Given the character of Athena Onassis, a largely “closed” girl twenty years ago, who turned 39 last January, it would be unlikely that we would find out about her new business venture.
But the prestigious French financial newspaper Les Echos took care of that by revealing the latest Onassis’ new venture into the supermarket business.
At the same time, information mixed with rumors want the granddaughter of the Greek tycoon to be a permanent resident of France now, at the same time that Athena still keeps a very closed profile regarding her life in general and especially her personal life.
That is why very few people really know what Christina Onassis’ daughter, who after her divorce from Alvaro Neto seems to be walking virtually alone, although she is reportedly in a relationship with businessman and equestrian Alberto Tzorgui.
At the moment, however, she is preparing for the Athina Onassis Horse Show, which will take place over the weekend of 30 May to 1 June in St Tropez.
Athena Onassis with the charming Italian rider Alberto Zorzi at a horse show in Qatar. Although both have never confirmed that they are a couple, this is something that the press takes for granted
The French “giant”
Laurent Pietrashevsky, a former minister in Emmanuel Macron’s government, will be chairman on the new board of Casino, a powerful supermarket group in France and beyond, with Athena Onassis, among others, as a board member.
The Greek heiress will take office as soon as the group’s buyers, led by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, take control at the end of March, according to financial figures released the previous Tuesday night.
The French group had sales of €5.5 billion in the second half of 2023, and once its financial restructuring is complete, current CEO and first shareholder Jean-Charles Naurie will step down from all his posts with immediate effect.
According to the newspaper Les Echos, all the former board members will also resign, with the sole exception of Nathalie Andrier, as stated in the Casino’s published document.
Pietrasevsky, former minister of pensions and occupational health during Macron’s first term, had previously worked for the Auchan conglomerate. Philippe Palachi, whose appointment had been known for several months, will also be the group’s general manager.
Casino’s new board of directors, appointed on an interim basis ahead of the ratification of elections at the group’s next general meeting, includes strong names from a variety of backgrounds.
It will be composed of Athena Onassis, a descendant of the famous Greek shipowner Aristotle Onassis, who reportedly owns a percentage of the French group’s shares, Pascal Clouzar, who is a former Carrefour executive, Elisabeth Santazier, who used to work for L’Oréal, and Branislav Miskovic as trustees.
This information comes from the Casino Group’s 2023 document which is published annually by listed companies and validated by the Financial Markets Authority.
The appointment of Athena Onassis to the new board shows, if anything, that the Greek heiress is serious about business, at the same time as she has reportedly left Belgium, where she resided for years.
In fact, information that is being circulated but not confirmed suggests that she has moved to France, where both her grandfather and her mother Christina Onassis lived from time to time.
Back to racing
In St Tropez, where the tournament bearing her name is held every year, last year she was simply present during the event from 1 to 3 June.
At the time, her non-competing reinforced rumours of a pregnancy that had been announced by a Brazilian magazine, which turned out not to be true, but also created a frenzy in the Greek media.
The latest Onassis may have come of age years ago, but very little has changed for the once-girl with the usually melancholy look. As a grown woman she still refuses all the interview requests that have been made to her – and they are not a few.
In fact, she hasn’t spoken publicly since 1998, when at the age of 13 she gave her only interview to date, underage even with her father Thierry Roussel by her side to guide her, to the Italian magazine “Oggi”.
Afterwards, and especially when she came of age, she became the Athena of silence, an heiress who never got on well with the public.
Her traumatic marriage to Alvaro de Miranda Neto (Doda), who, as it turned out, had been cheating on her for years with various women, and her resounding divorce made her close herself even more to herself. She devoted much of her time to horseback riding.
And just as she had met Alvaro in Belgium during training sessions, so she met the businessman Alberto Giorgio.
The occasion for the first contact was the purchase by the charming Italian rider of a horse owned by Athena Onassis, which, incidentally, was Doda’s favourite.
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Rumours that something was going on between the two started to spread as soon as it became known that Georgie had divorced his wife and although both have never confirmed that they are a couple, this is something that the reports take for granted.
Those who know her say the arrival of a child could change the 39-year-old Athena’s life forever, who has felt the weight of the Onassis dynasty fall on her since she was a child. Sometimes even beating her down.
Sales and Greece
Perhaps that’s why she has gradually started selling properties, such as the villa located in the village of Gingins, an idyllic spot just 15 minutes from Geneva.
The sale by the granddaughter of the legendary Aristos, as Onassis was known, came to remind many people of a “grand bargain” in which the 39-year-old heiress has indulged since 2006, selling several impressive properties, with the island of Scorpius to Russian Dmitry Rybolovlev topping the list.
This was the period when she took control of the inheritance left to her by her mother, which, in addition to deposits and companies, included many famous properties.
The first to ‘go’ was her grandfather’s fabulous apartment in a building on Avenue Foch in Paris, together with two outbuildings, at a price of close to €10 million.
This was followed by the dreamy Villa Crystal chalet in St Moritz, perhaps her mother’s most cherished residence, which was sold for an undisclosed price in 2008.
