Page 117 - ATHENS RIVIERA JOURNAL 2022

ATHENS RIVIERA JOURNAL
influence

A REVOLUTIONARY

OF BUSINESS

“I’m the only one who knows how to get as rich as me”,

Aristotle Onassis used to say, and his legendary talent is a

special, perhaps even unique chapter in the history

of international business.

H is business moves were the the role oil was set to play in it. He commissioned the

stuff of legend. The thinking be-
first oil tanker in the world with a capacity of 15,000
tons, naming it “Ariston”. Shipping grew with leaps
hind them? “We must free our-
and bounds and Onassis continued to purchase larger
selves of the hope that the sea will
and larger oil tankers, while he even signed deals for
become calm. We must learn to
sail in strong winds”.
the transportation of coal and oil with ships that had
Clandestine audiences and mis-
not yet been built. Thus, major oil companies such as
sions. At just 16 years old, Aris-
Mobil, Socony, and Texaco preferred steady long-term
totle Onassis arrives in Greece as
THINK BIG AND TALK BIG."
aches caused by smaller players.
a refugee from the Asia Minor
Into the shipping elite: marriage to the daughter of
Catastrophe and in August 1923
he takes the leap and travels to Argentina with 250 dol- deals with him instead of having to deal with the head- "IN ORDER TO SUCCEED, YOU NEED TO GO BIG,
the patriarch of shipping. During World War II, Onas-
lars in his pocket. He worked odd jobs washing dishes, sis left London, where he had settled in the meantime, Airways”. Olympic Airways was soon an international rates skyrocket. Onassis orders six new supertankers in
in construction and as a night guard until he was hired for New York. That was where he met Athena (Tina), airline; its glory days had begun. By then, the entrepre- 1968 – as a result, the total capacity of his tankers alone
as a nighttime telephone operator at British United the 16-year-old daughter of top Greek shipowner Stav- neur already had 70 companies all over the globe and reaches 2,500,000 tons. His triumphs, his success and
River Plate Telephone Company. It was there, that he ros Livanos. They were married in 1946, opening the was at the epicenter of attention and in touch with all the worldwide admiration of his person would con-
took advantage of the conversations he eavesdropped door to the world of shipowners for Onassis. of the world’s economic and political figures. tinue for another four years until 1973, when Onassis’
on and decided to found a small tobacco import and Domination in Monaco and in the skies, and a mon- The Suez Canal closes, the opportunity for wild son Alexandros was killed in an airplane accident at El-
cigarette manufacturing company with the help of his ster deal with the Saudis. Aristotle Onassis continuous- profits opens up. After taking over Olympic Airways, linikon airport. To honor his memory, Onassis created
father who sent him tobacco – often smuggled – from ly built new oil tankers while he also turned to whalers, Onassis orders the construction of the magnificent the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation.
Turkey. “The secret in business is knowing something picking Monte Carlo as the base for his business. In luxury yacht “Christina”, on which he hosted global The last oil tankers and his final acknowledgement.
that no one else knows”, he used to say later in life. 1953, he came close to owning all of Monaco, while personalities such as Winston Churchill. Through Despite the fact that his fleet already consisted of more
The first oil tanker in the world and contracts with that same year in Hamburg he christened the largest his friendship with the English politician’s son, Ran- than 100 ships including 15 supertankers each with a
ships still being built. His cigarette business is going oil tanker in the world with a capacity of 45,000 tons; RON GALELLA/ GETTY IMAGES/ IDEAL IMAGE dolph Churchill, Onassis learned about the Suez crisis capacity of 200,000 tons, Onassis commissions six more
quite well and Onassis, having already set significant he called it “Tina Onassis”. In 1954, he closed a mon- and – as the only independent shipowner at the time oil tankers, two of them with a capacity of 400,000 tons Aristotle Onassis used to
capital aside, takes advantage of the financial junc- ster deal with the Saudis to transfer their oil. In 1957, –used this information to make more money than he each – the largest in the world. However, the end was be a big fan of the Athenian
Riviera. After all, his first
ture created by the 1929 crash and turns to shipping with the encouragement of Konstantinos Karamanlis, PRIVATE JOURNAL NO2 had imagined even in his wildest dreams. In 1967, the near. Shortly before his death, Aristotle Onassis was asset after he returned from
in 1932. He was one of the first to anticipate the new Onassis took over TAE, a small airliner that was los- Suez Canal closes once again due to a new conflict forced to confess: “In the end, money may not always Argentina was the ‘‘Villa
opportunities created by the industrial revolution and ing money, for $2,000,000, and renamed it “Olympic between the Egyptians and the Israelis, and shipping be what people need in their lives”.  Onassis’’ in Glyfada area.

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