whiskey TangoFoxtrot (2016). Maybe surprisingly, Fey’s highestgrossing film was the 2010 animated movie Mega-mind.

Fey takes on many causes, including havingdone benefits and fundraisers for various charities.She is also vocal about gender roles in America,having told Town & Country magazine in 2016 that,when hearing that this must be a great time forwomen in comedy, she responds: “No, it's a terribletime. If you were to really look at it, the boys arestill getting more money for a lot of garbage, whilethe ladies are hustling and doing amazing work forless."

48ARIANNA HUFFINGTONNew York

$50 MILLION (Celebrity Net Worth)MEDIAUniversity of Cambridge (Economics); 2 children

Arianna Huffington, nee Ariadne AnnaStassinopoulos, was born in 1950 Athens, Greece,to Elli (a Red Cross worker) and Konstantinos (a

journalist). Her father was a newspaperman. DuringWorld War II, when Germany occupied Greece, hewas publishing an underground newspaper butwas eventually caught and sent to a concentrationcamp where he spent the rest of the war. After-wards, he recovered at a sanitarium in Greecewhere he met Arianna’s future mother, who wasrecovering from TB. In a 2010 interview publishedon the website Inc., Arianna said she got her knackfor relationships from her mother: She was capableof having an impersonal relationship with anybody.The delivery man would arrive at the house, andshe'd say, "Sit down; have something to eat." As aresult, I find it very easy to connect with people.And that's part of the Huffington Post. I'm bringingin voices – some well known, some not – and pro-viding a platform.

Stassinopoulos left Greece for Great Britain dur-ing her teens and studied at the University of Cam-bridge. She moved to the United States in 1980.The following year, she released an acclaimed bi-ography of one of the world’s opera greats – MariaCallas: The Woman Behind the Legend.

Stassinopoulos eventually married Michael Huff-ington, a secretary within the U.S. Department ofDefense, and the couple had two children. The twolater divorced, but Arianna kept his last name.

In 2005, Stassinopoulos (now Huffington)launched the online site The Huffington Post, serv-ing as its co-founder and editor in chief. In Marchof 2011, AOL acquired The Huffington Post MediaGroup for $315 million. In 2016, she announcedthat she was leaving the company in order to startThrive Global, a health and wellness venture. Sheauthored the book Thrive where she makes an ‘im-passioned and compelling case for the need to re-define what it means to be successful in today’sworld’ – after her own experience of collapsing asa result of exhaustion and lack of sleep while shewas president and editor-in-chief of the HuffingtonPost Media Group.

Huffington was named to the Forbes Most Pow-erful Women list in 2013 and was named to TimeMagazine's list of the world's 100 most influentialpeople, in 2006 and 2011. Her daughter, Christina,was recently engaged to Paul Needham, a mediainvestor.

49CRISS ANGELNew York

$50 MILLION (Celebrity Net Worth)ENTERTAINMENT2 Children

Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos was born onDecember 19, 1967 in the Town of North Hemp-stead, New York, to Dimitra and John Sarantakos.His father owned and ran a successful restaurantand doughnut shop.

Angel became interested in magic around theage of 7 after one of his aunts showed him a cardtrick. After graduating from high school, Angelopted not to go to college. Instead, he chose tofollow the path of being a professional magician.

He educated himself by going to public librariesfrequently where he studied magic, music, mysti-cism, and even martial arts.

He practiced his trade in relative obscurity untilhe caught a big break in 1994 – appearing in a ma-jor prime time television special titled Secrets.Eventually, his popularity grew so much he venturedto the A&E Network to launch a reality show. CrissAngel: Mindfreak debuted on the A&E Network in2005 and stayed on the air until 2011. The showswere shot in Las Vegas and featured Angel per-forming a number of mesmerizing illusions. The il-lusions often gave off a sense of danger and thiscontributed to the popularity of the program. Hislive performance illusion show titled Criss AngelBelieve at Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas gen-erated $150 million dollars in tourist revenue to


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the city in 2010. In 2018 he was ranked number 3 on Forbes’ list ofthe world’s highest paid magicians.

Angel and his brothers J.D. and Costa founded the BELIEVE Char-itable Foundation in 2007 in the loving memory of their father Johnwho passed away in 1998. The foundation works for the benefit ofchildren, especially those suffering from debilitating illnesses anddiseases. He also actively supports the Boys and Girls Clubs of Amer-ica and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Angel won the International Magician Society's Magician of theDecade title in 2009 and Magician of the Century title in 2010.

50GIANNISANTETOKOUNMPO

$40 MILLION (Celebrity Net Worth)PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE

Giannis Sina Ougko Antetokounmpo, 24, is a Greek professionalbasketball for the NBA team, Milwaukee Bucks. A bonafide NBA su-perstar whose fame has reached most corners of the world, Ante-tokounmpo was born in Athens, Greece to Nigerian immigrants fromLagos. He grew up in the Sepolia neighborhood in Athens and dueto harsh working conditions for immigrants in Greece, Giannis andhis brothers helped his parents financially by hawking items on theside of the street. Giannis’ basketball journey began in 2007 as hewas introduced to the sport then and within 3 years was playing onlocal club Filathlitikos’ youth squad. In 2011, he was called up to thesenior squad of Filathilitikos which competed in the Greek BasketLeague (Third Division) before the team was promoted to the GreekA2 League (Second Division) for the 2012-2013 season. In 2013,Antetokounmpo declared himself eligible for that year’s NBA draftwhere he was selected in the first round with the 15th overall pickby the Milwaukee Bucks. At the conclusion of his rookie season, Gi-annis was named to the NBA All-Rookie second team. After continuingto impress despite his young age, on September 19, 2016 GiannisAntetokounmpo signed a four-year $100 million contract extensionwith Milwaukee. The contract reflected the superstar that Giannishad become and the faith that the Bucks had that he would only getbetter. In his 6 NBA seasons to date, Antetokounmpo has been se-lected three times as an NBA All-Star (2017,2018,2019), two times

to the All-NBA Second Team (2017,2018), selected to the NBA All-Defensive Team (2017), NBA Most Improved Player (2017), NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2014).

In addition to his exploits at the club level with the MilwaukeeBucks in the NBA, Giannis is a proud member of the Greek Men’sNational Basketball Team and has represented his country 38 timesto date. Giannis is one of 4 brothers born to Charles and VeronicaAntetokounmpo. His father Charles passed away following a heartattack at the age of 54 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Giannis is an active member in the Milwaukee metro-area philan-thropic community and has never forgotten his Greek roots. He givesback to Greece whenever possible and is the poster-child of Greektourism, Aegean Airlines, and recycling initiatives in Greece. It wasannounced that he will be funding an indoor basketball court nearMati, east of Athens where 100 people lost their lives a year ago sothat the community can continue to heal following the losses sus-tained. Giannis is currently unmarried, though he is in a relationshipof two years with former Rice University volleyball standout MariahRiddlesprigger.

Antetokounmpo didn't gain Greek citizenship until he was 18 yearsold and because he was born and raised in Greece, he didn't haveNigerian citizenship either, therefore making him essentially ‘stateless’for the first 18 years of his life. While Giannis did not grow up Greek-American, the list seemed to be incomplete without the man who isinspiring Hellenes, philhellenes, and people who have nothing do withGreece alike by accomplishing such great things and demonstratinggreat character at a young age in the United States.

By Constantine S. Sirigos

Celebrating successes will always fill aballroom at a Greek-American awards gala,but sharing success by helping others ach-ieve and giving back to the community iswhat makes members of the Communityproud when they read about a fellow Hellene.During past few months, John Georges andhis family have had much to celebrate, andthe Community much to applaud.

Georges’ full bio appears on page 22 buthere we can spotlight his being Founder andCEO of Georges Enterprises and Publisherof The Advocate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Sooner or later a conversation with Geor-ges will touch upon his enterprises – the an-cient Greek αιεν αριστευειν (always excelling)is drive by an engine, “always thinking” – butit does not take much to nudge the chat to-wards family, community, and Greek heritage.One can guess the latter just by looking atthe trucks of the company that was born asImperial Trading in 1916 – blue and white.

“We are proud of our roots and traditions,”he told The National Herald. His father Den-nis’ roots are from near Kalamata, and hismothers are in Tripoli and Cephalonia.

Georges was still bubbling with excite-ment about three recent causes for celebra-tion. “First,” he said, “the 100-year-old familybusiness my pappou established purchasedanother 100-year-old company in Michigan,going from operating in 12 to 22 states andfrom 1.2 to almost 3 billion dollars in reve-nues.”

They are now the 3rd largest privately heldfood distributor for convenience stores inAmerica, he said with pride, but he was alsodelighted to tell the story of purchasing S.Abraham and Sons. He believes “the dealwas made because we are Orthodox Chri-stians, as they are (from Lebanon) and theyknew we share core values – hard work ethic,treat your employees right, and put your cu-stomers first. They were part of building theirchurch in Michigan and we rebuilt our churchin New Orleans.”

Georges was Parish Council President ofHoly Trinity Cathedral when hurricane Katrinahit, and helped oversee its reconstruction.

“Combined, we now supply more than6000 stores, gas stations, convenience sto-res, drug stores and the like… with six distri-bution centers across the country…we havemore than doubled in size in past year.”

The second triumph is unique in Greek-American history. “The Advocate, which is178 years old and which we brought 6 yearsago, won a Pulitzer prize.”

He calls it a balanced, center-right paper,reflecting another piece of family background.“My father fought the Germans as a resi-stance fighter in WWII, then the communistsin the civil war.”

The Third achievement was buying the Ti-mes-Picayune. “We bought it from the Ne-whouse family, one of the most powerful andrespected families in journalism...We are inthe process of uniting the papers. Our news-room has grown 500 in six years, and we aredefying the odds, growing in print circula-tion.”

The conversation was now deep into thequalities and experiences that molded hisachievements.

Asked about that success, Georges said,“to me it’s just normal. That’s how I grow mybusiness – making smart decisions, knowingyour business, your customers and your mar-ket.”

He attributes part of the paper’s successto his popularity in New Orleans. “I was aknown and trusted civic leader.” His cam-

paign for governor as a Democrat in 2006fell short – but he won New Orleans, and theexperience served him well promoting thepaper. “I went to the customers. I spoke atRotary Clubs and different organizations.”

He also had the right kind of experiencefor the low margin newspaper business, be-cause the grocery stores he runs are alsolow margin operations, sinking or swimmingon efficiency.

But his mindset may have been the mostimportant element in these tough times forthe media. “My business pedigree is com-petitiveness.”

Georges said most newspapers are mo-nopolies, and he explained that, “When youown a monopoly, you lose your competitiveedge.”

But the sine qua non may be his passion– for his newspapers and his city.

Both papers have print and digital editions,but he is most delighted to tell people “wehave more than 60 million visitors a year wholook at our website over 600 million times ayear – one of the biggest websites in Ame-rica.”

His Hellenic pride is rivalled only by thelove of his home town, to which he givescredit for the paper’s success.

“We have a global audience, a function ofHurricane Katrina, the Saints winning a SuperBowl and the general interest in New Orleansas one of the top cities in America the worldis intrigued by because of its authentic cul-ture. Tennessee Williams once wrote thereare three cities in America – New York, SanFrancisco, and New Orleans – everything elseis Cleveland.”

A ball of fire from the heart of the Old So-uth, there is energy for more than runningtwo major companies.

Georges said he and his wife are at thephase in life where they are doing a lot ofphilanthropy, reinvesting in the communit.Not just the Greek Community, he said – th-ough he has donated to THI, the rebuildingof St. Nicholas at Ground Zero, and other ca-uses – but things rooted in New Orleans, in-

cluding schools. That spirit was absorbedfrom his parents and grandparents.

Asked about new initiatives, Georges said,“right now we are consumed with being suc-cessful after the merger,” but he looks for-ward to spending a few months in Greecethis summer, “which I have not done for awhile…in Athens and our village, but most ofmy time will be spent in Mykonos.”

Family has been at the core of Georgessuccess for generations, and that is conti-nuing. One of his children is helping run thenewspaper, one is in the grocery businessand the third works in Washington, DC.

And the commitment to giving back goesway back. “There not a Greek who came toNew Orleans that my grandfather would nothave opened his home to, and I keep thesame tradition. We love hearing from Gre-eks…many attend Tulane University andwhen we celebrated Greek Easter the kidsat Tulane were invited to join our family…th-ere is no Greek that does good that I wouldn’thelp,” he said.

Georges is devoted to the Greek OrthodoxChurch and Hellenism. He is a board memberof The Hellenic Initiative (THI), and is one ofthe million dollar donors to the rebuilding onSt. Nicholas.

“There is only one way to go with St. Ni-cholas – forward, we have to regroup underthe new Archbishop and complete it…It wasthe right thing to do to stop construction whilethe Archdiocese was being reorganized, andI look forward to the day when we will be inthat Church.”

He also has an interesting take on the fu-ture of the Church (this interview occurredbefore the election of Archbishop Elpidoph-oros).

“The next leap might not be generational,it might be globalization. He cited THI’s suc-cess connecting Hellenes in USA, Canada,Australia, and London and his vision is to con-nect Orthodox Christians around the world.

”THI is connecting Greeks globally, so Ihope the next Archbishop understands usglobally.”

By Gary Gerard Hamilton

NEW YORK (AP) — From wine to clothing to to-urs, HBO and retailers have cashed in through theyears with "Game of Thrones" merchandise. "Th-rones" is not only a huge international show butalso a massive business, with all sides hoping topad the bank during the show's eighth and finalseason.

"It's thousands of products, just a lot of stuff allaround the world," said Jeff Peters, HBO's vicepresident of licensing and retail. "We're so busywe don't stop and count."

Products include makeup, beer, toy collectiblesand even high fashion collaborations.

But while the show itself is a TV phenomenon,that doesn't guarantee fans will flock to stores.

"It's certainly good to be lucky. But you don'tget to where the merchandising programs are withHBO and what they've done with 'Game of Thro-nes' unless you have a true, point-by-point marke-ting and merchandising and retail strategy," saidproduct and licensing expert Tony Lisanti.

"This is a global property and every country mayresonate a little different," he said.

California-based Vintage Wine Estates has beenmaking the official "Game of Thrones" wine for th-ree years now, said Pat Roney, the company's CEO."Just the excitement all over the world with thecalls that we get from almost 40 different countriesto sell wine – it's just amazing," he said.

Popular tours of "Game of Thrones" filming lo-cations in Croatia and Ireland have boosted small,local economies there, according to TripAdvisor'sAndrew Aley.

"Some really positive examples like NorthernIreland, for example, where it's not somewhere th-at's always been on every tourist's radar and it'snow become one of the major pillars of tourism inthat local economy," he said. "But it's one of thosefactors that's then driving tourism to other attrac-tions as well, like at Belfast Titanic or Giant's Cau-seway."

It wasn't always this easy for HBO to find retai-ling partners for "Game of Thrones," Peters said.

"At the beginning, nobody really knew what itwas," he said. "So, we were the ones making phone

calls and we were saying, 'Hey, you got to get inon this. We think there's a great opportunity.' Asthe show got established and got big, then all thecalls came to us and people were just throwingideas and pitches."

Some of those ideas resulted in fashion colla-borations with companies like Adidas, who createdthe now hard-to-find "Adidas x Game of ThronesUltra Boosts" shoes, as well as a collection withmen's fashion designer John Varvatos.

"The one thing that always stands out in mymind from the first season was all the textures, allthe way the leathers are finished, the artisan fa-brics, and it's a lot of what we do," said Varvatos."But I also didn't want to make 'Game of Thrones'(clothes) where someone felt like they were wea-ring a costume around town…So what you wantedto do is take that inspiration with a lot of the greatdetails from the wardrobe from the show and putthat into product that people actually could wear."

There are also "Thrones"-themed board gameslike "Monopoly," ''CLUE" and "Risk"; Danielle Nico-le's "Game of Thrones" handbags; and beer madeby upstate New York's Brewery Ommegang.

Just how much money is being made? No onereally knows except HBO. And the number's hardto estimate, for a reason.

"HBO wants to get as high a licensing fee aspossible. It will not want the companies that license'Game of Thrones' to know what deals HBO is stri-king so that those companies seek to obtain a lower

fee," wrote Dr. Larry Chiagouris, professor of mar-keting at Pace University, in an email to the Asso-ciated Press.

His broad guess of how much HBO is bringingin: "It's a lot!"

Aside from the chance to make money, therehave been other benefits to retailers joining forceswith HBO. Take Urban Decay's new makeup col-lection, for example.

"A couple of these products didn't even exist inour line before. So the lipsticks were reimaginedand have new casings and everything else," saidWende Zomnir, founding partner and chief creativeofficer of Urban Decay (the company previouslyworked with HBO on the show "Vinyl").

There's been a push to get new "Thrones" pro-ducts out in time for the last season, but Lisantithinks that even when the show ends, the productswill stay in demand thanks to streaming and plan-ned spinoffs.

"As long as there's new content, then the fran-chise will continue to be popular. And that contentdoesn't have to be another series," said Lisanti. Itcould be events such as a "traveling exhibition,concerts series, and events in cities and aroundthe world."

HBO isn't worried."We're striking right now while the iron is hot,"

said Peters. "But we're pretty confident that therewill be interest in 'Game of Thrones' for a longtime."

'Thrones' Will Live On in Merchandise – Like Varvatos Clothing

John Georges - Energy to Spare But Where Does He Find Time?

FRANK GUNN/THE CANADIAN PRESS VIA AP

John and Dathel Georges with their children Dana, Liza, and Nike on vacation, oftenincluding time near Kalamata and Mykonos.


NEW YORK (BUSINESS WIRE) – Mar-cus Lemonis, star of CNBC’s The Profit,and Julie Rice, Partner at WeWork werethe keynote speakers at ICSC’s 2019RECon conference in Las Vegas. Overfour days, RECon showcased the inno-vations sweeping retail real estate andfeature speakers pioneering the futureof the industry. The central focus of thisyear’s show was how developers andretailers are bringing the physical retailexperience to life.

“Marcus and Julie epitomize thetransformational changes happening inour industry,” said Tom McGee, ICSCPresident and CEO. “Both possess anentrepreneurial mindset, a customer-fo-cused approach, and a passion for in-novative problem solving. This year, RE-Con will showcase more creative andcurated content for attendees, and we’rethrilled to have Marcus and Julie sharetheir stories and vision on this globalstage.”

Lemonis delivered his keynote onMonday, May 20. Known widely fromCNBC’s The Profit, Lemonis is Chairmanand CEO of Camping World, Good Sam

Enterprises and Gander Outdoors. Theself-made millionaire and serial entre-preneur also operates a chain of 20 Mar-cus stores through his Marcus LemonisFashion Group, which promotes emerg-ing women's apparel and accessorieslabels.

At RECon, he discussed his 3P's(people, product, process) principle – aphilosophy by which he examines a busi-ness based on the quality of its peopleand product, before identifying the bestpossible process for the distribution andsale of that product.

“A great retail experience is drivenby a captivating product and the humanelement,” said Lemonis, adding that,“through my experiences, I’ve learnedthat with both of these ingredients –great people and an excellent product –there is limitless potential for innovation.I’m excited to share on the RECon stagehow retailers leverage the 3P’s to setthemselves apart in this evolving indus-try.”

Julie Rice, who spoke on May 21, isPartner at WeWork where she focuseson WeWork’s experience provided to its

members and seeking new and innova-tive ways to grow and share the We-Work experience around the globe. Pre-viously, Rice co-founded and served asCo-CEO of SoulCycle. She was honoredas one of Goldman Sachs’ n100 Builders+ Innovators in 2013 and 2014 andvoted one of Fast Company’s Most Cre-ative People in Business.

“Connecting with people and makingthem feel as though they matter is a keycomponent in finding success, said Rice.“RECon is about connecting peoplewhether it is through new deals or newinnovations that will enhance the cus-tomer experience.”

RECon 2019 took place May 19-22at the Las Vegas Convention Center inLas Vegas, Nevada. To learn more, visit:https://www.icsc.org/attend-and-learn/events/details/2019recon.

ICSC serves the global retail real es-tate industry, providing its 70,000-plusmember network in over 100 countrieswith invaluable resources, connections,and industry insights, and actively work-ing together to shape public policy. Formore about ICSC, visit www.icsc.org.

NEW YORK – PRNewswire –Independent Financial Partners(IFP), an SEC registered invest-ment advisor and soon-to-be bro-ker-dealer specializing in wealthmanagement and retirement planconsulting, recently announcedthat it has entered into a strategicrelationship with AdvisorEngine,the financial experience companythat provides a digital wealth man-agement platform for financial ad-visors and their clients, throughwhich WisdomTree (NASDAQ:WETF), an exchange-traded fund(ETF) and exchange-traded prod-uct (ETP) sponsor and asset man-ager, model portfolios will be ac-cessible. The AdvisorEngineplatform and WisdomTree's ETFmodel portfolios will be availableto over 200 IFP advisors, all ofwhom operate under uniquebrands.

"This new relationship with Ad-visorEngine and WisdomTreegives our advisors a scalable wayto serve clients across wealth lev-els and generations," said IFP'sCIO, Aaron Gliman. "Each IFP ad-visor now has the ability to delivera modern client experience usinghis or her own branding, modelsand investment philosophies – acombination not available throughother providers."

Available features on the digitalwealth platform include proposalgeneration, paperless client on-boarding, custom-branded clientportals, goals-based financialplanning tools, portfolio rebalanc-ing tools, document manage-ment, compliance tools and feebilling. IFP advisors that custodywith BNY Mellon's Pershing canaccess the new platform's func-tionality without the need to man-ually input data or navigate be-tween the AdvisorEngine andPershing platforms.

"IFP is focused on enablingpersonalization at scale," saidCraig Ramsey, AdvisorEngineChief Operating Officer. "We'reexcited to help IFP advisors servemore families."

WisdomTree model portfolioswill be available to IFP advisors

through the AdvisorEngine plat-form. With risk profiles rangingfrom conservative to aggressive,the model portfolios incorporateWisdomTree's Modern Alpha™approach, combining the outper-formance potential of active man-agement with the benefits of theETF structure.

"This relationship shows thepower of combining asset man-agement solutions with technol-ogy-driven wealth managementsolutions. We look forward to sup-porting IFP advisors through theaccess of WisdomTree modelportfolios, addressing a variety ofinvestor needs and outcomes,"said Thomas Skrobe, Wis-domTree Head of ClientSolutions.

IFP is an SECRegistered Invest-ment Adviser (RIA)and an Office ofSupervisory Ju-risdiction (OSJ),and works di-rectly with its net-work of financialadvisors to providethem technological,compliance, market-ing, business develop-ment, and operational sup-port. As of Dec. 31, 2018, IFP'sadvisors have more than $10.9billion in assets under advisement.The firm has annually earned thetrusted CEFEX certification for in-vestment support services for ad-hering to the industry's best prac-tices since 2014. For moreinformation, visit www.ifpart-ners.com.

AdvisorEngine is a financial ex-perience company that providesan end-to-end client relationshipmanagement and digital invest-ment platform. Founded in 2014by a team of experienced financialand technology executives, Advi-sorEngine was the first companyto integrate smart automationwithin a digital wealth manage-ment platform. With an emphasison data, design thinking, and tech-nology, the firm delivers a unifiedexperience across three core

groups – clients, advisors, andbusiness management teams –to address the most common painpoints felt by rapidly growing ad-visory firms. With offices in NewYork, NY and Raleigh, NC, Advi-sorEngine continues to innovateto keep advisors at the forefrontof wealth management. For moreinformation, please visit www.ad-visorengine.com.

WisdomTree Investments,Inc., through its subsidiaries in theU.S., Europe and Canada (collec-tively, WisdomTree), is an ex-change-traded fund (ETF) and ex-

change-traded product (ETP)sponsor and asset manager head-quartered in New York. Wis-domTree offers products coveringequities, fixed income, currencies,commodities and alternativestrategies. WisdomTree currentlyhas approximately $59.4 billion inassets under management glob-ally.

WisdomTree® is the market-ing name for WisdomTree Invest-ments, Inc. and its subsidiariesworldwide.

BNY Mellon's Pershing and itsaffiliates provide advisors, broker-dealers, family offices, hedge fundand '40 Act fund managers, reg-istered investment advisor firmsand wealth managers with abroad suite of global financial busi-

ness solutions. Many of theworld's most sophisticated andsuccessful financial services firmsrely on Pershing for clearing andcustody, investment and retire-ment solutions, technology, en-terprise data management, trad-ing services, prime brokerage andbusiness consulting.

Pershing helps clients improveprofitability and drive growth, cre-ate capacity and efficiency, attractand retain talent, and manage riskand regulation. With a network ofoffices worldwide, Pershing pro-vides business-to-business solu-tions to clients representing ap-proximately 7 million investor

accounts globally. PershingLLC (member FINRA,

NYSE, SIPC) is a BNYMellon company. Ad-

ditional informationis available on per-shing.com, or fol-low on Twitter@Pershing.

BNY Mellon isa global invest-

ments companydedicated to help-

ing its clients man-age and service their

financial assets through-out the investment lifecycle.

Whether providing financialservices for institutions, corpora-tions or individual investors, BNYMellon delivers informed invest-ment management and invest-ment services in 35 countries. Asof December 31, 2018, BNY Mel-lon had $33.1 trillion in assets un-der custody and/or administration,and $1.7 trillion in assets undermanagement.

BNY Mellon can act as a singlepoint of contact for clients lookingto create, trade, hold, manage,service, distribute or restructureinvestments. BNY Mellon is thecorporate brand of The Bank ofNew York Mellon Corporation(NYSE: BK). Additional info is avail-able on www.bnymellon.com. Fol-low on Twitter @BNYMellon orvisit newsroom at www.bnymel-lon.com/newsroom for the latestcompany news.

KANSAS CITY, MO (BUSI-NESS WIRE) – Hostess Brands,Inc. (the “Company”) (Nasdaq:TWNK) today announced theclosing of a public offering of 8million shares of its Class A com-mon stock held by entities affili-ated with C. Dean Metropoulos,the Company’s Chairman, andhis family. The Company did notissue shares in the offering anddid not receive any proceedsfrom the sale of the shares bythe selling stockholders in thisoffering. Mr. Metropoulos has in-formed the Company that theproceeds from the sale of theseshares would be used to, amongother things, fund philanthropiccommitments.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLCacted as sole book-running man-ager for the offering and intendsto offer the shares of Class Acommon stock from time to timefor sale in one or more transac-tions on the Nasdaq Capital Mar-ket, in the over-the-counter mar-ket, through negotiatedtransactions or otherwise at pre-vailing market prices, at prices

related to prevailing marketprices or at negotiated prices.

This offering was made onlyby means of a prospectus andrelated prospectus supplementforming a part of the registrationstatement initially filed by theCompany with the Securities andExchange Commission (the“SEC”) on November 14, 2016,which was declared effective bythe SEC.

Hostess Brands, Inc. is a lead-ing packaged food company fo-cused on developing, manufac-turing, marketing, selling, anddistributing fresh baked sweetgoods in the United States. Thebrand's history dates back to1919, when the Hostess® Cup-Cake was introduced to the pub-lic, followed by Twinkies® in1930. Today, the Company pro-duces a variety of new and clas-sic treats including Donettes®,Ding Dongs®, Zingers®, dan-ishes, honey buns and coffeecakes, in addition to Twinkies®and CupCakes.

SOURCE: Hostess Brands, Inc.

CNBC Personality Marcus Lemonis and WeWork PartnerJulie Rice Keynote ICSC’s RECon 2019

Hostess AnnouncesClosing of Secondary

Public Offering

FRAMINGHAM, MA (BUSINESSWIRE) – Ameresco, Inc., (NYSE: AMRC),a leading energy efficiency and renew-able energy company, announced todaythat Nickolas Stavropoulos was electedto serve on its Board of Directors.

Most recently, Stavropoulos servedas president and chief operations officerof Pacific Gas and Electric Company(PG&E) – a position he held from March2017 through September 2018. Underhis leadership, PG&E solidified its repu-tation as one of the most reliable utilitiesin the United States. Stavropoulos orig-inally joined PG&E in 2011 and held twoother leadership positions in its gas or-ganization. At the time of his departure,PG&E’s gas business was the only NorthAmerican utility to have earned or qual-ified for the industry’s four third-partycertifications for safety.

“Nickolas is a tremendous asset and

addition to our Board, not only for hisstrengths as a business leader, but forhis detailed knowledge of the U.S. nat-ural gas and electric sector,” said GeorgeP. Sakellaris, chairman, president andCEO of Ameresco.

“In his more than three decades atthe helm of some of the nation’smost respected utilities, Nickolashas witnessed transformativechanges in the industry andhelped steer each of his or-ganizations through thequest toward renewableenergy. As we chart thepath forward for Ameresco’scontinued growth globally,we will look to Nickolas for ex-pert counsel and guidance, par-ticularly with our renewable naturalgas business.”

“Most of my career has been focused

on optimizing the operation of gas sys-tems to ensure the highest standardsof safety and reliability. I look forward tojoining the other members of

Ameresco’s Board of Directors to impartthe knowledge I have gained over theyears and seeing the company throughthis exciting time in history when morepublic and private organizations are valu-ing renewable and alternative energy,”

Stavropoulos said.Before joining Pacific Gas andElectric Company, Stavropoulos

served as executive vice pres-ident and COO of NationalGrid from 2007 through2011.

Stavropoulos has alsoheld senior leadership rolesat KeySpan Energy Delivery,

Colonial Gas Company andBoston Gas.

Founded in 2000, Ameresco,Inc. (NYSE:AMRC) is a leading in-

dependent provider of comprehensiveservices, energy efficiency, infrastruc-

ture upgrades, asset sustainability, andrenewable energy solutions for busi-nesses and organizations throughoutNorth America and Europe. Ameresco’ssustainability services include upgradesto a facility’s energy infrastructure andthe development, construction, and op-eration of renewable energy plants.Ameresco has successfully completedenergy saving, environmentally respon-sible projects with Federal, state and lo-cal governments, healthcare and edu-cational institutions, housing authorities,and commercial and industrial cus-tomers. With its corporate headquartersin Framingham, MA, Ameresco hasmore than 1,000 employees providinglocal expertise in the United States,Canada, and the United Kingdom. Formore information, visitwww.ameresco.com.

SOURCE: Ameresco, Inc.

Ameresco Elects Nickolas Stavropoulos to BoD

New Strategic Partners for IFP

“Nickolas is atremendous asset and addition to

our Board, not only for his strengths asa business leader, but for his detailedknowledge of the U.S. natural gas and

electric sector,” said George P.Sakellaris, chairman, president and

CEO of Ameresco

"This relationship showsthe power of combining asset man-

agement solutions with technology-dri-ven wealth management solutions. We lookforward to supporting IFP advisors through

the access of WisdomTree model portfolios,addressing a variety of investor needs and

outcomes," said Thomas Skrobe,WisdomTree Head of Client

Solutions.


TNH Staff

NAPERVILLE, IL – Withexperience in convertible se-curities dating back to the1970s, Founder, Chairmanand Global CIO of CalamosInvestments, John P. Cala-mos, Sr., addresses the mar-ket environment, interestrate increases, historic per-formance and valuations in awhite paper called, The Casefor Strategic Convertible Al-locations.

“As a fixed-income secu-rity with equity attributes, aconvertible may be viewedas offering the best of bothworlds,” according to Cala-mos.

As noted in the white pa-per introduction, “Convertiblesecurities are equity-linkedinstruments that offer equitymarket participation with po-tential downside resiliencewhen equity markets decline.In simplest terms, a conver-tible is a fixed-income secu-rity that includes an embed-ded option. Structurally, therisk/reward characteristics ofconvertibles allow them tosupport a range of asset al-location goals. However, con-vertible securities are com-plex. The attributes ofconvertibles may differ con-siderably and a specific con-vertible may be more equity-like at certain periods andmore fixed-income-like inothers.”

The full white paper co-authored by Calamos andCo-CIO Eli Pars, CFA, is avai-lable online: https://www.ca-lamos.com/-/media/docu-ments/product-literature/investmnetprofessional/case-for-strategic-convertible-alloca-tions.pdf?

John P. Calamos, Sr. fo-unded Calamos Investmentsin 1977. With origins as aninstitutional convertible bondmanager, the firm has growninto a global asset manage-ment firm with major institu-tional and individual clientsaround the world. With 49years of investment industryexperience, John has esta-blished research and inve-stment processes centeredaround a team-based appro-ach designed to deliver su-perior risk-adjusted perfor-mance over full marketcycles. He is Chairman of theCalamos Investment Com-mittee, which is charged withproviding a top-down frame-work, maintaining oversightof risk and performance me-trics, and evaluating inve-stment process. John isoften quoted as an authorityon risk-managed investmentstrategies, markets and theeconomy, and has authoredtwo books on convertible se-curities. He is a frequent spe-aker at investment seminarsand conferences around theworld and appears regularlyon leading news networks.He holds a BA in Economicsand MBA in Finance, bothfrom the Illinois Institute ofTechnology.

John P.Calamos, Sr.on StrategicConvertibleAllocations

LOS ANGELES (BUSINESSWIRE) – Platinum Equity and TheGores Group recently announcedthe sale of Data Blue to CourtSquare Capital Partners. Financialterms of the transaction were notdisclosed.

Founded in 2011, Data Blueis a provider of customized infra-structure, cloud architecture, andvirtualized solutions to enterprisecustomers in North America.

Platinum Equity and TheGores Group, through its GoresSmall Capitalization Partnersfund, acquired a controlling stakein Data Blue in 2016 and workedtogether with the company’smanagement team to drivegrowth and operational improve-ment plans.

“We’ve enjoyed a great part-nership over the past three yearsthat has helped substantiallygrow and diversify our business,”said Data Blue CEO Stephen Ay-oub. “We have evolved from ourroots in data storage and estab-lished the company as a leadingprovider of converged infrastruc-ture solutions that is well posi-tioned for continued success.”

Since 2016, Data Blue’s rev-enue has grown nearly 50 per-cent as the company has deep-ened relationships withtechnology partners, developedan Infrastructure Transformationpractice, invested in new salesand marketing capabilities, andcompleted two add-on acquisi-

tions.“We’ve worked together to

create an efficient, truly scalableplatform that is built for sustain-able growth,” said Platinum Eq-uity Partner Jacob Kotzubei. “It’sbeen a real collaborative effortand we are proud of everythingthe company has accomplishedduring our stewardship.”

Ed Johnson, Senior ManagingDirector at The Gores Group,said, “Data Blue has evolved intoa world class IT solutionsprovider through impressivegains organically and through ex-ecution of a successful M&Astrategy. We wish Stephen andthe team great future success.”

In January 2017 Data Blue ac-quired LPS Integration, a Value

Added Reseller specializing incloud infrastructure, networking,security and storage architecture.In April 2017 it acquired Atlanta-based cloud expertise and con-sulting firm, Williams & Garcia.

Raymond James & Associ-ates acted as financial advisorand Morgan Lewis acted as legaladvisor to Platinum Equity andThe Gores Group on the sale ofData Blue. Dechert acted as thelegal adviser to Court Square onthe acquisition.

Founded in 1995 by TomGores, Platinum Equity is a globalinvestment firm with approxi-mately $13 billion of assets un-der management and a portfolioof approximately 40 operatingcompanies that serve customers

around the world. The firm is cur-rently investing from PlatinumEquity Capital Partners IV, a $6.5billion global buyout fund, andPlatinum Equity Small Cap Fund,a $1.5 billion buyout fund fo-cused on investment opportuni-ties in the lower middle market.Platinum Equity specializes inmergers, acquisitions and oper-ations – a trademarked strategyit calls M&A&O® – acquiring andoperating companies in a broadrange of business markets, in-cluding manufacturing, distribu-tion, transportation and logistics,equipment rental, metals serv-ices, media and entertainment,technology, telecommunicationsand other industries. Over thepast 23 years Platinum Equity

has completed more than 250acquisitions.

The Gores Group, founded in1987 by Alec Gores, is a globalinvestment firm focused on part-nering with differentiated busi-nesses that can benefit from itsextensive industry knowledge,decades-long experience andflexible capital base. Over its 30-year history, the firm has devel-oped a deep understanding ofand appreciation for buildingbusinesses and creating valuealongside management. Head-quartered in Los Angeles, TheGores Group maintains offices inGreenwich, CT and Boulder, CO.For more information, visitwww.gores.com.

Court Square is a middle mar-ket private equity firm with oneof the most experienced invest-ment teams in the industry. Since1979, the team has completed225 investments, including sev-eral landmark transactions, andhas developed numerous busi-nesses into leaders in their re-spective markets. Court Squareinvests in companies that havecompelling growth potentialwithin the business services,general industrial, healthcare,and technology and telecommu-nications sectors. The firm has$6.2 billion of assets under man-agement and is based in NewYork, N.Y. For more informationon Court Square, visitwww.courtsquare.com.

By Beverly MoranVanderbilt University

THE CONVERSATION – Sev-eral Democratic lawmakers andpresidential candidates are pro-posing taxes on the richest Amer-icans as a way to reduce incomeand wealth inequality.

But while they agree that thewealthiest need to contributemore to the government’s cof-fers, they disagree over the bestway to get the job done.

New York Rep. AlexandriaOcasio-Cortez wants to tax mil-lionaires’ wages at a higher rate.Massachusetts Sen. ElizabethWarren argues for a new tax onwealth. Vermont Sen. BernieSanders suggests expanding thegift and estate tax.

What’s the difference andwhich is the best way to reduceincome and wealth inequality?As an expert on tax policy, I de-cided to take a closer look.

INCOME AND WEALTHINEQUALITY

Americans enjoyed substan-tial economic growth and broadlyshared prosperity from the endof World War II into the 1970s.

But in the 1980s, PresidentRonald Reagan dramaticallyslashed taxes on the wealthytwice, cutting the top rate onwages from 70 percent to 28percent.

Studies have shown that thedrop in tax rates, combined withother “trickle down” policies suchas deregulation, led to steadilyrising income and wealth in-equality.

The top 1 percent controlled39 percent of all wealth in 2016,up from less than 30 percent in1989. At the same time, the bot-tom 90 percent held less than aquarter of our nation’s wealth,compared with more than a thirdin 1989.

Each of the Democrats’ pro-posals aims to change that.

OCASIO-CORTEZ’S IN-COME PROPOSAL

Currently, the federal govern-ment taxes all income above$500,000 at 37 percent with anadditional 3.8 percent investmenttax on incomes over $250,000.

Ocasio-Cortez wants to createa new “60 to 70 percent” taxbracket for labor incomes over$10 million. She estimates thather plan would catch about 4,000people and raise $720 billion over

10 years. There are two problems with

a tax that goes after income in-stead of wealth.

First, people who earn veryhigh incomes usually controlwhen they receive their incomeand how much they receive. Thereason is straightforward: Theyown the companies that paythem. This control allows the richto nimbly take advantage ofwhatever brings a lower tax.

When rates on ordinary in-come go up, the wealthy can de-fer that income until the rates goback down. Or, they can turnsalary into a capital gain andwatch the value of their stock riseinstead of harvesting profits. Or,they can take advantage of re-tirement savings. Even death isa tax avoidance device for the

wealthy.Second, the income tax tar-

gets two types of income: ordi-nary income from labor and cap-ital gains from property. Mostly,the rich earn their money fromcapital gains and capital gains geta much lower tax rate thanwages.

That is why the richest Amer-icans are effectively paying lowertax rates than the middle class.

WARREN’SWEALTH TAX

That brings us to the wealthtax.

Sen. Warren proposes apply-ing a 2 percent tax on assetsworth $50 million to $1 billionand 3 percent on everythingabove that. She claims that her

wealth tax would affect 75,000households and raise about$2.75 trillion over a decade.

Unlike an income tax, awealth tax reaches the root ofboth wealth and income inequal-ity.

There’s only one snag: Thereare strong arguments that a fed-eral wealth tax is unconstitu-tional. Wealth taxes violate ArticleI, Section 2, Clause 3, of the U.S.Constitution, which forbids thefederal government from laying“direct taxes” that aren’t appor-tioned equally among the states.

A direct tax is a tax on a thing,like property or income. An indi-rect tax is a tax on a transaction,like when a sale or a gift.

The income tax is a direct taxand constitutional because of the16th Amendment, which specif-

ically allows income taxes with-out apportionment. As for prop-erty, you may notice that onlystates levy real estate taxes. Inalmost every case, the federalgovernment cannot tax real es-tate or any other form of wealthabsent a transaction.

Warren cites a small group oflaw professors who back herclaim that a wealth tax passesconstitutional muster. But the ar-gument against constitutionalityis strong enough that a lawsuitbefore the Supreme Court is sureto follow any attempt to enact awealth tax.

Barring a victory before a con-servative Supreme Court or anarduous amendment to the Con-stitution, the federal governmentis shut out of taxing wealth.

SANDERS TARGETSWEALTH TRANSFERS

Sen. Sanders also wants togo after wealth; but unlike Sen.Warren, he wants to focus onwhen wealth changes hands byreforming the gift and estate tax.

Sanders wants to lower thethreshold for when the estate taxapplies from $11 million – whichtouches just 1,000 estates a year– to $3.5 million, where thethreshold stood in 2009. Hewould also levy a new 77 percentrate on estates over $1 billion.Sanders estimates that his planwould raise $315 billion over 10years.

Although this amounts to sig-nificantly less than his col-leagues’ proposals, it is far su-perior because it both addressesthe root of the problem – wealthdisparities – and can be imple-mented immediately.

A RISING TIDE

I agree with Sen. Warren, Sen.Sanders and Rep. Ocasio-Cortezthat the United States should re-turn to economic policies thatseek to lift all boats.

Although American wealthand productivity has surged inthe last 40 years, most Ameri-cans have not fared nearly aswell as the richest among us.

Our tax system is at leastpartly responsible for these gaps.Changing it can be part of the so-lution.

(The Conversation is anindependent and nonprofit sourceof news, analysis and commentary

from academic experts.)

Platinum Equity and The Gores Group SellData Blue to Court Square Capital Partners

So You Want to Tax the RichWhich Plan Makes Most Sense


OMAHA, NE (AP) — The La-test Berkshire Hathaway annualshareholders meeting featuredan extended Q&A with CEO War-ren Buffett and Vice ChairmanCharlie Munger. Excerpts fromBuffett’s responses follow:

11:30 AMBerkshire Hathaway set up a

booth in the exhibit hall at its an-nual meeting this year where sh-areholders can buy campaignbuttons urging people to vote foreither Chairman Warren Buffettor Vice Chairman Charlie Mun-ger.

Buffett joked that the cam-paign was his answer to all thepeople who ask about his suc-cessor because he is 88 yearsold. But Munger at 95 wouldbring his own health concerns.

Buffett joked said he feelsconfident he'll retain the chair-man job because he appointedthe people who will count thebutton sales.

Thousands of Berkshire Ha-thaway shareholders return toOmaha every year to learn fromWarren Buffett and celebrate the

company he built through acqui-sitions and investments.

But with the 88-year-old Buf-fett and 95-year-old Charlie Mun-ger leading the company it's hardfor shareholders not to wonderhow much longer the revered in-vestors will be in place. Neitherhas any plans to retire. For theshareholder meeting Stephen Te-enois made the trip to Omahathis year after owning the stockfor several years because hewanted to experience the eventwith Buffett and Munger spen-ding hours asking questions.

Teenois said he wants to"soak in everything I can and le-arn from him."

Buffett has said that Berkshirehas a succession plan in placefor whenever it is needed.

11:50 AMBerkshire Hathaway is holding

more than $114 billion in cashand short-term investments, soshareholders are wondering evenmore than usual what Warren mi-ght buy for the conglomerate.

Buffett has said that he hashad a hard time finding acquisi-

tions selling for reasonable pricesin recent years because the mar-ket has soared.

Shareholder Kim Sautter ofBellevue, Nebraska says she'llbe watching to see what Berk-shire will invest in next.

3:15 PMBuffett says investors should

all stick to areas they know whenthey are deciding what compa-nies to invest in.

Buffett calls that concept your"circle of competence."

Buffett says that over time hehas expanded his circle a bit, buthe has also found areas wherehe's incompetent and shouldn'tbe investing.

Buffett has famously avoidedinvesting in most high-techstocks over the years becausehe felt that he couldn't reliablypredict which firms would domi-nate in the future. But in recentyears, Buffett's Berkshire Hath-away has become a major sha-reholder in Apple.

Buffett says he doesn't thinkpeople should worry about thejobs that will be lost to automa-

tion in the years ahead.He says the market system

finds ways to create new jobs toreplace ones that are lost.

He compared it to the way te-chnology like tractors and com-bines eliminated most jobs inagriculture over the past 200years.

Buffett said: "This economyworks. It continues to work."

He says he's happy with Berk-shire Hathaway's partnershipwith the Brazilian firm of 3G Ca-pital.

The companies worked toge-ther to buy Kraft and Heinz, butrecently the combined food gianthad to write down the value ofits brands by $15 billion.

Buffett says that he would beopen to working with 3G on ad-ditional deals in the future.

Buffett says the main problemwith the Kraft investment is thatBerkshire and 3G overpaid for it.And Buffett says he and 3G un-derestimated the challengesbranded foods face from retailersand the growth of private labelproducts.

By Pat Eaton-Robb

HARTFORD, CT (AP) – One ofthe world's wealthiest couplesannounced Friday they are dona-ting $100 million to support pu-blic education and new busines-ses in some of Connecticut'smost disadvantaged communi-ties.

The contribution from hedgefund billionaire Ray Dalio and hiswife, Barbara, is believed to bethe largest known philanthropicdonation to the state, accordingto Gov. Ned Lamont's office.

The Dalios live in Greenwichand Ray Dalio is the founder ofthe investment firm BridgewaterAssociates. Forbes lists his networth at more than $18 billion.

He said the donation is ear-

marked for areas with high po-verty and drop-out rates, and willcreate career paths that encou-rage kids to stay in school.

"Our No. 1 objective is to get,particularly those who are havingthe most trouble, to get them th-rough high school and into jobs,"Ray Dalio said Friday.

"Education can't be theoreti-cal; it's got to deliver an out-come."

The governor says the stateplans to leverage the donationinto a $300 million investmentover five years, with Connecticutmatching Dalio's $100 millionand another $100 million fromother philanthropists and busi-ness leaders.

The state and Dalio Philanth-ropies said the money will be

used for such things as fundingentrepreneurs with small loansand early-stage equity capital,while providing mentorship.

It also will be used to createeducation programs in schoolsthat directly link students to jobsand help get those who havedropped out of school back intoeducational or job-training pro-grams.

Lamont said a board will beestablished to decide what pro-grams receive funding.

"The ideas are going to comefrom you," Lamont told teachersand students at East HartfordHigh School, where the announ-cement was made.

"You tell us the type of thingsthat will make sure you and yourfriends have the programs and

the confidence and the inspira-tion going forward, and we'regoing to make sure we can makeit happen."

The Lamont administrationhas a close connection to the Da-lios. Ryan Drajewicz, the gover-nor's chief of staff, was a seniormanagement associate at Brid-gewater Associates.

The investment firm also re-ceived a $22 million financial-aidpackage from the state in 2016,as part of then-Gov. Dannel P.Malloy's First Five program.

The deal, which included $5million in grants and a low-inte-rest $17 million loan, came in ex-change for a promise to retain1,400 jobs at the company's We-sport offices and add another750 by 2021.

By Derek Gatopoulos

ATHENS, Greece (AP) —Greek NBA star Giannis Antetok-ounmpo has agreed to fund theconstruction of an indoor basket-ball court in a fire-ravaged areaoutside Athens where at least100 people were killed last year.

The mayor of the Rafina areawhere the fire occurred last Julysaid on Monday the local author-ity received the offer from the Mil-waukee Bucks player to build thecourt at a new recycling park thatis being planned in the area. Themayor, Vangelis Bournous, gaveno details of the construction costbut said the venue would beready at the end of this summer.

The blaze gutted the seasideresort of Mati, east of Athens,and other coastal areas, destroy-ing more than a thousand

homes."Antetokounmpo, the well-

known Giannis Antetokounmpo,has made a donation at the siteto build an indoor court – I'm an-nouncing this for the first time,"

Bournous said at a campaignevent ahead of local elections onSunday.

"It will be built with a modernmethod using a steel buildingframe so it can be ready by the

end of the summer."Antetokounmpo's Bucks are

leading in the NBA Eastern Con-ference finals 2-1 over theToronto Raptors.

The forward, the son of immi-grants from Nigeria, was bornand grew up in Athens andmoved to the United States in2013 to join the Bucks. He has ahuge following in his home coun-try, with fans following his gamesin the middle of the night.

Antetokounmpo maintainsclose ties with Greece and hastaken part in campaigns to pro-mote a Greek airline and tourism,as well as recycling. His olderbrother, Thanasis Antetokoun-mpo, lives in Athens and playsfor local club Panathinaikos,coached by Rick Pitino, formerlyof the Boston Celtics and theLouisville Cardinals.

FRAMINGHAM, MA (BUSI-NESS WIRE) – Ameresco, Inc.(NYSE:AMRC), a leading energyefficiency and renewable energycompany, today announced theirsuccessful project with the Uni-versity of Minnesota for solar in-stallations throughout the TwinCities campus. The project willresult in the equivalent of 1,705metric tons of CO2 saved peryear and demonstrates the im-portance of sustainability leader-ship by the University throughoutthe higher education community.

“The University has a carbonfootprint reduction goal of elimi-nating our net carbon emissionsby 2050, and we are able to takea significant step in achievingthat goal with this project,” saidShane Stennes, Sustainability Di-rector for the University.

Ameresco was selected

through a competitive Requestfor Proposal process andawarded the solar contract by theUniversity of Minnesota in 2017.The project allows Ameresco toengineer, procure, construct, op-erate, and maintain the compre-hensive solar solution. The firstphase of this project includesnine sites on the Twin Cities cam-pus. A potential second phasemay result in expanding withsimilar solar installations on thesatellite campuses in Duluth,Morris, and Crookston. The solarinstallations include groundmounted systems, ballastedrooftop systems, and parking lotcarports.

“The University of Minnesotahas demonstrated stewardshipwithin the higher educationalcommunity by embarking on thisproject across many campuses

throughout the state,” said LouMaltezos, Executive Vice Presi-dent of Ameresco. “Leadershipin sustainability is important forhigher educational institutionsacross the country and the Uni-versity of Minnesota has takenthe steps to reduce risk and im-prove their energy portfolio."

The University has benefitedfrom the opportunity for studentinvolvement in sustainability ef-forts, along with the annual elec-tric output of over 2.4 millionkWh to hedge their electricity fi-nancial portfolio and limit overallinstitutional risk.

Founded in 2000, Ameresco,Inc. (NYSE:AMRC) is a leading in-dependent provider of compre-hensive services, energy effi-ciency, infrastructure upgrades,asset sustainability and renew-able energy solutions for busi-

nesses and organizationsthroughout North America andEurope. Ameresco’s sustainabil-ity services include upgrades toa facility’s energy infrastructureand the development, construc-tion and operation of renewableenergy plants. Ameresco hassuccessfully completed energysaving, environmentally respon-sible projects with Federal, stateand local governments, health-care and educational institutions,housing authorities, and com-mercial and industrial customers.With its corporate headquartersin Framingham, MA, Amerescohas more than 1,000 employeesproviding local expertise in theUnited States, Canada, and theUnited Kingdom. For more infor-mation, visitwww.ameresco.com.

SOURCE: Ameresco, Inc.

University of Minnesota Partners with Amerescoto Install Two Megawatts of Solar Energy

Antetokounmpo Funds Basketball Courtin Fire-Ravaged Greek Village

EUROKINISSI

The Latest

Warren Buffett Says Invest in What You Know

Billionaire Gives $100 Million in Connecticut

Comedy vs. CancerTina Fey and eight-year-old Audrey Lorenz, a cancer survivor,pose backstage at Memorial Sloan Kettering's Comedy vsCancer event on Tuesday, May 14, 2019. Lorenz opened theshow with her comedy routine.

DIANE BONDAREFF/INVISION FOR MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING/AP IMAGES

NEW YORK – PRNewswire –An increasing number of wealthmanagement clients are willing topay for financial advice, but whatthey value is evolving rapidly, as33% of clients have switchedproviders in the past three years,and another third plan to do so inthe next three years, according tothe EY 2019 Global Wealth Re-search report.

EY is a global leader in assur-ance, tax, transaction and advisoryservices that worked with ESIThoughtLab to conduct a compre-hensive survey of 2,000 wealthmanagement clients in 26 coun-tries and spoke with 50 differentwealth management executives tounderstand what they value mostin their wealth management rela-tionships across quality, products,services, technology, pricing andpersonal attention.

With no sole provider able tosolve respondents' varied needs,wealth management clients aremaintaining relationships with anaverage of five different types ofproviders. And as the industrygrapples with new entrants, newtechnologies and changing clientexpectations, wealth managersmust take a step back to evaluatetheir offerings and redefine howthey provide financial advice to bet-ter meet client needs and expec-tations.

According to the research, theuse of independent advisors is ex-pected to rise 18% over the nextthree years, suggesting the flexi-bility in the solutions and fees beingoffered is more attractive to clients.

Similarly, the percentage of re-spondents expecting to use Fin-Techs will increase from 38% to-day to 45% in the next three years.Although these new entrants haverelatively low assets under man-agement (AUM), the research sug-gests that the number of respon-dents using FinTechs is on par withusage of long-established wealthinstitutions.

Respondents are moving tosmaller, more nimble providers –specifically FinTechs and inde-pendent advisors – for more tai-lored solutions that meet theirevolving needs. The research indi-cates that traditional wealth man-agers should take note and try tobetter understand and deliver onwhat matters most to their clients,such as anticipating their major lifeevents and proactively adjustingaccordingly.

Digital channels are also evolv-ing faster than wealth managersand their clients anticipated threeyears ago. In 2016, only 20% ofclients projected that they wouldprefer to use mobile apps forwealth management activities by2019; whereas this year's researchshows 41% of respondents pre-ferring mobile apps as their primarychannel for wealth management.

When it comes to emergingtechnology, 1.4% of respondentsprefer digital and voice-enabled as-sistants as a primary channel to-day. However, 9% say they would

prefer this channel in the near fu-ture. This trajectory indicates a con-siderable swing in momentum –but these numbers may be signif-icantly underestimating growth po-tential, just as mobile app growthpotential was underestimated in2016.

Despite rapid demand for digitalsolutions, respondents still desirehuman interaction as 25% of re-spondents prefer face-to-face orphone calls as their primarymethod of engagement, and al-most half (42%) prefer these meth-ods when receiving financial ad-vice.

Nalika Nanayakkara, EY Amer-icas Wealth and Asset Manage-ment Advisory Lead, says:

"As wealth managers prioritizetheir digital investments acrossmultiple channels, they need toconsider how client engagementmay evolve in the coming years.This may mean reallocating budg-ets from websites to voice-enabledsooner rather than later, and capi-talizing on hybrid models, whereclients have access to both digitaltools and human interaction."

Nearly half of wealth manage-ment client respondents (46%) areunhappy with the fees they payand do not trust they are beingcharged fairly, with dissatisfactionparticularly high (66%) among ul-tra-high net worth clients.

Most respondents (55%) wanttheir wealth managers to use apayment method that offers moretransparency, objectivity and cer-tainty. Percentage of AUM is cur-rently the most common paymentmethod; however, fixed fee andhourly support methods are mostdesired.

Alex Birkin, EY Global Wealthand Asset Management AdvisoryLeader, says:

"Wealth managers realize thatclients expect more than juststrong investment performancebut struggle to communicate thevalue of their offerings and serv-ices. The answer is not simply low-ering fees, but rather a combina-tion of increasing transparency andpredictability when it comes topricing models and equipping ad-visors with ways to communicatevalue beyond investment returns."

Wealth managers are overlook-ing the value in offering robust ad-vice, planning and budgeting serv-ices. More than 80% of theirclients express interest in adviceand planning services, but fewerthan 40% utilize them currently.Additionally, just 28% of respon-dents discuss saving with theirwealth manager, even though thisis a critical opportunity for providersto engage in conversations abouttheir daily budgeting.

Birkin says: "Beyond the every-day and specific targets, clients as-pire to reach a level of independ-ence where their moneyempowers them, whether it helpsto remove worry or achieve agreater purpose. Wealth managersmust redefine the value of financialadvice.”

EY Research Challenges Value of Financial Advice

Wealth ManagementClients Are on the Move

CHARLOTTE, NC (BUSINESSWIRE) – U.S. entrepreneurs con-tinued to project a strong busi-ness outlook this spring even asconfidence in the national and lo-cal economy weakened, accord-ing to the spring 2019 Bank ofAmerica Business AdvantageSmall Business Owner Report.

Health care costs and the po-litical environment topped the listof small business owners’ con-cerns for the year ahead, whileentrepreneurs reported a mixedview on the impact of last year’slandmark tax reform and shiftsin trade policy.

The report, based on a semi-annual survey of more than1,500 small business ownersacross the country, reveals that:

Small business owners’ busi-ness outlook over the next 12months remains strong andsteady:

Sixty-seven percent of entre-preneurs plan to expand theirbusiness (steady from fall 2018).Fifty-nine percent believe theirrevenue will increase (vs. 57 per-cent in fall 2018). Twenty-fourpercent plan to hire (vs. 27 per-cent in fall 2018). Twelve percentplan to apply for a loan (vs. 15percent in fall 2018). While theireconomic outlook weakensslightly:

Forty-eight percent are confi-dent the national economy willimprove (vs. 55 percent in fall

2018). Fifty-one percent expresssimilar confidence in their localeconomies (vs. 54 percent in fall2018). Top economic concernshave all risen since fall 2018, in-cluding health care costs (66 per-cent), interest rates (48 percent),stock market and consumerspending (both 47 percent). Thepolitical environment, a new con-cern measured this spring, ranksas business owners’ second-greatest concern (65 percent).“Small business owners remainoptimistic about the outlook fortheir own businesses and projectrevenue increases in the yearahead,” said Sharon Miller, headof Small Business, Bank of Amer-ica. “However, these entrepre-neurs are also feeling slightly less

confident in the economy and areexpressing more concern abouta variety of economic factors.”

Entrepreneurs, split on effectsof recent policy changes, con-template impact of climatechange.

Nearly two-thirds of entrepre-neurs expressed concern aboutthe current political environment,though they are divided over howmajor policy issues are directlyimpacting them. Half of smallbusiness owners say the new taxcode has impacted their business– with 28 percent reporting thatimpact as positive. This is downfrom the 45 percent who antici-pated a positive impact one yearago.

Regarding U.S. trade policy,41 percent say they have beenimpacted by tariffs, with 18 per-cent reporting a negative impact,9 percent reporting a positive im-pact and 14 percent reporting amixed impact. Additionally, 33percent of entrepreneurs saythey’re concerned about climatechange affecting their business.

Most business ownerspreparing for the worst – but arethey doing enough?

Unexpected or major eco-nomic events can transform abusiness in the blink of an eye.While most entrepreneurs aretaking steps to protect their busi-ness from potential threats, such

as natural disasters, an economicdownturn or a cyber-breach, asizeable number are not. Addi-tionally, most entrepreneurs donot have a plan to address repu-tational crises or challenges.

Sixty-one percent have a busi-ness continuity plan in case of aflood, fire or other disaster,though 39 percent do not havesuch a plan. Sixty-nine percenthave taken steps to prepare foran economic downturn, while 31percent have not. Eighty percentof business owners have takenat least one step to protect cus-tomer data from a cyber-breach,while 20 percent have not takenany steps. Seventy-six percentdo not have a plan to managereputational issues and threats.Perhaps a result of growing upin a time of greater economic tur-moil, millennial business ownersare more likely to have takensteps to prepare their businessfor an economic downturn (79percent vs. national average of69 percent) and are more likelyto have a plan in place to addressreputational issues (36 percentvs. national average of 24 per-cent).

Customer feedback holdstremendous sway in the digitalera, with online reviews servingas a powerful channel for sharingboth compliments and criticisms.While a majority of businessowners have received a negativeonline review of their business(54 percent), more believe posi-tive reviews have greater impactthan negative ones (62 percentvs. 38 percent).

Furthermore, 63 percent sayreviews are important to the suc-cess of their business, with 80percent reporting that positive re-views have helped generate busi-ness opportunities. However,recognizing that negative reviewsalso have an impact, 66 percentof business owners who have re-ceived one say they respond assoon as possible to limit the rep-utational damage.

SOURCE: Bank of America


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