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The Greek shipping magnate, 57, has earned a staggering fortune of around £2.5billion through his company Capital Maritime Trading Corp.
He has pumped that cash into his clubs, funding spending sprees for Nottingham Forest, winning multiple Greek titles with Olympiacos and last year he acquired a large stake in Portuguese outfit Rio Ave.
It has been reported he plans to add a Brazilian club to his roster, which is why he lured Arsenal’s sporting director Edu on a reported triple your salary deal to oversee his football empire.
But away from the game, Marinakis has his finger in other pies too.
He runs a TV station famed for its soaps, sitcoms, political shows and the Champions League, as well as some of Greece’s biggest-selling newspapers.
Marinakis hasn’t just spent his millions on football clubs, he is also the proud owner of two super yachts worth over £20million a piece.
While back in 2021, he was in the news when one of his shipping boats saved 150 migrants from drowning in the Mediterranean Sea. SunSport looks into his mad world.
MAKING MONEY
The son of a politician, Marinakis made his billions after founding Capital Maritime & Trading Corp in 2005.
By 2017, the company managed a mixed fleet of 70 ships.
These included tankers, container ships and dry bulk carriers.
A year later, they entered the LNG sector by purchasing ten ships capable of transporting liquified natural gas at the cost of a whopping £1.5billion.
A year later, they merged their tanker fleet with DSS Holdings, who are bankrolled by New York private equity firm WL Ross & Co in a £1.3billion deal.
Together, they have created one of the biggest listed tanker companies in the world. Marinakis continues to plough cash into his business, last year pumping £82million into the company to invest in seven platform supply vessels.
One for giving back, Marinakis has put his money into the regeneration of his hometown Piraeus, including restoring playgrounds, building football pitches and helping the homeless by setting up soup kitchens. The man, who has a tattoo on his left arm that reads ‘Dream Love Create Fight Survive Win’, also has plenty of empathy. Piraeus is a port city, and the first entry for refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Marinakis once had a group of people, including Olympiacos staff, welcome those coming off boats with food, clothes and toys for their children.
It’s not the first time he has come to the aid of desperate refugees.
In 2021, an oil tanker belonging to the shipping tycoon came to the rescue of more than 150 migrants who were sinking on a 15-metre wooden boat in the Mediterranean sea. The crew raised the alarm, and with the native coastal guard launched a rescue mission to haul them to safety on the tanker.
FOOTBALL
In 2010, Marinakis entered the football world by buying a stake in Olympiacos.
Incredibly, they won the Greek league seven times in a row from 2010–11 to 2016–17.
After lucky number seven, Marinakis set his sights on English football – adding Nottingham Forest to his football club portfolio.
A man who isn’t afraid to shoot for the stars, he declared that he wanted the club to qualify for Europe within five years, as well to redevelop the City Ground and transform the team’s Nigel Doughty Academy. — Sun.
Online Reporter