All the activities engaged in by the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, from the time of its establishment up to the present day, were funded exclusively by the profits of the Business Foundation, which have been achieved thanks to the hard work, clear-sightedness and good planning of its presidency assisted by the board of directors.

The Business Foundation engages in different activities, of which shipping traditionally remains the most significant, continuing the tradition of its founder Aristotle Onassis, who was, according to Lloyds List shipping newspaper, the most important figure in shipping in the 20th century.


The ship management company OLYMPIC SHIPPING AND MANAGEMENT S.A. is the successor of OLYMPIC MARITIME S.A., which was established by Aristotle Onassis in Paris in 1952 and then operated from Monaco until the early 1990s. Olympic Shipping and Management S.A. is established in Palaio Faliro, Athens Greece, and manages a fleet made up of 12 double-hulled tankers and 5 bulk carriers (31.12.2010). 16 out of the 17 ships fly under the Greek flag and 1 under the flag of the Marshall Islands. 

During the 2nd World War, Aristotle Onassis had installed his shipping enterprise in New York.

Around 500 seamen are currently employed, of whom 250 are Greek officers and the remaining 250 foreign sailors. With the support of SPRINGFIELD SHIPPING Co. PANAMA S.A., which has the technical management of the fleet, the guiding principles of OLYMPIC SHIPPING AND MANAGEMENT S.A. are the continuous improvement of the services offered in the areas of safety of the vessels and environmental protection.

In 2010, the assets of the Business Foundation are at least five times greater than those bequeathed in 1975 by Aristotle Onassis, even reckoning without the sum set aside for public benefit purposes over the years since its establishment to the present.

The amount that has been expended on public benefit activities is in todays value double the principal that Aristotle Onassis bequeathed to the Foundation initially.

More specifically, on December 6th 1975, the date of its establishment, the assets of the Business Foundation consisted of the following:

25,5 vessels


20.5 were tankers of a total carrying capacity of 2,539,756 DWT, and 5 were bulk carriers, of a total carrying capacity of 135,244 DWT. At the time the average age of the tankers was 10.6 years and of the bulk carriers 8.2 years.

Liquid assets


Shares, bonds, fixed-term deposits.

Real estate

One building in London and 8000 sq m of land on Syngrou Avenue, Athens, where the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Centre was built.

At present (31.12.2010) the assets controlled ultimately by the Foundation consist of the following:

17 vessels 

of which 12 are high technology double-hulled tankers and 5 are bulk carriers, of a total carrying capacity of 2,574,547 DWT. The average age of the tankers is 12 years. The value of these vessels amounts to several times the value of the vessels inherited by the Foundation from Aristotle Onassis.
 
Liquid assets:
Shares, bonds, fixed-term deposits and other portfolio investments.

Real estate:
The Foundation controls large property holdings in New York, London, Bucharest and Athens, while the real estate inherited from its founder was only one building in London.

The Public Benefit Foundation administers its own real estate using its own services. In all the construction or restoration work undertaken, the contractors have been supervised by or directly answerable to the Foundation.