17 Facts About Aristeidis Alafouzos

Aristeidis Alafouzos was a Greek shipowner, civil engineer and media mogul.

Aristeidis Alafouzos left the job in the spring of 1943 to prepare for the entrance exams for the National Technical University of Athens, which he passed with top marks.

Aristeidis Alafouzos graduated with a degree in civil engineering in 1949, specializing in hydraulic technology in road building and the construction of railroads, ports and industries.

Aristeidis Alafouzos's studies had taken six years instead of the customary five as the university had been shut down for a year during the war.

In 1952, Aristeidis Alafouzos was able to obtain from the Greek Ministry of Public Works the first of a series of building contracts.

Aristeidis Alafouzos opened an office in London, where he lived until April 1988.

In 1974, Aristeidis Alafouzos ordered ships of 140,000 dwt capacity of carrying both liquid and dry cargo from Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, in a joint venture with K-Line.

In 1985 Aristeidis Alafouzos took advantage of the shipping slump to establish Kyklades Maritime Corporation with which he entered the oil tanker market by taking advantage of a crisis in the shipping sector to buy 16 tankers aged between three and 10 years at a very good price By the mid-1980s, Aristeidis Alafouzos' shipping interests owned 42 new cargo ships, most built in Japan.

Aristeidis Alafouzos went on to order new ships at the end of the 1980s, acquiring 17 oil tankers.

Aristeidis Alafouzos' shipping companies, Glafki Maritime and Kyklades Maritime Corporation have always kept the Greek flag, with both companies among the biggest Greek shipping firms.

In 1988, Aristeidis Alafouzos entered the world of media, when he purchased the Grammi SA publishing company during the auction sale of the assets of the banker George Koskotas, after the Koskotas scandal.

Under Aristeidis Alafouzos, Kathimerini grew in circulation and influence in Greece.

Aristeidis Alafouzos was able to purchase from Koskotas the SKY 100.4 radio station, which he developed into the Skai Group, which grew to become one of Greece's largest media groups, with a television station, three radio stations, a news web portal and a publishing house.

Together with Giorgio Bobolas, Christos Lambrakis, Christos Tegopoulos and Vardis Vardinogiannis, Aristeidis Alafouzos was one of the five founding members of the Teletypos company who created the first private Greek television channel, Mega TV.

In later years SKAI opposed the government of Konstantinos Mitsotakis, with Aristeidis Alafouzos stating in an interview in October 1993 with the journalist Georgia Kontrarou that their relationship had broken down because the latter was constantly "asking for money" from 1989 elections onwards.

Aristeidis Alafouzos retained a lifelong affection for Santorini and visited the island frequently, contributing towards the construction of a modern hospital on the island and in 1992 donating a desalination plant to provide drinking water to Oia.

Aristeidis Alafouzos lent his support to excavations at the prehistoric settlement of Akrotiri.