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 Business could change a life. George
Argyros is such a good example who altered his fortune by making business
started from very early of his life. Serving as an employee in a simple grocery
store worth of 25 cent for an hour, Argyros later becomes the boss of some big
business groups like Apria Healthcare, Arnel Management Company, property
Management Company. Besides, some social contributions made him popular among
the people around the world. He was also given responsibility to represents his
own country to other land.
Five things make George different
Argyros is especially known for his five
major distinguish features. First of all, he got familiarity as one of the key
donor. At the same time, he took oath as an ambassador of United States to the
Kingdom of Spain in 2001, wrote his name under the billionaire list becoming
proprietor of the Seattle Mariners and possessing more than 1.8 billion US
dollar, turned him to be a Republican's (USA) campaign chairman of California
in 2000 (for John McCain's presidential period) and finally developed his
business locally and nationally as well.
Personal touch
A little child named George Argyros came in
this world in 1937 in the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.
Though George is a second generation American, his forefather in fact migrated
from Greece. His family switched from Michigan to California where George
passed a long period of his life. At present he lives at Newport Beach.
Argyros studied at Michigan State University
and completed his graduation degree in Business and Economics from the
University of Chapman in 1959. Argyros got married with Julia. The couple
has three more children named George, Lisa and Stephanie while they have a
number of grandchildren as well. The former USA ambassador has some special
interest in sailing, hunting and skiing.
Grocery boy becomes boss
Having about 25 cents for an hour in a store
selling food and household goods, George Argyros entered into his working life
while he was just 14 year-old-boy. With a view to helping the family, Argyros was
continuing his work in grocery store besides his study. When he jumped into
college, George started the business of retail food selling. And finally when
he graduated became supermarket manager holding the license in securities,
insurance and real estate.
In 1963, Argvros involved in real estate
business in full wing and launched his personal brokerage office. Keeping good
adjustment with the business, he later opened a new company named Arnel
Development Company.
In the century of nineteen seventies,
Argvros expanded his business. The AirCal, an important West Coast local
airline, and the Seattle Mariners, Major League Baseball team, are the two best
examples for his business diversification. He established Arnel Development
Company in 1986 that worked in the field of construction, development and
management. Now he holds the position of chairman and CEO (Chief Executive
Officer) of the company. Likewise, Argvros is the key financial partner of Westar
Capital.
At least 5200 apartments along with two
million square feet commercial space is allocated under George's Arnel and its
affiliated company. Besides, Argyros invested in other fields like auto
technology called Amerigon, coolers (Igloo), pet products (Doskocil) and so on.
Honor for successful businessman
The entrepreneur George L. Argyros was
awarded the Norman Vincent Peale Award in 2003 by the Horatio Alger
Association. The association nominated Argyros for his continuing involvement
in organization where he contributed more than $5 million.
Being an eminent American, he was given the
Horatio Alger Award in 1993 while in 2001 he received the Ellis Island Medal of
Honor.
Getting familiarity with entrepreneurship,
George Argvros became the board of trustee of the University of Chapman (25
years) while he held the post of board chairman during 1976 to 2001. Besides,
he was also the member of different trustee boards such as California Institute
of Technology, alma mater (more than 26 years), Center for Strategic,
International Studies situated in Washington DC, Tecstar and the chairman of
the Apria Healthcare Group.
Public outrage
There was a buzzing noise that George
Argyros spent more than $ 30 million in support of George W Bush's presidential
election campaign in 2001 and that was the reason for selecting his name as an
ambassador to Spain.
Spending about $30,000 to Rackauckas's (a
district attorney) campaign, Argyros saved himself from a confirmed accusation
complained by a tenant. A lawsuit was filed against Argyros's land
company- Arnel Management as it was accused of gouging million of dollars from
the tenants illegally. In addition, many allegations were raised
against Argyros that were also published in different dailies and weekly as
well.
Md. Asraful Alam
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