Aristotle Onassis

Greek shipping magnate (1906–1975)

  • Fame66.7
  • Momentum10.0
  • Turkey rank#148
Source-basedFalling
  • Fame66.7
  • Momentum10.0
  • Turkey rank#148
  • Founders rank#57
  • Wikipedia134.9K
Lived 1906–1975, aged 69Turkey
  • Wikipedia
    64 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Rank in Turkey
    #148
    Founders
  • Era
    1906–1975
    Aged 69
  • Known for
    Maria
    2024
Summary
Updated 2026-08-18

He built the world's largest private shipping empire, bedded an opera diva, and married a president's widow — but the Greek refugee who turned war into fortune and Monaco into his chessboard couldn't outrun the loss that broke him.

Biography

About

Born in Smyrna in 1906, Onassis fled with his family to Greece after the city burned in 1922. He landed in Argentina the following year with little and made his first fortune trading tobacco, then pivoted to ships during the Second World War when others were too frightened to buy. By the 1950s he'd moved to Monaco and locked horns with Prince Rainier III over control of the country's economy through his stake in SBM and the Monte Carlo Casino, while chasing oil contracts with Saudi Arabia and launching whaling ventures. He founded Olympic Airways in 1957, sold it in the '60s, and tried to lock…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Aristotle Onassis

Aristotle Onassis
saidundated
Five tankers—and the only time I had to put my hand in my pocket was to scratch my balls.
Quoted in Peter Evans, Ari: Life and Times of Aristotle Socrates Onassis, (1978), p. 118 (p. 107 in the 1986 Summit Books edition)
Aristotle Onassis
saidundated
I guess the kid had everything but the luck.
Quoted in Peter Evans, Ari: Life and Times of Aristotle Socrates Onassis, (1978) (p. 217 in the 1986 Summit Books edition)
Aristotle Onassis
saidundated
I consider a good reputation is a great part of the human happiness. Some people, if they are very, very rich can permit themselves certain negligence to their reputations.
Quoted in Peter Evans, Ari: Life and Times of Aristotle Socrates Onassis, (1978) (p. 73 in the 1986 Summit Books edition)
Aristotle Onassis
saidundated
Millions do not always add up to what a man needs out of life.
Quoted in Peter Evans, Ari: Life and Times of Aristotle Socrates Onassis, (1978) (p. 283 in the 1986 Summit Books edition)
Aristotle Onassis
saidundated
If women didn't exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning.
Quoted in Barbara Rowes, The Book of Quotes (1979)
Where to find them

Platforms

By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Falling
66.7
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum10.0
Historical28.9
Now attention27.5
Source confidence65.0
Completeness75.0
Receipts

Sources

  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence