JAN 2011 $3.95 Ted Leonsis' far-ranging success story MANA products and Nikos Mouyiaris, President, extend their wishes for Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year to all! Mana is your partner in creating cosmetics, skincare and haircare products that perform as well as they look and feel. Let us help you to make 2011 more beautiful! (718) 361-2550, (718) 786-3204 32-02 Queens Blvd., Long Island City, New York 11101 A big man with a big vision Ted Leonsis is a big burly man who has tackled a number of business enterprises with astonishing success and a flair for the big vision that seems to be his trademark. :: magazine Perhaps it comes from his early days growing up in Brooklyn, where a FOUNDED IN 2005 BY teacher once famously told his parents: “I don’t think Ted is college Demetrios Rhompotis material.” What he did to prove her wrong is the stuff of the Leonsis legend: when Dimitri Michalakis his parents moved back to Lowell, Massachusetts, where they had lived before he was born, Leonsis drove a forklift at night and worked in a FROM THE EDITOR :: magazine Kyprianos Bazenikas dress factory by day, sold shoes on Wisconsin Avenue, and also bagged groceries at the Demoulas Market. “My destiny was to bag groceries, move up to cashier, then manager of the PUBLISHED MONTHLY IN NEW YORK Publishing produce department, then, if I really worked hard, I would get to manage a store.” Committee Chairman Instead he graduated Georgetown University, and after college he worked in the public relations Editor in Chief: Demetrios Rhompotis department at Wang Labs, where he found his calling: “Ted is an interesting guy, a curious guy, a bright guy,” Dimitri C. Michalakis (718) 554-0308 said John Cunningham, who worked with him at Wang. “He loves the limelight, more so than most people.” [email protected] [email protected] His instinct for marketing led him to start Redgate Communications, which put catalogues on CD-ROMs, but the company had some cliff-hangers, as in the winter of 1988, when it didn’t have enough money to meet its Lifestyle Editor Director of Operations payroll. His wife Lynn was pregnant with their first child, around the same time his mother had died, and it Maria A. Pardalis Kyprianos Bazenikas was at the funeral that Leonsis realized he might also lose his company. [email protected] [email protected] “I don’t think Christmas is going to be too good, Ted,” one company executive told him, “We’ve got $7 in our Western Region Desk corporate checking account.” Marketing & Advertising Director “I had 30 seconds of self-pity,” Leonsis said. - Los Angeles Joanna Xipa Tommy Harmantzis He mortgaged some land the couple owned in Florida, then he called an investor and borrowed $500,000. (347) 613-4163 (That investor, said Leonsis, “made like $40 million on his investment.”) By 1994, the company had 120 (760) 805-1691 [email protected] people on the payroll and billings of $70 million a year, which is when Steve Case and AOL came calling. AOL [email protected] ATHENS - GREECE bought Redgate and Leonsis became an executive and later president of AOL. Alexander Mizan Public Relations & “How do I get office furniture?” Leonsis asked on his first day. “Work late,” Case answered him. [email protected] Marketing Director At AOL, Leonsis became the “visionary” and marketing whiz, running the company’s online service, and heading AOL Studios, which developed the company’s Internet shows and original programming. Before - San Jose Office Margarita Vartholomeou the Time Warner merger, he also headed the instant messaging service ICQ, and the movie listing and Andrea Photopoulos [email protected] ticketing service MovieFone. [email protected] NEO Magazine “This is a great time to be alive,” Leonsis admitted at the time of the hurly-burly of his business life, but he also Baltimore Desk is published monthly by compiled a personal two-page list of “101 Things to Do” after suffering a scare in 1983 when a flight he was Georgia Vavas traveling on nearly crash-landed. “I don’t want to die,” he remembered thinking. “I told myself that if I live, Neocorp Media Inc. [email protected] P.O. Box 560105 I’m going to play offense.” College Point, NY 11356 He’s since checked off most of the items on his to-do list (including doing stand-up comedy, catching a foul Photo/Fashion Phone: (718) 554-0308 ball off Mookie Wilson at the Mets training camp, and giving to charity and his alma mater: “I’m the youngest New York: ETA Press person in the school’s history to give a million bucks”). Said AOL Time Warner head Steve Case, “He’s e-Fax: (718) 878-4448 [email protected] [email protected] blasting right through them. He wants to live life fully. He sets targets and he achieves them.” “I want to hand out copies at my funeral and have people say, ‘I was with him when he did Number 12,’” said Los Angeles: Nick Dimitrokalis Leonsis. He said others have made their own lists and “they call me to brag about it.” (951) 764-5737 Top items on his list related to sports (he played intramural basketball and street hockey) and No. 65 was to [email protected] own a sports franchise, which he ticked off when he bought the Washington Capitals and a minority share in a sports conglomerate that owned the Washington Wizards basketball team and brought in Michael Jordan as a Graphic Design minority partner and president of basketball operations. NEOgraphix “This is great,” Leonsis boasted at a hockey game as the newly-minted team owner (though mostly he’s soft- Adrian Salescu spoken and professorial and only has the give-away New England twang). “This is what I want.” Athens Desk “I’m only scared of what I don’t know,” he once said, and he likes to borrow a quote: “The best way to predict Konstantinos Rhompotis the future is to invent it.” (01130) 210 51 42 446 (01130) 6937 02 39 94 [email protected] Check our website Dimitri C. Michalakis www.neomagazine.com Toula Bogdanos, Tasoula Mastorakis, Evdokia Kakatsakis, Elena Webster, Maria Stratoudakis, Dr. Lorraine Chrisomalis-Valasiadis, Helene Kanelis, Engie Lingass, Valerie Justin, Maria Hatgidimitriou, Kathyepole, Cherpelis, Anastasia Irena Papoutsis Vicky Giouroukakis, Aristea Moustakas Papavangjeli, Christina Hagopian; standing: Alexis R PHOTOS: ET A PRESS Andrea Megaris, Catherine Giuliani, Maria Karalis Maria Frantzis, Katharine Pritsos, Maria Plitas, Andrea Megaris, Alexandra Tsiatis, Maritza Pritzos Hellenic Professional Women Host Their Holiday Networking Event Recently, Hellenic Professional Women, Inc. [HPW] hosted their Holiday Networking Event at Kellari Taverna in New York City. The event provided an opportunity to toast the season with old and new friends and look ahead to Alexia Kontogiannis, Penny Stefanakis, 2011. Dr. Toula Georgiou, Dr. Stella Lymberis Hellenic Professional Women, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating and enhancing professional opportunities for Greek-American women and students through networking, mentoring and education. Founder, insurance executive, Maria Frantzis, has created a group that helps members advance their professional goals, build personal relationships, and promote their businesses while developing vibrant employment and mentorship programs. A primary focus is to advance the goals of the next generation of young professionals. The Annual Career and Employment Forum will be held on Saturday, January 22, 2011 at Kellari Taverna from 8AM -12:15PM. The event will offer attendees Mary Zias, Christina Tettonis, Nomiki Makrinos, the opportunity to hear presentations from successful professionals, network Georgia Kaloidis, Mary Filippakis, Anna Hasapoglou with professionals from a wide range of fields and participate in workshops on employment related topics. This will be an excellent venue for college students to connect with Greek-American professional women and explore career paths and summer internship opportunities. HPW meets every six-eight weeks in various locations throughout the New York metropolitan area. For additional information those interested should contact Maria Frantzis, [email protected] This past October, HPW presented Ellen Constantinides, Chief Operating Officer of Global Sourcing and Operations for Phillips Van-Heusen Corporation [PVH], as the featured speaker at their meeting. Fo r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n o n t h e H P W t h e i r w e b s i t e i s : Alexandra RIgas, Penny Georgagopoulos, Menia Skreki, www.hellenicprofessionalwomen.org Ronnie Kratsios, Siss Nikolaou, Georgia Kaitery, Joanne Manis 8 January 2011 Event Season's Greetings from Mike & Libby Angeliades Zoe Moshovitis and Genevieve Stefatos Libby Angeliades with daughters Alana and Aegina From left, Anthe and Alana Mike & Libby Angeliades with children (from left) Alana, Aegina, Irena and Phaedra and husband Emmanuel PHOTOS: ET Mike Angeliades of M.A. Angeliades, Inc. and his wife Libby hosted their annual Christmas party this past December at the Water's Edge Restaurant in Long Island City, New York. A PRESS More than 200 guests, among them family members, friends, business associates and employees gathered to toast to another year of success and hard work, having New York City skyline as background and the sounds of beautiful Greek music by the Mike Angeliades, Jim Stefatos, George Mikrokosmos Ensemble setting the beat. Cleo Kordis and Vali Stathopoulos Kasselakis and Vali Stathopoulos Mike Angeliades has hosted this Christmas party since 1985 and he takes the opportunity to wish all those close to him Season's Greetings and a Happy New Year. M.A. Angeliades, Inc. provides high-quality construction, construction management and design/build services to the construction industry in the tri-state area.