Evangelos Marinakis is probably best known as chairman and founder of the Capital Maritime & Trading Corporation. In addition to his extraordinarily successful career in global shipping, Vangelis Marinakis is also a Greek media mogul and member of Piraeus city council, as well as owning controlling shares of the Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos football clubs.
The only son of Miltiadis Marinakis and Eirini Marinaki, Evangelos Marinakis was born in Piraeus, Greece on 30th July 1967. His father was a prominent ship owner and member of the Greek Parliament. Miltiadis Marinakis was also a financial supporter of Olympiacos Football Club, the team of Piraeus, Greece.
After completing his schooling in Greece, Evangelos Marinakis studied in England, earning a bachelor’s degree in international business administration, as well as a master’s degree in international relations. On completing his education, Mr Marinakis followed in his father’s footsteps, commencing a career in international shipping.
From 1992 to 2005, Evangelos Marinakis worked for Capital Ship Management Corporation as a commercial manager. During his tenure, he oversaw the success and growth of many organisations that today form part of the Capital Maritime group.
Evangelos Marinakis founded Capital Maritime & Trading Corporation in 2005, growing the business significantly over the decades. Today, Capital Maritime & Trading Corporation operates an extensive fleet including tankers, container ships and dry bulk carriers.
From 2007 to 2014, Evangelos Marinakis served as Capital Product Partners LP’s chairman of the board. In 2010, he founded Crude Carriers Corporation, overseeing operations until its merger with Capital Product Partners LP in 2011.
In July 2023, Evangelos Marinakis’s $6.5 billion investment in an energy transition fleet was hailed by Tradewinds as a ‘green revolution’. Reflecting on his acquisition of the fleet, which includes the world’s largest liquified CO2 carriers, Mr Marinakis underscored LNG’s capability to significantly reduce CO2 emissions immediately through tested propulsion technology. He explained that while other alternative fuels are likely to play a role in the future, waiting for those technologies to mature and/or the fuel to become available could mean ‘losing years if not decades on the path to decarbonisation.’ In September 2023, Capital Group placed an order for the world’s first ‘giant ammonia carriers’, vessels with a staggering carrying capacity of 88,000 cubic metres.
In addition to acquiring a controlling share in Olympiacos FC, Evangelos Marinakis also purchased a majority stake in Nottingham Forest Football Club, gaining approval from the English Football League for his bold plans to restore the team to its former glory. These plans centred around redeveloping Nottingham Forest’s historic grounds, paving the way for the creation of a worldclass facility that today ranks as the largest football stadium in the East Midlands.
Throughout his career, Evangelos Marinakis has leveraged his position as a business leader and public figure to achieve a positive social impact. In his home city of Piraeus, he used his personal finances to fund extensive redevelopment programmes across the city, financing the creation of new businesses and jobs.
Joining forces with Yannis Moralis, the mayor of Piraeus, Mr Marinakis co-founded the ‘Piraeus Winner’ alliance, becoming an elected member of the city council of Piraeus in 2014. The alliance’s manifesto focused on improving living standards for local people, upgrading infrastructure and establishing Piraeus as an up-and-coming tourist destination.
Evangelos Marinakis played an instrumental role in the creation of a partnership between Olympiacos FC and UNICEF, with the club providing vital funding for a child immunisation scheme. In 2014, following devastating earthquakes in Cephalonia, Mr Marinakis gifted €500,000 of his personal funds to finance school rebuilding programmes across the island. Following the Greek financial crisis, Mr Marinakis gifted €165,590 to Greek Debt Free on behalf of Olympiacos FC.