As one of the most talked-about figures, Aristotle Onassis has built a significant fortune. In this article, we dive deep into the assets and career highlights.
What Was Aristotle Onassis's Net Worth?
Aristotle Onassis put together the largest privately owned shipping fleet in the world. He reached a new level of public recognition in the late '60s when he marriedJacqueline Kennedy, the widow of US PresidentJohn F. Kennedy. Among his other career highlights, Onassis founded the Greek airline company Olympic Airways. Aristotle Onassis passed away on March 15, 1975, at the age of 69 from respiratory failure.
Aristotle also used front companies, through which he famously acquired the company Société des Bains de Mer de Monaco; its assets included the Monte Carlo Casino and the Hôtel de Paris, as well as a third of Monaco's acreage. Although Onassis initially got along with Monaco's leader, Prince Rainier III, their relationship fell apart amid France's boycott of the country and their increasingly conflicting visions of what Monaco should be. Aristotle eventually sold his holdings in SBM to the state of Monaco before leaving the country.
Via a stateless persons passport, Onassis settled in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1923. There, he landed a job as a telephone operator while studying commerce and port-duty administration. Later, Aristotle founded an Argentine import-export company, through which he became successful by importing English-Turkish tobacco. In 1929, he became an Argentine citizen. Onassis went on to establish his first shipping trading company, Astilleros Onassis. He soon expanded his business globally and moved to New York City.
Aristotle Onassis was a Greek-Argentine shipping magnate who had a net worth of $500 million at the time of his death in 1975. That's the same as $2.3 billion after adjusting for inflation today.
Today, Aristotle's granddaughter,Athina Onassis,is the sole heir to his shipping empire. Athina's mother, Christina Onassis, was the daughter of Aristotle. Christina died of a heart attack in 1988. At that point, the 7-year-old Athina inherited a billion-dollar fortune.
Aristotle Onassis was born on January 20, 1906, in Karataş, in what was then Smyrna, Ottoman Empire. His parents were Penelope and Socrates. He had a sister named Artemis as well as two half-sisters from his father's second marriage, Kalliroi and Merope. Due to his father's success as a shipping entrepreneur, Onassis went to prestigious schools, including the Evangelical Greek School. He graduated at the age of 16 with fluency in Greek, Turkish, English, and Spanish. Things took a turn for the worse during the Greco-Turkish War when the Onassis family's property holdings were lost in the takeover of Smyrna by Turkey. Following the massive fire in the city in 1922, Aristotle and his family fled to Greece as refugees.
Continuing to develop his shipping empire, Onassis eventually amassed a fleet of over 70 vessels, including tankers and freighters. The fleet flew mostly Liberian and Panamanian flags, sailing tax-free at low operating costs. Due in large part to Aristotle's general disregard for standard international shipping practices, he made huge profits.
In summary, the total wealth of Aristotle Onassis reflects strategic moves.
Disclaimer: All net worth figures are estimates based on public data.
