George Economou was invited to assess what shipping might look like in five or 10 years at a time when he will be “sitting on a beach in St Barth’s”, and was quick to interject.
“I don’t think so,” he said of any suggestion he will be in full retirement mode.
“I probably will be spending more time out of the office,” he said, but not out of shipping.
Acquiring real estate in Saint Barthelemy, the posh French territory in the Caribbean, is just one of the things Economou does when he is not working on shipping deals.
“St Barth’s is just a hobby,” Economou said during at Marine Money last week.
Art collecting is another hobby for the Greek owner. He has been buying since 2001 and, for the past five years, has been named one of the world’s top 200 collectors by the ARTnews publication.
His collection ranges from Picasso to early 20th century German and Austrian artists, and he has a private museum in Athens.
The source of money for his hobbies, of course, has been shipping.
Economou is most famous for DryShips’ 14-year run as a public company.
The firm also spawned a public spin-off in deepwater drilling called Ocean Rig UDW, which, after a bankruptcy reorganisation in 2017, was acquired in 2018 by Transocean.
Economou also heads private Cardiff Marine, his primary vehicle for shipowning and management over the years.
Economou has long held a 49% interest in Connecticut pools operator Heidmar. After selling the stake to DryShips in 2018, Economou earlier this year bought the remaining 51% in Heidmar, which was mainly held by financial power Morgan Stanley.
Economou’s entry into public markets came via the $175m he raised in 1998 through junk bond company Alpha Shipping, which defaulted within a year of the issue. He ultimately paid 37 cents on the dollar for the debt and retained control of the fleet.
