Business and pleasure was at the forefront of Bill Gates’ brief stay in Greece. Greek hospitality, the sun and the turquoise waters of the Aegean, in fact, seem to have whetted the investment appetite of the Microsoft co-founder. Thus, in case the information that wants him to be interested in acquiring a cluster of islands in the South Evia is correct, in the future he will repeat the route Seattle – Athens many times.
On the other hand, his schedule – last weekend – included what one would expect from a tycoon: arrival in the VIP area of Eleftherios Venizelos by private jet, accommodation in the presidential suite of Grande Bretagne hotel, visit to the Acropolis, a stroll along the pedestrian way of Dionysiou Areopagitou (accompanied by a strong security team), discussions for the expansion of his business activities in the country and of course a short escape to Mykonos (by helicopter). It was preceded by a lightning trip to Madrid, where he met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, with whom he also focused on future business.
Acquisition of islands
This seems to have preoccupied him during his stay on the island of the Winds, where, according to information, he discussed the acquisition of property both in Mykonos and part of the Petalioi complex, between Marmari, Evia and Rafina. The “Greek Maldives”, with its rich prehistory of equally rich owners, have a total area of 22.5 square kilometers and consist of 10 islands and islets that administratively belong to the Municipality of Karystos. Their property titles over the centuries have passed – in whole or in part – by Omer Pasha of Karystos, who according to legend housed his numerous harem, Ioannis Paparrigopoulos, Tsar Nicholas I, the son and successor of Alexander B ‘and from him, in 1867, as a wedding gift, to his niece of Olga Konstantinovna, later Queen Olga of Greece.
In the end, Petalioi were lost as property of the Greek throne almost 50 years later. In 1916, the then prince and later king George II sold them to shipowner Mari Empirikos, who shortly before the end of his life divided the islands with the crystal clear waters to his descendants, Andreas and Perry. They, in turn, transferred their land to the company Ktima Petalioi SA, which proceeded to their partial sale to Greek and foreign jet-setters. On the golden beaches but also in the luxurious villas of Mikro and Megalo Petali, Tragonisi, Founta, Lamperousa, Avgou, Loulouda and their younger “brothers”, businessmen, artists and glitterati have since enjoyed moments of absolute privacy.
For a long time, half of the island complex passed to shipowner Spyros Karnesis, with the remaining 50% remaining in the ownership of the Empirikos family. In the 1980s, Pablo Picasso’s daughter and son, Paloma and Claude, bought the land that once housed Queen Olga’s cottage, which (and not only) the David family has recently shown interest in. Maria Callas also had a luxurious accommodation in Megalo Petali (or Meganisi or Pontikonisi), with the society columns of Athenian newspapers of the past decades including names such as Greta Garbo, Rudolf Nureyev and Winston Churchill included in the list of visitors to Petali.
Three data centers
However, apart from Petalioi, which, if negotiations bear fruit, will be (another) sanctuary for the American billionaire, his presence in our country could not but concern his entrepreneurial offspring, Microsoft. As is known, it has already invested a total of one billion euros in the creation of three data centers in Koropi, Markopoulo and Spata. Bill Gates, in fact, is said to be showing a personal interest in the investment, which is expected to create a total of 300 new jobs, within a decade.
