Like many Greeks, Philippos Petsalnikos did well when he lived abroad. Now the president of the Athens parliament hopes expatriate Greeks can help him in a mission far greater than he ever envisaged when he returned home: rescuing his homeland from bankruptcy.

Athens is hoping for financial help from billionaires of Greek origin, such as easyJet’s founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou. Photograph: Linda Nylind

“There are many Greeks worldwide, who want to assist us,” he says. “Every day, I receive emails from people in America, Australia, Austria, asking how they can help. And that’s how I had the idea to set up an account for the sole purpose of helping to pay off this country’s debt.”

Today that idea turned into something much bigger, with the opening of a special fund at the Central Bank of Greece – the start of an unprecedented global campaign to inject the nation’s near-empty coffers with much-needed monies. At first glance the fund’s target might seem a little ambitious. Athens’ debt is €300bn (£270bn) – more than 120% of the country’s gross domestic product and by far the largest in the EU.

But Greece also has a hidden asset. From Hollywood – think Jennifer Aniston, whose father was born in Crete – to the highly competitive fields of property, shipping and commerce, Greeks and Greek Cypriots have excelled. Like Smyrna-born Aristotle Onassis last century, many who started out as dirt-poor immigrants have become business successes in Australia, America, South Africa, Brazil.

“In countries where there are rules, Greeks often distinguish themselves,” Petsalnikos points out. “And they also have a great love for Greece.”

Athens plans to tap into its seven million-strong diaspora. “The campaign’s slogan will be: I love Greece, I support Greece,” Petsalnikos says.

If the Greek Rich List is to be believed, the Athens government should have no problem. First published in the UK – where self-made tycoons from Greek Cypriot backgrounds such as easyJet’s Stelios Haji-Ioannou and the retail entrepreneur Theo Paphitis have long been household names – the annual compilation went global last year because the number of Greek multimillionaires worldwide had officially become too large to ignore.

“It’s quite shocking how many successful Greeks and people of Greek heritage there are all over the world,” the periodical’s publisher, Savvas Pavlou, says. “Our list of 300 scrapes the surface. We’re discovering new millionaires all the time. It would be easy to publish a 500-page magazine. What’s more, they appear to be even more patriotic than the Greeks in Greece.”

The list is growing, especially in the US, where the Minnesota-born Greek prime minister George Papandreou is headed for crucial talks with President Barack Obama next week.

As home to the largest overseas Greek community, the US has more billionaires of Greek origin than any other country. With fortunes made in finance, property, pharmaceuticals and the food industry, Greek-Americans are among the biggest US philanthropists. Last year they were the biggest donors to candidates seeking federal office in New York.

“They have become a real political force in the US because of the size and amount of donations they make to candidates across the political spectrum,” says Peter Poulos, a professional fundraiser who divides his time between Athens and New York.

“And they’re not only funding Greek-American politicians but politicians who care about Greek-American foreign policies, like the plight of the Greek Orthodox patriarchate in Turkey.”

But would they give to Greece in its hour of need? Poulos is not so sure. After seeing hundreds of thousands of dollars collected for the victims of the catastrophic 2007 forest fires go astray, many have become “tremendously frustrated” with the fatherland.

“I spoke to three major donors this week and each of them said they would be very reluctant to give hard-earned money to a government-run fund for fear it would end up lining the pockets of corrupt officials, or buying a minister a home in the forest,” he says. “Nobody has trust in the Greek government. It’s something, unfortunately, George Papandreou has also inherited.”

The point is not lost on Petsalnikos. “I share their fears,” he says. “I lived in Germany for 10 years and know that things are done differently abroad, which is why the fund will be headed by the president of Greece and will only go towards paying off our national debt.

“We will play by the rules because organising ourselves through rules will be the only way this country can get back on its feet. Greeks in other countries have proved that they can do it,” he adds over angry protests outside parliament. “We must now show that we can do it too.”

Source: Helena Smith in Athens, www.guardian.co.uk

Real Madrid has held on to the number one position for the fifth year in a row in a list compiled by Deloitte’s Sports Division which looks at the largest revenue-generating football clubs.

Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid's Stadium.

Spanish football giant Real Madrid has also become the first team in any sport to record revenues in excess of €400 million (£340m) in a single year. Deloitte’s analysis of clubs’ relative financial performance covers the 2008/9 season.

Partner in the Sports Business Group, Dan Jones, said that the club has profited from an increase in broadcast revenue, which for the year stood at €161m, greater than the total revenue of all the clubs outside of the top ten. Without this, it would have been in a far lower position ,given that the club experienced a relatively disappointing season.

The Deloitte Football Money League Top 10:

1. Real Madrid £341.9m
2. FC Barcelona £311.7m
3. Manchester United £278.5m
4. Bayern Munich £246.6m
5. Arsenal £224.0m
6. Chelsea £206.4m
7. Liverpool £184.8
8. Juventus £173.1m
9. Internazionale £167.4m
10. AC Milan £167.4m

Other UK teams in the top 20 included Tottenham, Manchester City and Newcastle United.

Alan Switzer, Director of the Sports Business Group, said: “Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have created a clear revenue gap between themselves and their European competitors, and look set to contest the top two positions in the Money League for the foreseeable future, particularly if the pound doesn’t strengthen against the Euro.”

Manchester United will be disappointed to have dropped to third position behind FC Barcelona which experienced “unprecedented on-pitch success” for the season, winning a domestic double and taking the Champions League title.

Rumours have been rife this week over a possible buyout of the UK’s Premier League team by a consortium of financiers – dubbed the “Red Knights” as supporters continue to become disgruntled with the club’s high level of debt under the Glazer’s ownership.

According to news reports, the group, which includes Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill, lawyer Mark Rawlinson and financier Keith Harris, met to discuss a billion-pound takeover of the club, which has today been rebuffed by the Glazer family.

Dan Jones said that it was this sort of off-pitch news which was unsettling some of the English football teams’ finances. “Whilst there has been much recent comment on the finances of English football clubs, we believe the fundamentals of football remain strong.”

He concluded: “Financial problems experienced at the very highest level are far more likely to be a result of mismanagement, weak cost control or a lack of available credit than any problems with revenue generation.”

Source: ICM, Nicki Pickford

AFTER a year in the wilderness, or at least outside the top three, iron ore magnate Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest has been propelled back to pole position on the Australian rich list compiled by US magazine Forbes, knocking mate James Packer from the top spot as resurgent Chinese growth boosted his on-paper worth.

According to Forbes, Mr Forrest’s wealth has jumped to $US4.1 billion ($4.5bn), from $US1.65bn in May 2009, as shares in his company, Fortescue Metals Group, were boosted by strong Chinese demand for iron ore.

Mr Forrest, named by Forbes as the country’s richest man in 2008 with a $US6.6bn fortune, sank to fifth place in 2009 as the global financial crisis buffeted commodities markets and his on-paper wealth.

Mr Packer slipped to third spot on the latest rankings, despite his wealth rising from $US3.1bn to $US3.5bn. Given that the Australian dollar has risen 21 per cent in the period, however, Mr Packer’s Australian dollar wealth slipped from $4.2bn to $3.9bn.

Despite a huge boost in demand for Australia’s major mining exports over the past year, not all of the nation’s wealthy miners performed well.

Seven Network boss Kerry Stokes lost the mantle of billionaire, dropping from ninth place last year to 22nd this year as his fortune slipped from $US1bn to $US780m. According to Forbes, last month’s announcement that Mr Stokes planned to merge Seven with his private Westrac mining truck company revealed an unexpected Westrac debt load of $US900m.

Forbes was also unimpressed by Clive Palmer’s claims to be Australia’s richest man. Some reports have put a value of up to $16bn on his assets. “Palmer told Forbes Asia . . . his assets are worth billions. They could be — one day — but there’s still a lot of uncertainty,” Forbes said.

He was dropped from 29th place to 36th and his wealth valued at $US600m. Last May, BRW named Anthony Pratt and his family as the nation’s richest, with a fortune of $4.3bn.

Forbes, which did not lump family members’ wealth together, put Mr Pratt in eighth position with $US1.95bn.

Illustrating the extent of the turnaround in the nation’s economy and the Australian dollar in the past year, the total net worth of Australia’s 40 richest people jumped 45 per cent to $US48.8bn.

Gina Rinehart remained Australia’s richest woman, and in seventh place on the overall list, with her fortune rising from $US1.5bn to $US2.5bn.

Westfield boss Frank Lowy kept second place as his wealth rose from $US2.8bn to $US3.6bn.

Source: The Australian

We never stop our research. With the help of our partners and readers we are constantly finding new Greek’s to profile in our 2011 edition. Our Australian and Cyprus will at least double their entries in 2011, and the ‘rest of the world’ section will expand dramatically with one Greek millionaire having his businesses empire in the Philippines.

One Greek who was missed in the US section was John Paul DeJoria the co-founder of John Paul Mitchell hair products brand. John is famous as a former homeless person who went on to become a billionaire businessman, he is half Italian and half Greek, and according to Forbes 400 is worth a staggering $4 million.

He also has an interest in tequila and sales of his Patrón brand went up nearly 10% so far this year. Made first fortune from shampoo. Cofounded hair-care outfit John Paul Mitchell Systems with Paul Mitchell in 1980 with $700; lived in car, hawked products door-to-door in Los Angeles. Annual sales now approach $900 million, sells only to professional salons. Created tequila distiller Patrón Spirits with Martin Crowley (d. 2003) in 1989. Friends Clint Eastwood and Wolfgang Puck helped make $50 bottles of tequila a staple at high-end restaurants, nightclubs. Today company sells more than 2 million cases a year. Bacardi bought minority stake in Patrón for undisclosed sum last year. Giving more to charity as others decrease gifts; supports Food4Africa, Mineseekers, Blazer House.

Source: Forbes

Through booms and busts, idealist believes you can keep your moral and religious compass in a rough-and-tumble world.

Sam Kolias from Canada, listed in our ‘Rest of the World’ section defies easy categorization, First, he is an engineer who does not practise his profession. Instead, he and brother Van – sons of Greek immigrants – have built Calgary-based Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust into an apartment rental titan with 36,700 units in 260 buildings across Canada.

Sam Kolias (above) and brother Van were ranked 81 in the top 100 people in Canada. They are profiled in our World Greek Rich List along with over 300 other Greeks from around the world.

___________________________________________________________

Yet, at 48, he remains a bright-eyed idealist who believes you can keep your moral and religious compass in a rough-and-tumble world. Throughout Alberta’s booms and busts, he shows it is possible to build a business and to keep it safe.

You were trained as an engineer, but never made a career of it. What happened?

I failed to get a job as an engineer. I tried. It was 1984 [during an earlier recession], and I applied for hundreds of positions. I did get really close. I just about got a job with Petro-Canada. It was in Three Hills northeast of Calgary and I said ‘Nah, I didn’t really want to live in Three Hills.’ I guess I didn’t want to move. So that’s why they picked the other guy.

So in a recession, you had to find something else?

You had to make a job, really. It’s very European. There are very few jobs in Europe and that’s what my parents had to do – make their own opportunities.

So my father said to me and my brother, “you guys have education and you’ve got great experience.” We had worked for my father – he was in the apartment rental business in a very small way. He recommended we go out on our own and he would sign for our credit. He had faith in us.

Did it help to start your business in bad times?

We started with next to nothing, which was a whole lot more than everybody else. There was a real estate bust and a lot of owners and developers were in negative-equity territory because their debt was higher than their asset values. So in starting a new company, you’ve got a big advantage because you are not underwater like most of your competitors.

Isn’t your Alberta business a captive of the oil price, now about $80 (U.S.) a barrel?

We absolutely are. It took a long time for the energy complex to come back from the 1980s, and it went through quite a few gyrations. When it first corrected everybody thought that was the worst – oil was between $30 and $40. It dropped to the $20s and everybody said ‘I think we have seen the worst.’ Then later, oil was under $10.

That’s why I am sensitive right now about making predictions. We’ve gone through times when everyone says the worst is behind us and then it got worse. You just don’t know.

You’re using this downturn to buy back your stock. Aren’t you planning to expand?

No, we’re actually contracting. There is a shortage of customers. So what we would like to do is balance that shortage with a smaller amount of good quality rentals with great associates and service. We are doing well this year – we’ve reported record results to date.

Are you still heavily into philanthropy?

We continue to contribute in a significant way – in these economic times, especially, because of the difficulties people face. I serve on the Calgary Homeless Foundation, and there has been great breakthrough. The government of Alberta has made a huge commitment. We have a plan that we believe will solve homelessness in 10 years – or at least, put a significant dent in it.

A Montreal researcher studied U.S. cities, and found that some homeless people, once they were given a home, reduce their burden on health care emergency, police calls and other services by hundreds of thousands of dollars. It costs about $30,000 or $40,000 to house somebody, and the financial savings to the community were multiples over that. It was kind of a breakthrough. That study showed that being community-minded is good for our character, but it is also good for the economy and public budgets.

Don’t you approach this issue as a believer in the Golden Rule?

It’s more of a faith base. I was raised in an environment where you help your neighbour and you treat them like you want to be treated. That’s our No. 1 rule as a company. It’s in our policy manual and we ask everybody on our team to always think of the other person like they want to be thought of themselves.

Our company was one of the first partners in a program where we provide reductions in rents for people we are housing and who are coming off the street. Even though they lack credit and finance, we work in partnerships – Community Services, the government and ourselves – to help people find homes and we house them.

How many people are getting that kind of help?

Recently, there have been hundreds of new customers that way. In total, it has been in the thousands over the years.

The statistics are exactly what you would think. There are people who have money who have problems, and there are people who are homeless, who are on drugs and have alcohol problems. It doesn’t really matter if you are rich or poor – you’re going to have problems, or you are going to be good, too.

It’s a fraction of one per cent who are high-damage, problem customers. Whether the person comes from solid financial footing or not, the statistics are the same. It doesn’t matter if we have or don’t have money, we are who we are. Money isn’t something that makes someone good or bad – it’s an exchange for goods and services.

Are you the No. 1 apartment landlord in the country?

We now want to focus in on being the friendliest landlord. We still are the largest but we hope somebody is going to get bigger than us one day. It would be okay.

Do you have trouble being a CEO and being religious?

It is always a constant struggle. For example, we had to have a policy to regulate ourselves in Alberta. The pricing of rent is dictated by the free market. Many years ago, as a result of working with the homeless, we learned how difficult and harsh rental increases can be and how life-changing they can be if excessive.

So we brought in rent control for ourselves. We brought in another policy that if a customer couldn’t afford even the reduced amount of rent increase, we would waive that too if there was evidence of hardship.

That was originally considered charitable and, ‘Gee, that’s nice to be nice with shareholders’ money.’ (My brother and I represent a quarter of the ownership.) But we honestly believe this policy is better in the long run. Because of self-control we’ve retained customer and occupancy rates at very high levels. Our rents never got to the higher amounts that the market reached. So the market rate climbed and then it went right back down. If we had raised everybody’s prices as quickly as the market, we would have very high vacancy now.

Some believe we missed an opportunity. But we are actually better off now, making more stable revenue than if we had followed the market extremes.

Was there a turning point when you decided to lead a good life?

My parents were really good examples. But there was a time in the early nineties when growth and business success were more of a focus for me.

It was a turning point. Today I absolutely understand how important it is to be balanced. And that’s only possible with a very solid team.

Was it one particular event?

I was working really, really long hours, up at 4 or 5 in the morning, and probably in bed by midnight or one. It was very bad diet, very little sleep and really exhausted.

I did that for two or three years.

I went through a period of imbalance and I thought ‘this is wrong.’ Everything about it felt bad. I hit the limits physically and mentally. We all have choices – and those choices do have a big influence on what our lives are going to be.

Source: The Globe & Mail