Stavros Spyrou Niarchos was a Greek billionaire shipping tycoon.
13 Facts About Stavros Niarchos
2.
Stavros Niarchos's parents were naturalized Americans who had owned a department store in Buffalo, New York, before returning to Greece, three months prior to his birth.
3.
Stavros Niarchos studied law at the University of Athens, after which he went to work for his maternal uncles in the Koumantaros family's grain business.
4.
Stavros Niarchos was a naval officer in World War II, during which time part of the trade fleet he had developed with his uncle was destroyed.
5.
Stavros Niarchos used about two million dollars in insurance settlement to build a new fleet.
6.
Stavros Niarchos was said to be linked to Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy.
7.
Stavros Niarchos is buried in the family tomb in the Bois-de-Vaux Cemetery in Lausanne.
8.
Stavros Niarchos notably excluded Elena Ford his daughter by his ex-wife Charlotte from his will.
9.
Stavros Niarchos began investing in thoroughbred horse racing in the early 1950s and won his first stakes race with Pipe of Peace at the Middle Park Stakes.
10.
Stavros Niarchos acquired the Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard horse breeding farm in Neuvy-au-Houlme, France and Oak Tree Farm in Lexington, Kentucky where in 1984 he bred his most successful horse, Miesque.
11.
Stavros Niarchos was the leading owner in France twice and topped the breeders' list there three times.
12.
Stavros Niarchos's prize horses were all trained by Francois Boutin, whose skill was a vital element of Niarchos' success in the field.
13.
Stavros Niarchos too was successful, her colt Bago winning France's most important race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, in 2004, and her filly Divine Proportions capturing the 2005 Prix de Diane by winning 9 out of her 10 races until a serious tendon injury cut the horse's racing career short.