Wealthiest Greek Americans 2009 the NATIONAL HERALD, MARCH 14, 2009
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The50 Wealthiest Greeks in America The National Herald’s 11th Annual Survey of the 50 Wealthiest Greek Americans The National Herald a b March 14, 2009 www.thenationalherald.com 2 Wealthiest Greek Americans 2009 THE NATIONAL HERALD, MARCH 14, 2009 Deliver At Elmhurst Hospital Center 79-01 Broadway For more information... - Prenatal Appointments - Tours of Birthing Suites - Childbirth Education Classes - PCAP (Prenatal Care Assistance Program) Contact: Patient Care Coordinator Dept. Elmhurst Hospital Center (718) 334 6642 THE NATIONAL HERALD, MARCH 14, 2009 Wealthiest Greek Americans 2009 3 4 Wealthiest Greek Americans 2009 THE NATIONAL HERALD, MARCH 14, 2009 George Phydias Mitchell Struck it Rich Wildcatting for Gas & Oil By Evan C. Lambrou Houston in 1905. He had a cousin from Hurricane Ike this past Sep- troleum industry, I naturally want- Special to The National Herald there who was also from Nastani tember, when needed. ed to pursue that interest. So I had who was operating a small dry During his interview with the to switch universities because Rice NEW YORK – At 89 years of age, cleaning shop and shoeshine parlor Herald, Mr. Mitchell lamented the didn’t have a petroleum engineer- arguably the single wealthiest across the street from the Rice Ho- dwindling of the Greek American ing program. I had to go to a uni- Greek American, who made his for- tel, and my father joined him,” Mr. community in Texas. versity that did, so I went to Texas tune in the petroleum industry, has Mitchell said. “The churches still do pretty A&M to study geology and engi- lived through the Great Depres- The Rice Hotel was a very popu- well, all things considered. Young neering,” he said. sion, and is deeply concerned about lar and upscale establishment, he Greeks, however – it’s unfortunate, “Johnny graduated from A&M the recent economic crisis and the said, so his father and the cousin but they leave. So Greeks can have in 1934, long before I went there. world’s depleting natural re- came into frequent contact with a tough time supporting the He left Exxon, and went on his own sources. “big-time players” like Jesse Jones churches,” he said. with a group of investors, who George Phydias Mitchell was (1874-1956) – the famous Houston Mr. Mitchell recently gave a spent some money to try and get ranked 128th among FORBES 400 politician and entrepreneur who al- $10,000 donation to the Greek Or- production on some oil wells. He richest Americans this past Septem- so served as U.S. Secretary of Com- thodox Archdiocese of America, he started drilling wells in these little ber, just before the economic melt- merce (1940-45) and headed the said, but wasn’t sure if he would fields. So while I was a student at down hit, with an estimated net Reconstruction Finance Corpora- continue giving to the Archdiocese A&M, my brother was out on the worth of $3.2 billion. Among the tion (1932-45), the federal agency on a regular or sustained basis. He field trying to make money,” he world’s billionaires, FORBES which played a major role in com- prefers to keep his philanthropy lo- added. ranked him 349th last year (this bating the Great Depression and fi- cal. As a student at A&M, Mr. year’s list had not yet been generat- nancing industrial expansion in “I have so many commitments Mitchell operated a laundry con- ed at press time). World War II – “the movers and between the Greek churches and cession and sold stationery to help Mr. Mitchell is the son of Greek shakers of Houston.” the Episcopalians here, and what pay his way through school. He immigrants who came to the Unit- Then Savas moved to Galveston, I’m doing with the medical centers, earned a degree in petroleum engi- ed States from the Peloponnese at where he opened his own pressing I’ve got to watch out,” he said. neering, with an emphasis on geol- the turn of the 20th Century. He shop. Mr. Mitchell is now an Episco- ogy. He was also in the university’s and his wife Cynthia have ten chil- “Many respected Galvestonians palian. “I was Orthodox, and my Reserved Officers Training Corps dren, seven sons and three daugh- new him quite well and liked him wife was Catholic, so we compro- (ROTC) program. After he graduat- ters; 26 grandchildren; and two very much, even though he was not mised and became Episcopalians,” ed, he went to Louisiana to work great grandchildren. They reside in educated and had very little money. he said chuckling. “We were pretty for Amoco, but was soon called to The Woodlands, Texas – an award- He was so well thought of, that the active at Saint Francis Episcopal fulfill his military obligation with winning planned community 27 doctors, lawyers and other profes- Church, where we were members the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. miles north of Houston which Mr. sionals and business people helped for many years. We’d go to the “A&M enjoyed the recognition Mitchell founded himself – and are him out. He had a lot of friends,” Greek Church for vacations (Christ- of being the largest university to of- considered among Houston’s lead- Mr. Mitchell said. mas and Easter), but my wife and I fer reserve officers training for the ing citizens. In matters of love, it turns out, took our kids to the Episcopal Army. When I got out after my se- In a rare interview, Mr. Mitchell Savas was quite a determined man. church most of the time.” nior year, the Army offered me a spoke to the National Herald about Mr. Mitchell’s mother, Katina Mrs. Mitchell suffers from permanent position. But I knew I his family history; growing up Eleftheriou, immigrated to this Alzheimer’s Disease. “It’s a very wanted to be in the oil and gas in- Greek in America; his path to suc- country after his father did. She tough disease. We haven’t found dustry. That’s what I spent four cess; philanthropy; and his views emigrated from Argos around any solutions, but we keep looking. years studying to do, so I didn’t about the economy, energy, the en- 1907-08, settling in Tarpon There’s no magic bullet, but there’s want an Army career,” he said. vironment and historical preserva- Springs, Florida. Savas saw a pic- a report every six months about “I wanted to get a job in the oil tion. ture of her in a Greek newspaper what’s going on around the world fields, and Amoco hired me to go HIS IMMIGRANT ROOTS circulating there; liked what he COURTESY OF THE WOODLABDS DEVELOPMENT COMPANY with the research,” Mr. Mitchell down to Southern Louisiana, so af- His father, Savas Paraskevopou- saw; and decided he needed to go George P. Mitchell next to a bronze statue of himself at The Wood- said, noting that he has given tens ter I graduated in June of 1940, I los, emigrated from Nastani, a to Florida to meet her. When he got lands, Texas, an eco-friendly planned town he founded in 1974. of millions to Baylor University & went down to Louisiana. But as a small village about 30 miles north to Florida, Savas not only won Kati- Methodist Hospital, The University reserve officer, I knew it was only a of Tripolis. Mr. Mitchell, who was na’s heart, he persuaded her to 91, but his mother died when together, with a Serbian priest – be- of Texas Medical Branch in Galve- matter of time before they would born in Galveston back in 1919, choose him over another fellow. young George was only 13 years fore the Greeks got enough money ston (UTMD-Galveston), UT put me in the service. The Army first visited his father’s native home “There was an article in the old. to start their own church and get Health Science Center in Houston, called me a year and a half later. when he was in his forties. Greek paper about this Greek beau- Asked for his earliest recollec- their own priest. I remember walk- and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center The Corps of Engineers brought me “It’s a beautiful little village up ty that came from Greece, so he cut tions growing up as a Greek Ameri- ing around that church about ten for Alzheimer’s and cancer re- out from my work in the oil fields in the mountains,” Mr. Mitchell her picture out of that paper, and can in Galveston, Mr. Mitchell said times at Easter when I was about search. for a time,” he said. said in his low, quick yet very carried it with him in his wallet for Galveston’s Greek community was ten years old before the Greek HOW IT ALL STARTED “I had three or four superiors in friendly manner of speaking. “My six months while he tried to figure well-liked and well-respected. He church was built at its current loca- Mr. Mitchell grew up in an im- the Corps of Engineers, and we father took a ship from a little town out a way to get to Florida. He fi- also said he remembered his moth- tion. I never understood why we migrant neighborhood in Galve- were busy at that time working on called Kalmara in 1901, which nally went there and found her. He er was very active in it, and noted had to do that so many times,” he ston known as the “League of Na- major projects in Houston because made its way to Ellis Island.” convinced her not to marry another that his father was a well known lo- said chuckling.