Quick Facts
Biography
Thanasis Laskaridis (Greek: Θανάσης Λασκαρίδης; born 1953) is a Greek shipowner and businessman based in United Kingdom. He is the president and CEO of Lavinia Corporation. He is also founder of The People's Trust in Greece and co-founder of Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation. He has six children.
Biography
Early life and education
He was born in Athens, Greece, to Konstantinos (Constantine) and Aikaterini (Kaiti) Laskaridis and has one older brother, Panos Laskaridis. He graduated from the German School of Athens in 1970 and went on to receive a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering at Aston University of Birmingham in 1973, a Master's degree in Systems Engineering at Imperial College London in 1974 and a second Master's degree in Economics and Finance at the London School of Economics in 1975.
Business interests
During the mid-'70s he started his occupation in shipping by taking control of the small family fishing company along with his brother, Panos. The two brothers are the majority shareholders of Lavinia Corporation, a shipping group holding company that controls Laskaridis Shipping, an Athens based management company founded in 1977 which operates reefer ships, petrol tankers, dry bulk carriers, ship repair facilities, and marine terminals.
His business activities also span across the hospitality (Laskaridis and his family controls numerous hotels in European countries like the landmark hotels Grande Bretagne and King George of Athens, Hyatt Regency Belgrade, Lucknam Park in UK etc), real estate, airline industries (as a minority shareholder in Aegean Airlines) and other enterprises.
Charity and donations
In 1993, Laskaridis brothers founded Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation in memory of their mother. The foundation is actively supporting cultural and educational projects in Greece. Laskaridis and his brother have donated to numerous causes such as the Hellenic Coast Guard, the Greek navy, the Union of Greek Shipowners' charitable trust, fresh water supply projects for refugees in northern Greece and a number of Greek charitable organisations engaged with the wellbeing of children in need. Laskaridis has also donated to the London School of Economics in support of the Hellenic Observatory, where he sits on the Advisory Board.
In 2014, he financed with €1.8 million the restoration of Syntagma Square, the central square of Athens that had been damaged during riots and vandalism in previous years. Laskaridis is also the founder of The People's Trust in Greece, a charitable trust dedicated to small grants for startup companies and general charity.
For his donations to Greek Navy and coast guard, Thanasis Laskaridis has been awarded by the Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy and the Hellenic Coast Guard. He is also a honorary member of the latter organisation.