Forbes Publishes Article on Demetri Argyropoulos

Demetri Argyropoulos

Forbes Magazine published yet another article, on January 14, 2017, on Demetri Argyropoulos, a member of Leadership 100 and a noted entrepreneur who heads Avant Global, the strategic Investment firm, based in Santa Barbara, California

The author, Patrick Hanlon, in an article titled “The Knight in the Boardroom”, described the unique event that inducted Argyropoulos as the newest member of the most ancient and prestigious Order of Savoy.

The Civil Order of Savoy was founded as an order of knighthood in 1831 by the King of Sardinia, Charles Albert, Duke of Savoy. The intention was to reward those virtues not belonging to the existing Military Order of Savoy, founded by Vittorio Emanuele I in 1815. The order has one degree, that of Knight (Cavalieri dell'Ordine civile di Savoia), and is limited to 70 members. Admission is in the personal gift of the head of the House of Savoy.

According to Hanlon, this came about due to the hallmark of the business philosophy of Argyropoulos that building personal relationships can be overlooked in speed to market, but it is crucial for success. 

Argyropoulos, he says, has been the catalyst in successfully connecting, co-founding, or seeding many dozens of companies in industries from medical devices to Internet advertising. An early investor in Twitter, he has helped raise money for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative, invested in a company cofounded by Lady Gaga, and created strategic relationships for the world's top ten wealthiest families.

Argyropoulos and his partners at Avant Global have generated over $10 billion in value for clients, according to Hanlon.

While a senior at Westmont College, Argyropoulos was introduced to some tech entrepreneurs just as he was going to Europe as part of an international school program. Because the entrepreneurs knew he had some relationships in Europe, they agreed to let him help them forge new strategic partnerships.

In making several large deals before the dot com bubble burst in 1999, “I realized that if you put the right people together you can have great outcomes,” reflected Argyropoulos, as quoted by Hanlon.