Niarchos, Stavros

Niarchos, Stavros (Spyros)

(born July 3, 1909, Athens, Greece—died April 15, 1996, Zürich, Switz.) Greek shipping magnate. He first bought ships to transport wheat for his family's flour mill, then established his own shipping firm, Niarchos Group, in 1939. His ships were used by Allied forces in World War II, and after the war he used the insurance money he gained from ships sunk in combat to buy oil tankers. He favoured large ships, and many of his supertankers (of which Niarchos Ltd. at its height operated more than 80) set world records for size and carrying capacity. His longtime rivalry with Aristotle Onassis was famous.