The Most Famous
BUSINESSPEOPLE from Greece
This page contains a list of the greatest Greek Businesspeople. The pantheon dataset contains 847 Businesspeople, 5 of which were born in Greece. This makes Greece the birth place of the 24th most number of Businesspeople behind Netherlands, and Ireland.
Top 6
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Greek Businesspeople of all time. This list of famous Greek Businesspeople is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity.
1. Stavros Niarchos (1909 - 1996)
With an HPI of 63.52, Stavros Niarchos is the most famous Greek Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages on wikipedia.
Stavros Spyrou Niarchos (Greek: Σταύρος Σπύρου Νιάρχος, pronounced [ˈstavros ˈspiru ˈɲarxos]; 3 July 1909 – 15 April 1996) was a Greek billionaire shipping tycoon. Starting in 1952, he had the world's biggest supertankers built for his fleet. Propelled by both the Suez Crisis and increasing demand for oil, he and rival Aristotle Onassis became giants in global petroleum shipping. Niarchos was also a noted thoroughbred horse breeder and racer, several times the leading owner and number one on the French breed list.
2. Isaac Carasso (1874 - 1939)
With an HPI of 62.88, Isaac Carasso is the 2nd most famous Greek Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Isaac Carasso (1874 – 19 April 1939) was a member of the prominent Sephardic Jewish Carasso (Karasu) family of Ottoman Salonica (modern Thessaloniki, Greece). After emigrating to Barcelona, he started a yogurt factory which later became Groupe Danone.
3. George Averoff (1815 - 1899)
With an HPI of 60.94, George Averoff is the 3rd most famous Greek Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
George M. Averoff (15 August 1815 – 15 July 1899), alternately Jorgos Averof or Georgios Averof (in Greek: Γεώργιος Αβέρωφ), was a Greek businessman and philanthropist. He is one of the great national benefactors of Greece. Born in the town of Metsovo (Epirus, Greece, then Ottoman Empire), Averoff moved to Alexandria while still young. He was known through most of his life for founding numerous schools in both Egypt and Greece.
4. Arianna Huffington (b. 1950)
With an HPI of 55.40, Arianna Huffington is the 4th most famous Greek Businessperson. Her biography has been translated into 37 different languages.
Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington (née Ariadnē-Anna Stasinopoúlou; Greek: Αριάδνη-Άννα Στασινοπούλου, pronounced [ariˈaðni ˈana stasinoˈpulu]; born July 15, 1950) is a Greek and American author, syndicated columnist and businesswoman. She is a co-founder of HuffPost, the founder and CEO of Thrive Global, and the author of fifteen books. She has been named in Time magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people and the Forbes Most Powerful Women list. Huffington serves on numerous boards, including Onex and Global Citizen. Two of her books have been dogged by allegations of plagiarism, for one of which she paid another author an out-of-court settlement. Her last two books, Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder and The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time, both became international bestsellers. Huffington, the former wife of Republican congressman Michael Huffington, co-founded The Huffington Post, which was later acquired by BuzzFeed. She was a popular conservative commentator in the mid-1990s, after which, in the late 1990s, she offered liberal points of view in public, while remaining involved in business endeavors. In 2003, she ran as an independent candidate for governor in the California recall election and lost. In 2009, Huffington was No. 12 in Forbes first-ever list of the Most Influential Women In Media. She has also moved up to No. 42 in The Guardian's Top 100 in Media List. As of 2014, she was listed by Forbes as the 52nd Most Powerful Woman in the World. She had moved to 77nd as of 2018 and dropped off the list as of 2019. In 2011, AOL acquired The Huffington Post for US$315 million and made Huffington the president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, which included The Huffington Post and then-existing AOL properties including AOL Music, Engadget, Patch Media, and StyleList. She stepped down from her role at The Huffington Post in August 2016 to focus on a new start-up, Thrive Global, a behavior-change technology company with the mission of improving productivity and health outcomes.
5. Sam Panopoulos (1934 - 2017)
With an HPI of 54.34, Sam Panopoulos is the 5th most famous Greek Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Sotirios "Sam" Panopoulos (Greek: Σωτήριος Πανόπουλος; 20 August 1934 – 8 June 2017) was a Greek-born Canadian cook and businessman, credited as the inventor of Hawaiian pizza.
6. Albert Bourla (b. 1961)
With an HPI of 48.25, Albert Bourla is the 6th most famous Greek Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 14 different languages.
Albert Bourla (Greek: Άλμπερτ Μπουρλά; born (1961-10-21)October 21, 1961) is a Greek-American veterinarian and businessman known for serving as the chairman and chief executive officer of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. He joined the company in 1993 and has held several executive roles across Pfizer's divisions. Prior to becoming chief executive officer, Bourla was chief operating officer. In addition to the boards of Pfizer and the Pfizer Foundation, Bourla is or has been on the boards of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, Catalyst, the Partnership for New York City, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. He is also a member of The Business Council and the Business Roundtable. Bourla reshaped Pfizer to focus on research and development. He is also credited with helping the development of Improvac, which eradicates boar taint, and for refocusing Pfizer's vaccine division to focus on Staphylococcus, Clostridioides difficile infection, infant diseases, and the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Bourla opposes government interference in pharmaceutical pricing, which he argues would hamper spending on development of new drugs. Bourla was awarded the 2022 Genesis Prize for his leadership in the development of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
People
Pantheon has 6 people classified as Greek businesspeople born between 1815 and 1961. Of these 6, 2 (33.33%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Greek businesspeople include Arianna Huffington, and Albert Bourla. The most famous deceased Greek businesspeople include Stavros Niarchos, Isaac Carasso, and George Averoff. As of April 2024, 1 new Greek businesspeople have been added to Pantheon including Albert Bourla.
Living Greek Businesspeople
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Stavros Niarchos
1909 - 1996
HPI: 63.52
Isaac Carasso
1874 - 1939
HPI: 62.88
George Averoff
1815 - 1899
HPI: 60.94
Sam Panopoulos
1934 - 2017
HPI: 54.34
Newly Added Greek Businesspeople (2025)
Go to all RankingsOverlapping Lives
Which Businesspeople were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 4 most globally memorable Businesspeople since 1700.
