Business Forum Added to Conference
In keeping with the theme of the Conference, “A Vision for the Future of Orthodoxy and Hellenism”, a Business Forum titled “A Vision for the Future of Business” has been scheduled from 4:00 to 5:30 pm on Friday, February 14, 2014, according to Charles. H. Cotros, Chairman of Leadership 100, in announcing the addition to the program. George S. Tsandikos, the Vice Chairman of Leadership 100, who is Managing Director of Rockefeller & Company in New York City, will moderate a panel of three of the most prominent members of Leadership 100, George D. Behrakis, John Catsimatidis, and C. Dean Metropoulos, who will examine the future prospects for business in America and in the world as a result of the economic dislocation of both the national economy and the global economy. The 23rd Annual Leadership 100 Conference, celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Leadership 100, will take place at The Ritz-Carlton, Naples in Naples, Florida, February 13 to 16, 2014.
Behrakis is a pioneer in the pharmaceutical field and a renowned philanthropist in medicine and health, higher education and the arts. He has served on the Boards and supported numerous medical, educational, cultural and religious organizations, including Boston College, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Northeastern University, Harvard University, Tufts University Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He also has served on the Board of Hellenic College/Holy Cross School of Theology and continues to serve on the Executive Committees of the Archdiocesan Council and of Leadership 100, as Chairman Emeritus of the latter.
Catsimatidis is the Chairman and CEO of the Red Apple Group, which has holdings in oil refining, retail petroleum products, convenience stores, real estate, aviation, and supermarkets, with investments in both medical and industrial technology. In 2013, Catsimatidis sought the Republican nomination for Mayor of New York City. Starting as a relatively unknown businessman, Catsimatidis finished second with 41% of the vote against an establishment candidate. Catsimatidis's civic and charitable interests include the Hellenic Times Scholarship Foundation, the New York Police Athletic League (PAL), the Boy Scouts, the Ellis Island Awards Foundation, the Law Enforcement Foundation, and the Juvenile Diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Research Foundations. He is the co-founder and major supporter of the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation. He has served as Vice Chairman of the Archdiocesan Council, and sits on the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees of Leadership 100.
C. Dean Metropoulos is currently Chairman and CEO of Metropoulos & Company, a boutique acquisition and management firm with offices in New York and Greenwich, Connecticut. He has spent the past 25 years building, restructuring and growing numerous businesses in the U.S., Mexico and Europe. Many of these were subsequently taken public or sold to strategic corporations. Metropoulos & Company is very well known in the private equity, investment banking, and financial community, and is widely recognized as the leading investment firm in the consumer space, having acquired and repositioned more than 300 brands worldwide, and with more than 78 acquisitions involving over $48 billion in invested capital. Dean’s sons, Evan and Daren, also principals at Metropoulos & Company, are often credited with many of the unique marketing strategies that have re-launched and reestablished many of the iconic brands that the company has built and reinvigorated. A long time member of Leadership 100, he was recently elected President of Faith: An Endowment for Orthodoxy and Hellenism.
