Thanasis Giannakopoulos

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Thanasis Giannakopoulos (Greek: Θανάσης Γιαννακόπουλος; 1930/31 – 19 March 2019) was a Greek businessman, and a one-time pro sports club owner. The Giannakopoulos family has a combined estimated net worth as per their collective €1 billion business empire.

Giannakopoulos and his brother, Pavlos, were the owners of the pharmaceutical corporation Vianex, which was founded in 1924, by their father, Dimitrios Giannakopoulos, as a small local import and distribution firm.^[1] Vianex currently manufactures and markets, in Greece and elsewhere, a variety of products, in collaboration with leading international firms. The company reported net sales of €240.2 million euros in 2012.^[2]

In 2006, Pavlos' personal fortune was estimated to be €400 million euros, one half of the Giannakopoulos brothers' €800 million euros business empire.^{[citation needed]}

From 1987 to 2012, the Giannakopoulos brothers managed Panathinaikos B.C., Panathinaikos V.C., and all of the Panathinaikos club's amateur sports sections, from the athletics department to the water polo department. Thanasis was also the Chairman of the volleyball and president of Panathinaikos A.O.^{[citation needed]}

Thanasis was also President of the basketball club, from 2002 to 2012. Through 2012, Panathinaikos had won 13 out of the last 15 Greek Basket League championships (excluding the 2001–02, and 2011–12 seasons) and the EuroLeague championship in the years 1996, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, and 2011.^{[citation needed]} The club, during that time, also featured some of the best basketball players from Greece, along with star players from abroad, such as Byron Scott, Dominique Wilkins and Dejan Bodiroga.^{[citation needed]}

The basketball section of the club alone had a reported budget of €35 million in 2009.^{[citation needed]} In 2011, Thanasis and his brother Pavlos, won the EuroLeague Club Executive of the Year Award.^[3] In 2012, Thanasis' nephew, Dimitrios Giannakopoulos, the son of his brother, Pavlos, took over control of Panathinaikos B.C.^{[citation needed]}

Nicknamed as typhoon (tifonas) for his emotional character, Giannakopolous was also famous for his multi-coloured neckties with floral patterns.^{[citation needed]}

Giannakopoulos died from complications of a stroke on 19 March 2019 in Athens.^[4]

• Vianex Website
• Panathinaikos B.C. Website – Board of Directors