George Logothetis, Executive Chairman of Libra Group, delved into the intimate details of his life story and career in an interview during Marine Money Week that has since gone viral on YouTube.
Marine Money Week is the “largest annual gathering of the most active dealmakers in global ship finance.” Logothetis delivered an impactful keynote speech at the event held in New York City, attended by some of the biggest names in the industry.
Logothetis, who was born in London to Greek parents, has been immensely successful in several industries, including shipping, aviation, energy, real estate, hospitality, and more. Reflecting on his experiences, the businessman said “The worst of times can be the best of times if you have unity, purpose, courage, and no fear.”
Who is George Logothetis?
At the age of 19, Logothetis became CEO of his family’s company, Lomar Shipping. The shipping business was grown into a modern and diversified 55-vessel fleet over 10 years, after which he founded Libra Group in 2003 at the age of 28.
Today, Libra Group includes 30 operating entities: 20 businesses predominately focused on aviation, energy, maritime, real estate, hospitality, and diversified industries, as well as 10 social initiatives.
The Group applies the strength of this global network and its capabilities to deliver cross-sector insights and growth at scale, while supporting human potential, thus combining growth with philanthropy.
Logothetis is also proud of his Greek heritage. Earlier this year, he acted as the grand marshall at the 2023 Greek Independence Gala in New York. “Freedoms that were born more than 2,000 years ago and laid dormant for many dark centuries, were reborn in this country 250 years ago. The birth of America was conceived by an idea that was once Greece,” he told the audience.
Early life and career
Logothetis spoke at length about his early life and how he became involved in his family’s shipping company during the interview arranged by Marine Money.
“I grew up in London, my father grew up in East Africa – Tanzania – my mother grew up in Wales,” explained Logothetis. “They didn’t have anything. They managed to create something from nothing in the way many Greek immigrants and other immigrants have done.”
Whereas the shipping families of his peers had relatively large fleets of 20 or so vessels, the Logotehtis family had only one 30-year-old reefer and were “looked down upon” as a result. This was something that George Logothetis and his brothers wanted to change, and they were motivated to grow the family business.
“So, the ambition was very raw,” reflected the entrepreneur, “And, I think if you fight and strive for something you have deep faith in, you have access to renewable energy of self.”
Logothetis did not attend college but instead learned about the shipping industry from his father. At the time, Lomar Shipping mainly transported food items that required refrigeration on ships called reefers.
“I was the ambition vehicle and he was the teaching vehicle,” recalled Logothetis on the lessons learned from his father.
Taking over the family business
When he was still in his late teens, Logothetis’ parents divorced and in his own words, “Someone had to step up and it ended up being me that stepped up.”
He took over Lomar Shipping in 1995 and set about expanding the business, describing the first ten years as “very hard.”
“Nothing was easy, nothing of value in this world is easy,” Logothetis said. “The worst of times could be the best of times if you have unity and purpose and courage and no fear.”
Over time, Lomar Shipping’s fleet grew and the company expanded. “We carried a lot of cargo in Cuba, we carried a lot of fruit up to Northern Europe,” said Logothetis. “It was a reefer company that started diversifying into bulk and containers.”
Founding of Libra Group
Logothetis founded Libra Group at the age of 28. During the interview, he explained how he was inspired to set up the company by a book he read during a sabbatical about the Rothschild banking business.
According to the book, Rothschild sent his five sons across Europe to set up banks. “I remember thinking, hold on man, if he can do it then with horses as communication, why don’t we do it now?” recalled Logothetis.
“So, I wrote on a piece of paper all the places that we wanted to be in over the next 20 years, and here we are 20 years later,” he continued.
Today, Libra Group is active in almost 60 countries and is even the first company to begin leasing a broad portfolio of space assets.
“Secrets” for success
When asked about his “secrets” for making well-timed business entries and exits, Logothetis was keen to stress that there were no “secrets” per se, and that his company’s successes had been collective endeavors. Nevertheless, the CEO did give four pieces of advice.
“Number one: discipline,” said Logothetis. “Shipping is a very volatile market… Boom is followed by bust is followed by boom… So, discipline, number one.”
As for the second lesson, Logothetis referred to the advice of fellow shipping magnate Udi Angel, who told him to “Buy expensive and sell cheap.”
Logothetis, who was 18 at the time he met Angel, asked the Israeli businessman to explain further. He said “When the market is bad and a ship is one million dollars, buy it for 1.2… When that ship is five, sell it for four and a half.”
The third lesson is to “read the body language.” Logothetis used the anecdote of his meetings with business leaders in the aerospace shipping industries to explain. At the time, aerospace was in a slump, and the people he met from that industry all looked “depressed”. Meanwhile, the maritime sector was doing exceptionally well and the leaders in the industry had much more positive body language. Logothetis used this information to make wise investments.
The fourth lesson, or “secret”, is “creating space”. By this, Logothetis means taking time off from work to allow ideas to develop. He related a trip to Cuba with Obama in 2016 that gave him time and space to reflect on important business decisions. He was unable to take a phone or laptop on the trip with the US president for security reasons and was thus cut off from the daily noise of the business. Logothetis believes that this time away allowed him to make better decisions when he returned.
Watch the video:
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