Panagiotis Tsakos & family

About Panagiotis Tsakos & family

Panagiotis Tsakos is the founder of Tsakos Group, an Athens-based shipping company that owns more than 110 oil tankers, LNG vessels, container ships and dry cargo vessels.

Born on the island of Chios in a family of seafarers, he started the business in 1970. His son Nikolas joined the family firm in the mid-1980s.

In 1993, Nikolas set up tanker firm Tsakos Energy Navigation. One of the first tanker firms to go public, Nikolas listed it on the Oslo stock exchange in 1993 and in New York in 2002.

Nikolas has served as president and CEO of Tsakos Energy Navigation since 1993 and now runs the business, which he owns along with his father Panagiotis.

Panagiotis and Nikolas also own other investments including a mineral water brand, renewable energy projects, forestry, real estate and a stake in a Greek bank.