Evangelos Marinakis

Evangelos Marinakis
Born	(1967-07-30) July 30, 1967 Piraeus, Greece
Residence	Athens, Greece London, England
Nationality	Greek
Occupation	Shipping Sports Politics Media
Net worth	US$650 million (2015)[1]
Board member of	Chairman of Capital Maritime & Trading Corp. Major Shareholder of Capital Product Partners L.P. Owner of Alter Ego Media SA[2] Owner of Olympiacos F.C. Member of Piraeus City Council
Religion	Greek Orthodox
Spouse(s)	Athanasia Marinakis
Children	3

Evangelos Marinakis (Greek: Ευάγγελος^[3] (Βαγγέλης) Μαρινάκης, born July 30, 1967) is a Greek shipowner, member of the Piraeus city council and owner of Greece's football club Olympiacos F.C.^[4]

Biography

Evangelos Marinakis was born in Piraeus, Greece on July 30, 1967. He is the only son of Miltiadis Marinakis and Eirini Marinaki (née: Karakatsani). His father, Miltiadis Marinakis, was a shipowner, a Member of the Greek Parliament^[5] and, at times, a financial supporter of Piraeus football club, Olympiacos. Evangelos Marinakis earned a B.A. in 'International Business Administration' and an M.Sc. in 'International Relations' in London.^[6]

Professional life

Shipping

Evangelos Marinakis is the founder and Chairman of Capital Maritime & Trading Corp.^[7] From March 2010 until September 2011, he also served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NYSE-listed Crude Carriers Corp.^[8] Between March 2007 and December 2014^[9] he was Chairman of the Board of Capital Product Partners L.P. (NASDAQ:CPLP). From 1992 to 2005, Marinakis was the Commercial Manager of Capital Ship Management Corp. and oversaw the businesses of the group of companies that currently form Capital Maritime. For the past decades, he has also been active in several other family-controlled businesses all related to the shipping industry.^[10]

Having "grown his shipping empire from the small company he took over from his father, which controlled seven bulk carriers",^[11] he is regarded as one of the most important and influential shipping personalities worldwide. He was included in the Lloyd’s List "One Hundred Most Influential People in the Shipping Industry" list, ranking 65th in 2015,^[12] 67th in 2014, 73rd in 2013^[13] and 84th in 2012. He was also included in the TradeWinds "Power 100" list of the ‘top shipowners and operators", ranking 31st in 2012^[14] and 75th in 2010.^[15] In 2014^[16] and 2010^[17] he was awarded the "Newsmaker of the Year" award at the annual Lloyd's List "Greek Shipping Awards",^[18] while in 2009 his company, Capital Ship Management Corp. was awarded the "Tanker Company of the Year" award.^[19]

Political career

In May 2014, Marinakis was elected first member of the Piraeus city council with the Piraeus Winner independent ticket,^[20] that he co-founded with Yannis Moralis, Vice-President of Olympiacos F.C..^[21] Among their pledges were the preservation of the public nature of Piraeus Port Authority and the development of Piraeus as Europe’s largest cruise ship destination and home port.^[22] During the elections, his political opponent, Vassilis Michaloliakos, claimed Marinakis was related with the far right political party Golden Dawn and accused him for its financial support.^[23] Marinakis rejected these accusations stating "I condemn Golden Dawn's criminal activity".^[24]

After the election, Reuters declared that : "rarely has big business mingled so openly with politics in a country where contacts between the two are usually conducted behind the scenes".^[21] Marinakis responded, in a Tradewinds interview, that he can see no reason why someone with a strong record in business cannot get into politics, "calling that stance "Palaiolithic logic". "I am not afraid to be involved in politics, because I have no business with the Greek state" he said. Since the elections, he undertook the construction of squares, parks, children’s playgrounds and sports facilities, at his own cost, as the municipality of Piraeus lacks the necessary funds due to the economic crisis.^[25]

Sports

Since mid-2010 Marinakis has owned Piraeus' hometown team Olympiacos, and serves as its President.^[26] Marinakis served as president of the Superleague Greece and Vice-President of the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF) from August 2010 until September 2011. During his presidency of Olympiacos, the team won the Greek League title for the periods 2010/2011, 2011/2012, 2012/2013, 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 and the National Cup for the 2011/2012, 2012/2013 and 2014/2015 seasons.

It is being reported then he is negotiating a deal to become the majority shareholder in double European cup winners Nottingham Forest FC.^[27]

Media

On September 2, 2016, Marinakis, through his company Alter Ego Media S.A., won one of four national television licenses auctioned in Greece after spending EUR 73.9m ($82.8m) in a highly unusual competitive bidding process.^[28]

Philanthropy

He has a significant presence, as a philanthropist, both privately and as President of Olympiacos F.C. He personally supports the operation of the museum dedicated to the Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis in the island of Crete with €80,000 yearly for an initial period of 10 years from July 2014.^[29] In September 2014, he privately financed commemorative celebrations for the 200 years since the foundation of the Filiki Etairia and the creation of a bust of Alexander Ypsilantis in Athens.^[30] He has also privately supported throughout the years various Greek children charities, including Argo,^[31] and 'Together for Children', a union of ten Greek NGOs.^[32]

During his presidency, Olympiacos FC, finances the daily meals of a thousand people weekly, through the benevolent fund of "Genesios Theotokos" parish in the Athens suburb of Nikaia^[33] and the Syros Holy Church.^[34] In February 2014, he donated €500,000 for school repairs in the Greek island of Cephalonia, which was hit by destructive earthquakes.^[35] In October 2013, Olympiacos and UNICEF launched a partnership to immunize children in developing countries, featuring UNICEF’s logo on the players’ jerseys, with the target to raise €2 million in two years.^[36] In June 2012, Marinakis repurchased Greek national debt, with a face value of €1,364,000 by offering the amount of €168,590 on behalf of each of Olympiacos' 55 Greek players and employees, to Peter Nomikos’ NGO ‘Greece Debt Free’ (GDF).^[37] In the past, Olympiacos has supported the Japan earthquake relief fund,^[38] and acted in support to the non-profit environmental organization ‘Arcturos’, the pediatric clinics of ‘St Sofia’ hospital in Athens and the ‘General Hospital’ in Limassol, various blood collection campaigns, Greek and international children’s charities, including 'Elpida', the ‘Steven Gerrard Foundation’,^[39] the ‘Hatzikyriakos Foundation’. Marinakis is also in the process of creating the Olympiacos charity foundation.^[40]

Controversy

In 2015, the Public Prosecutor^[41] and the Council of Judges^[42] acquitted Marinakis in relation to the Koriopolis match-fixing investigation, that begun in 2011, that was launched after UEFA gave Greek authorities a report citing irregular betting patterns, mostly involving Greek Cup and second division games in 2009 and 2010.^[43] He was accused of participating in a match-fixing criminal network^[44] with links with seven countries.^[45] At the time, UEFA officials said no action was presently being considered against Olympiacos regarding its participation in the Champions League in the following season, because evidence in the Greek investigation cast no doubt over its 2010-11 league victory.^[46] Marinakis was charged with complicity to commit acts of bribery and match manipulation,^[47][48] of instigation and facilitating acts of violence.^[49] Marinakis, along with the president of second-division club Ilioupoli, Giorgos Tsakogiannis and others, cooperated so that a group of hardcore Olympiacos fans would travel on March 13, 2011 to a third division match and provoke riots to bring about a penalty. The prosecutor’s report says that "Tsakogiannis informed [Ioannis] Papadopoulos that he had made arrangements and Evangelos Marinakis was aware of the plan for Olympiacos fans to cause riots".^[49] Marinakis was acquitted from all charges by the Prosecutor, Panagiotis Poulios,^[50] and the Council of Judges.^[51]

In 2014, Marinakis was acquitted by the Three Members Court of First Instance relatively to the case of entering the referee's (Thanassis Yiachos's) locker room at halftime^[52] during the football cup final between Olympiacos and Asteras Tripolis, against football regulations to complain about the decisions taken. Marinakis stated that he went to the referee’s locker room at halftime only to wish match officials "good luck". Olympiacos went on and won the match 3-1, after a tense 1-1 at halftime.^[53] In 2015 Marinakis was also acquitted by the Three Members Court of Appeals for the same case.^[54]

Another investigation which led to the 2015 Greek football scandal, started in 2014 after prosecutor Aristidis Koreas was given the go-ahead by a council of judges^[55] to make use of secretly recorded phone conversations^[56] that point to the involvement of various sports officials, including Evangelos Marinakis. According to Koreas, "the president of Olympiakos and close associates approached and tried to use policemen, judges, politicians and other powerful figures for their own ends as part of the planning and establishment of a criminal organization".^[55] According to the prosecutor, Marinakis was helped by the President of the Greek Football Association, Giorgos Sarris, to choose specific referees to oversee key games.^[57] He has repeatedly denied all charges:^[58] "These allegations have nothing to do with me and have no effect on me whatsoever," Marinakis said. "There is not one shred of evidence against me."^[59] On October 3, 2014, Aristidis Koreas, though he was replaced as athletic prosecutor, he remained on the case.^[60] Evangelos Marinakis was questioned on 18 June 2015 and he was released on a €200,000 bail. He was also forced to stop being involved in any football activity, as well as he must report to a police station every 15 days.^[61][62]

References

External links

• Capital Product Partners website
• Capital Ship Management website
• Olympiacos website
• Municipality of Piraeus website