Paraskevaides, Pittas, Ambrosiadou wealth equal to 5% of Cyprus GDP

 * 300 Greek millionaires share €52 bln fortune *

Construction and energy tycoon Efthyvoulos Paraskevaides, pharmaceuticals manufacturer Andreas Pittas and hedge fund manager Elena Ambrosiadou are the three wealthiest people in Cyprus, whose fortunes are equal to 5% of Cyprus’ GDP and have remained largely unaffected by the world financial crisis, according to the fourth edition of the Greek Rich List.
The first two Cypriot entrepreneurs are ranked 31st and 56th, respectively, among the 300 richest Greeks in the world, with Paraskevaides’ share in J&P and his own EP Global Energy putting his fortune at 450 mln euros, while Pittas’ wealth has been revised up to 260 mln euros, which is what his Medochemie industry is worth, according to JP Morgan.
Ambrosiadou, a shrewd trader and hedge fund manager, has made her fortune through the Ikos Group which has several trading locations, including Limassol, and despite the fall in the value of many such companies, she has maintained her and her company’s worth at 200 mln euros.
Ranked 71st in the world Greek Rich List, Elena is probably the most successful self-made woman among all Greeks in the world, as the only other is Athina Roussel Onassis, whose inheritance is estimated at 417 mln euros.
The ten richest in Cyprus, as compiled in association with the Financial Mirror, are Efthyvoulos Paraskevaides (450 mln), the Lanitis family (400 mln), Andreas Pittas (260 mln), Nicos Shacolas (208 mln), Elena Ambrosiadou (200 mln), Marfin Laiki’s Andreas Vgenopoulos (103 mln), property and trade entrepreneur Andreas Kaisis (90 mln), Charalambos Pattichis of the pharmaceuticals company Remedica (70 mln), the aluminum manufacturers and hoteliers Mouskis family (68 mln), and former President George Vassiliou (60 mln), who recently sold his market research empire to Nielsen.
GRL publisher Savvas Pavlou said that the list includes eleven Greeks who broke the 1-billion-dolar barrier, with Spyros Latsis and his family worth 3.38 bln euros for the oil-to-finance holdings in Greece, followed by John Paul DeJoria in the U.S. who co-founded John Paul Mitchell (2.7 bln / $4 bln), the dairy and store owners Hasseotis family in the U.S. (2.03 bln / $3 bln), U.K.-based new media tycoon Alki David (1.54 bln), and Mike Lazarides of Canada (1.48 bln / $2.2 bln) co-founder of Research in Motion, makers of Blackberry.
Other Greek billionaires, all from the U.S., include energy and real estate tycoon George Mitchell (1.35 bln / $2 bln), investment manager Peter Peterson (1.35 bln / $2 bln), Michael Jaharis of Kos Pharmaceuticals ($1.8 bln), clothing tycoon Jim Davis ($1.8 bln), oil-to-supermarkets owner John Catsimatides ($1.7 bln), real estate developer George Argyros ($1.6 bln), Arthur Demoulas of the Market Basket chain ($1.6 bln), C. Dean Metropoulos who is in management and acquisitions ($1.2 bln), Alex Spanos and his real estate holdings (1.1 bln) and mutual funds manager John Calamos ($1 bln).
Philip Beresford, editor of the Sunday Times Rich List, said wealth generation is recovering in Britain’s Greek and Greek Cypriot communities.
“We have found some 50 millionaires to billionaires in the U.K. worth GBP 7.53 bln,” he said, up from GBP 6.81 bln in the previous Greek Rich List.
The combined wealth of all the billionaires and millionaires profiled is just over 52 bln euros with 49 new entries. The UK section includes one new entry launched straight in at No. 11 with a valuation of GBP 210 mln. The most notable new entry comes in the USA section where a former homeless person went on to become a billionaire and philanthropist, currently valued by Forbes at $4 bln.
“Research is continuous. One day after this edition went to print we discovered a New Zealand millionaire, George Frazis. He commands a salary package of $5.59 mln… we just can’t keep up with new data coming in every day,” said Savvas Pavlou.