Vardis Vardinogiannis

Vardis Vardinogiannis (born 4 December 1933; Βαρδής Βαρδινογιάννης) is a Greek billionaire oil and shipping businessman. He is the chairman and controlling shareholder of Motor Oil Hellas, Vegas Oil and Gas and involved in numerous other shipping and business interests. Vardinogiannis was included in Lloyd's List's Most Influential People in Shipping, and the Forbes List with an estimated fortune of US$2.7 billion.

Early life
Vardinogiannis was born in Episkopi, Rethymno, Crete, the son of a farmer family from Agios Ioannis, Sfakia which later moved to Episkopi in the early 20th century. Vardinogiannis took elementary school during the Second World War, when Crete was occupied by the Germans. In the postwar years he moved to Athens, where he entered the Hellenic Naval Academy, from which he graduated in 1955 as an officer of the Greek Navy.

Business interests
Vardinogiannis and its relatives has spread its net worldwide and control numerous successful companies in a variety of sectors. The interests include petroleum, shipping, banking, media, real estate, hotels, publishing and charity work. As of 2015, the Vardinogiannis family have stakes in 98 companies in total in Greece and abroad.

Personal life
He married Marianna Mpournaki, and had five children, including Giannis Vardinogiannis. He is also the brother of shipping tycoon Yiorgos Vardinogiannis, known for being president of Panathinaikos F.C.

Shipping, embargo in Rhodesia
In subsequent years the four brothers continued to extend the group, staying away from publicity. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the group expanded in the new independent states of the former communist bloc, obtaining contracts for the opening of new highways in Ukraine and Georgia. The Vardinogiannis brothers owned the merchant ship Ioanna V which, in 1966, broke the UN-imposed and British-enforced embargo on the Rhodesia regime and brought in oil to the Portuguese Mozambique port of Beira, which was connected with landlocked Rhodesia by a pipeline. This move yielded huge profits to the Group.

Murder Attempt
On 20 November 1990, the Greek terrorist group Revolutionary Organization 17 November attempted to murder him. He was saved while inside his highly armored car.

Friendship with the Kennedy family
Vardis Vardinogiannis and his wife Marianna are among the founders of the Robert Kennedy leadership council along with Bill Clinton and other world leaders. The wedding of Rory Kennedy, daughter of Robert and Ethel Kennedy with Mark Bailey was celebrated in Vardinogiannis's Greek mansion in upscale Ekali Athens. The wedding of her older sister Rory, Courtney Kennedy with the Irishman Paul Hill in 1993 was celebrated on the luxury yacht Varmar owned by Vardinoyannis.