Few people have come to have the power and friendships that Aristotle Onassis had, the Greek Shipowner, who became famous both for his wealth and for his marriage to the widow of President John F. Kennedy, Jackie
Aristotle Onassis (1906-1975), was born on January 15, 1906 in Izmir (Greece). The hostilities between Turks and Greeks force their family to emigrate. At the age of 23, his father sent him to Buenos Aires with a few dollars in his pocket and some letters of recommendation for some Greeks, busy importing tobacco.
He works at the Rio de la Plata Telephone Company. A year later he participates in a small cigarette factory. Two years later, he was appointed Consul of Greece. Thanks to this, it makes contact with the Greek Merchant Fleet. When he was 34 years old, he bought his first oil tanker. He lives in New York, where he establishes his headquarters.
Earn millions by transporting oil under the Panamanian flag. They already call him "The Golden Greek"
In 1946, he met Tina Livanos, daughter of a great Greek shipowner, and in December of that year they married. She is 17 and he is 46. In April 1948, their first son, Alexander, and, in December 1950, their daughter Christina, are born. He meets María Callas married to Giovanni Battista Meneghini, whom he abandoned in 1959 to join Aristotle Onassis, his true and undying love, who in turn rejected her to marry Jaquelin Kennedy in 1968. María Callas and Greek millionaire had a son who barely lived a few hours and died a natural death.
Great Deeds
In the sky of super-millionaires few have shone as brightly (and with their own light) as Aristotle Onassis. Of an audacity without limits, seductive, fast. splendid friend and fearsome adversary, he knew how to attract admiration and rejection at the same time. For years, his life fed the press of the international jet set, which exploited its weaknesses and exalted its strengths, transforming it into a modern Midas, turning everything it touched into gold.
A collector of millions and a lover of personal relationships, he was able to boast of being intimate with Winston Churchill and bringing none other than John Kennedy's widow, Jackie, to the altar. Dozens of biographies outlined in detail an inventory of greatness, and also of misery. However, very few writings speak of his humble origins, when he rented a small room in a pension on Corrientes Argentina street, a few meters from the obelisk, and dreamed of making his fortune as a tobacco importer.
His fortune
He started his fortune in Buenos Aires with Greek tobacco, which enjoyed a certain reputation in Buenos Aires. It was even considered among the best quality, but only a few knew it, due to import problems.
There was an "unsatisfied" market, and it was there that Onassis would find his first opportunity as an entrepreneur. He wrote to his father and introduced himself as the ideal introducer of Greek tobacco in Argentina. He had the contacts, he knew the business, he had capital. The father sighed with pleasure to discover that Ari had settled down, and dispatched the first shipment.
The first steps were disappointing. Onassis distributed samples to several smaller cigarette manufacturers, but nothing happened. Undaunted, he planned a new strategy, drawing on his public relations skills. He looked for the appropriate contact that would take him to the office of Juan Gaona, owner director of Piccardo, a major tobacco company in the country. By displaying his cunning as a salesman, Onassis convinced the wealthy businessman to include Greek tobacco in his cigarette mix. He even outlined before Gaona some advertising ideas for the launch of the new brands.
Gaona, who in addition to knowing his business was a good taster of men, perceived that this young Greek had something special, which augurs an excellent future. Onassis obtained his first purchase order for US $ 10,000, by then a fabulous figure (a 0 km car cost $ 2,000).
This vein was the beginning of his great fortune. The second order rose to $ 50,000 and, encouraged by Piscardo's success with Greek tobacco-blend cigarettes, other firms joined.
