Onassis

"work. In his mind’s eye he could see Monte Carlo awakening from the unnatural slumber and reverting to the glory of the past. One of his exciting visions was of a new outer harbor big enough to accom¬ modate the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth and attracting a big international cruising clientele. There was not a port in the Mediter¬ ranean capable of taking big passenger liners without subjecting them to the noise, smoke, and dirt of a commercial harbor, as in Genoa, Naples, Marseilles, or Barcelona. In Villefranche and Cannes the swell was so strong that it was impossible to embark or disembark pas¬ sengers during more than six hours at a time. Onassis visualized oceangoing liners coming in like yachts and staying while their pas¬ sengers flew on quick excursions to Paris, London, Rome, anywhere in Europe. It would put Monte Carlo among the great international harbors of the world and, he reckoned, attract two thousand visitors to Monaco every day. A man whose visions quickly solidify into hard figures, he worked out that even at twenty-five dollars a head a day, even without gambling, this represented a secure income of fifty thou¬ sand dollars a day. The project might require an investment of at least thirty million dollars but this was not an amount to deter Onassis."

"They flew in to a tremendous welcome, but one had to know Onassis very well to appreciate the deep-seated streak of humility which made him delight in the opportunity of walking in the shadow of a truly great man. The British Ambassador Sir Charles Duke had traveled from Rabat to meet Sir Winston, King Mohammed’s personal entourage was there to bid him welcome. Omar ben Shemsi, Governor of Marrakesh, resplendent in his colorful robes, extended the city’s greetings, the staff of the Hotel Mamounia was present in force, a Moroccan guard of honor presented arms—it was almost an occa¬ sion of state. Ari Onassis stayed for dinner and promised to return soon with the Christina to take Sir Winston on a cruise. He spent the night at the hotel but was on his way back to Europe before dawn. Someone estimated that it had cost him five thousand dollars to dine with Sir Winston in Marrakesh."

"Not one to look back in anger, Onassis set about infusing new life into his modest little business. When he took it over in the second half of 1956, the Greek National Airline boasted one single DC-4 and only half a dozen DC-3’s; the only foreign service was one weekly flight to Paris and London. What the airline needed was the Onassis touch, the Onassis label, and the Onassis money. He renamed it— what else?—Olympic Airways, formed a new company to which he made about fifteen million dollars available. Operating an airline was a new experience which required close study, and he was soon asking questions, questions, questions, learning as he went and enjoy¬ ing the challenge. Although this was a difficult business involving very big financial risks, he seemed to revel in it. Was it a hobby? The"

"In his mind’s eye he visualized a ship with a capacity of half a mil¬ lion cubic feet of grain, which might have cost one million dollars to build in 1919 or 1920, that is, ten years earlier. Now, in the year 1930, such a ship could be bought for thirty thousand dollars, al¬ though it had run less than half its life span. As an importer always concerned with storage, he calculated that it would cost six or seven times that amount—at least two hundred thousand dollars—to build an open-storage hangar, just a roof without walls, not counting the price of the land. A ten-year-old ship good for another decade would be a floating warehouse for the price of a Rolls-Royce. To Onassis, recalling his reasoning, it had a sound built-in safety factor. Even if his arithmetic proved faulty, nothing was lost, because at that time the ships could have been sold for scrap and would have fetched twice the amount invested."

"He gave the press a lesson in shipping economics. To have a steady source of income, he said, a major tanker operator needed to keep only 40 percent of his ships on medium or long-term charter. “If you manage that, you can go to sleep and laugh about the other sixty per¬ cent.” Smaller operators, keeping their ships on the outside chance of making a profit, were bound to get into trouble, but owners like him could afford to sit tight until the storm was over. Asked how much it cost him to sit tight, he threw out a figure: “Forty thousand dollars a day, I guess.” But one reporter seeing him presiding over a gay party at the Monte Carlo Sporting Club, noted that he did not look like a man who was losing all that money."

"been full. He was in one of his jocular moods: “I am in business only in a little way,” he told a reporter who mentioned his hundred ships, “that’s no more than eight percent of the world’s merchant fleet,” he added, “just a tiny bit.” Monte Carlo, he said, was just a hobby."

"the American Greeks—some years later Onassis was involved in nego¬ tiations to buy Twentieth Century-Fox but they came to nothing. As a matter of fact, though he liked movies, he was never enthusiastic about movie-making and confided to friends that his close association with Hollywood had robbed him of his illusions. The way he put it in his graphic language: “When I saw how the cooking was done, I did not care to eat.”"

"“A curious man, Onassis,” Gratsos said, casting his mind back over these days. “He explores, asks a hundred questions, orders a report, asks more questions arising from it, never accepts a statement without checking. He masters the most complicated subject—then makes his decision.”"

"Onassis’ business conduct. When he has made a decision, his staff takes over, whether it is in Hamburg, where Reiter works for him,"

"Ludwig would never have the bonhomie of Onassis or the polish of Niarchos. He lacked the ability to be witty or make clever small talk. He wasn’t a member of the horsey set, and he had no taste for art. But he was going to have to compete with the Greeks on their turf. He would have to attend white-tie parties, and he would need a yacht as opulent as the Greeks’ on which to entertain Arab sheiks and European oil barons. Maybe he couldn’t make them chuckle the way Onassis and Niarchos could, but at least he wouldn’t look like some hick tankerman from western Michigan. And as long as he got the chance to talk with them face to face, he felt, he could convince them it was worth their while to charter his tankers instead of his rivals’. Over the next decade, D.K. would use the Danginn frequently in this way, cruising the Mediterranean or the Atlantic with a boatload of wealthy guests, usually ones from whom he needed a business favor. For him, the yacht was as much a business craft as any of his tankers, and probably earned him more money than any of them. For example, he hosted Saudi Arabia’s King Ibn Saud in the Persian Gulf as a way of procuring a charter to haul Saudi oil."

"As a "School for Life," Le Rosey is one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world. Prince Rainier III of Monaco, Shah Reza Pahlavi of Persia, Crown Prince Alexander II of Yugoslavia, Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, King Albert II of Belgium, King Fuad II of Egypt are among the alumni. But also the offspring of Elizabeth Taylor, John Lennon, and Diana Ross attended school here, and the heirs of family dynasties such as Rothschild, Benetton, Rockefeller, Onassis, and Niarchos shared the dormitory rooms."

"As a "School for Life," Le Rosey is one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world. Prince Rainier III of Monaco, Shah Reza Pahlavi of Persia, Crown Prince Alexander II of Yugoslavia, Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, King Albert II of Belgium, King Fuad II of Egypt are among the alumni. But also the offspring of Elizabeth Taylor, John Lennon, and Diana Ross attended school here, and the heirs of family dynasties such as Rothschild, Benetton, Rockefeller, Onassis, and Niarchos shared the dormitory rooms."