Born on the 30th July 1967 in the Greek city of Piraeus, Evangelos Marinakis is the owner of both the Olympiacos and Nottingham Forest football clubs, chairman of the Capital Maritime & Trading Corporation and a member of Piraeus City Council.
The Marinakis family enjoys strong ties with the maritime industry. Evangelos Marinakis’s father, Cretan-born Miltiadis Marinakis, was the founder of the ‘Vanimar’ shipping company and saw great success in global shipping, owning his own fleet of ships. Miltiadis Marinakis was also an elected member of the Greek Parliament and a financial supporter of Olympiacos football club.
After completing his schooling in Piraeus, Evangelos Marinakis attended a London university, earning a BA and MA in International Business Administration and International Relations respectively. After graduating, he spent stints working for Elders Chartering Limited and Harlie Mullion, two prestigious British companies. Forging an extremely successful path, he went on to found several companies, including the Capital Maritime & Trading Corporation.
Evangelos Marinakis was employed by Capital Ship Management as a commercial manager from 1992 to 2005. In this role, he was responsible for ensuring the growth and success of many businesses that form part of the Capital Maritime & Trading Corporation group of companies today. Vangelis Marinakis founded Capital Product Partners LP, serving as the shipping company’s chairman. In addition, he also served as CEO of Crude Carriers Corp, a New York Stock Exchange-listed organisation, until the company’s merger in 2011. In 2019, the merger of Capital Product Partners LP and Diamond S Shipping Inc took place in a deal worth $1.75 billion, culminating in the creation of one of the world’s largest tanker companies.
Mr Marinakis also serves on the board of several other companies in addition to leading the Capital Maritime & Trading Corporation. His business interests span a diverse range of industries. In addition to remaining a major shareholder in Capital Product Partners LP, Mr Marinakis also owns One Channel, Alter Ego Media SA and Abisso Holdings Limited.
Evangelos Marinakis commenced his entrepreneurial journey with a fleet of seven vessels passed down to him by his father. He has taken the Capital Maritime Group from strength to strength, in the process earning himself an enviable reputation as one of the most powerful figures in global shipping today.
A long-time supporter of Olympiacos, Evangelos Marinakis was fortunate enough to acquire a controlling share in his hometown team in 2010. In his seven years as president of Olympiacos, Mr Marinakis led the team from strength to strength, amassing an astonishing seven consecutive championship wins.
Evangelos Marinakis purchased Nottingham Forest Football Club in 2017, gaining approval from the English Football League for his grand plans to restore the team to its former glory. Under Mr Marinakis’s leadership, the club’s historic ground has been extensively redeveloped, culminating in the creation of a worldclass fixture boasting state-of-the-art facilities.
Like his father before him, Evangelos Marinakis ventured into politics, becoming an elected member of the Piraeus City Council in May 2014. Joining forces with Olympiacos vice president and then-mayor of Piraeus, Yannis Moralis, he co-founded the ‘Piraeus Winner’ alliance, a party with bold plans to transform Piraeus into a thriving tourist resort, upgrading infrastructure and improving living standards for local people.
Recognising more than most the significant potential of this important port city, Evangelos Marinakis has spearheaded a range of initiatives designed to improve the city, including pledging his own wealth to fund construction of sports facilities, parks, squares and playgrounds. Having overseen numerous infrastructure projects across the city, including redevelopment schemes, tree planting initiatives and interventions on the facades of buildings, Evangelos Marinakis has helped change the physiognomy of Piraeus, directly contributing to the creation of new businesses and jobs and overseeing initiatives that celebrate Piraeus’s rich maritime heritage.
