To Catch A Sunbeam

Daily Mirror - Thursday 24 July 1975 "NOT since Solomon met the Queen of Sheba has there been such a meeting of assets. The marriage of Christina Onassis and Alexander Andreadis brings together a staggering fortune of about £624,312,200.  The Onassis fortune, comprising banking, industry, construction, real estate, shipping and transport, as well as a huge gold holding, was assessed last year as being worth £330,734,300.  The late Aristotle, Christina's father, sold the Olympic Towers block in Fifth Avenue, New York, after the computation. It was valued at £22,934,779, but was so heavily mortgaged, that the sale does not alter the total fortune.  However, the slump in tanker rates and values could have wiped out about £36,897,247 of the Onassis millions, bringing the total fortune down to around £225,000, 600. Christina controls a comforting 45 percent."

Belfast News-Letter - Tuesday 29 November 1966 "Bartram and Son Ltd., ship builders of Sunderland., announced last night an order for their first SD14 Liberty replacement design cargo ship from Deko Trading S.A. of Panama, a member of the Onassis group".  The article also added that the joint managing director of Bartram's said that this was the first time that the Onassis group had built new tonnage in Britain. 

Belfast News-Letter - Wednesday 21 May 1969   "Mr Aristotle Onassis, Greek millionaire and husband of Jackie Kennedy, who holds £2,000,000 worth of shares in Messrs. Harland & Wolff, can now vote at company meetings." The article states that an 11 year ban on foreign nationals holding shares from voting was lifted yesterday, when a special resolution giving effect to this procedure was passed unanimously at an "extraordinary general meeting" in Belfast. The ban had been introduced in 1858 by the chairmen, Sir Frederick Rebbeck, who feared that the yard would be taken over by foreign investors. They felt that by 1969 that the reintroduction of this voting rights would make any difference in the control of the company or lead to any take over moves. 

 Daily Express - Saturday 25 April 1959 "Last night Panama's President de la Guardia introduced a new name into the mystery - shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis one of the most important canal users and a friend of Roberto Arias, whose firm looks after the Onassis shipping interests in the area.  President de la Guardia, telling reporters in Panama about an occasion when officials could not contact Dr Arias as ambassador in London, said: "He was probably running around the world with Onassis. If I'd been President (it was before he took office) I'd have fired him". Meanwhile the revolve allegedly backed by Mr Arias is continuing in the Panama cordilleras.  The young rebels who only three weeks ago seized some arms and declared war on the regime are still sniping it out with de la Guardia's troops.  The essential difference between this and other attempts to throw off what young Panamanian hot-heads call "the Yankee yoke" is that this time powerf...

Wolverhampton Express and Star - Monday 11 July 1977 "Shipping heiress Christina Onassis and her husband of two years, Alexandros Andreadis, have divorced.  The divorce court in Athens said the dissolution was at the request of both parties, and did not elaborate.  

This article appeared in the "HAVE YOU HEARD" column "Jackie Onassis would like to be U.S. Ambassador in Paris, or failing that, London. The settlement with the Onassis family of 5 million, in place of the income she was to have received from her late husband's will, puts her personal fortune at about 15 million dollars."