John Catsimatidis
John Catsimatidis
John A. Catsimatidisis a Greek-American billionaire businessman and radio talk show host. He is the owner, president, chairman, and CEO of Gristedes Foods, the largest grocery chain in Manhattan, and the Red Apple Group, a real estate and aviation company with about $700 million to $800 million in holdings in New York, Florida, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Catsimatidis also owns the Hellenic Times, a Greek-American newspaper based in Manhattan. He is also the chairman and CEO of the Red...
NationalityGreek
ProfessionBusinessman
Date of Birth7 September 1948
I grew up on 135th Street. I grew up on the poor side of New York. I grew up in Harlem.
We have to draw the line someplace with all the pesticides being used by the farmers.
People tell me, 'You better lose weight if you want to run for mayor.' I said, 'I got the Chris Christie look.'
Bill Clinton told me that when he was 14, he shook John Kennedy's hand, and that inspired him to be president.
Everyone - whether it's the Jews, the Greeks, the Catholics - everybody is entitled to religious beliefs and entitled to their traditions.
When the commodities go up and the cost of transportation is going up, and the value of the dollar is going down, it's all going to translate to an 8 to 10 percent rise in food prices.
I am a real New Yorker... I didn't go to Harvard, I didn't go to Yale... I rooted for the Yankees; I didn't root for the Boston Red Sox.
Nobody destroys people - people destroy themselves, and it's very, very sad.
One mentor I had taught me that people do what you inspect, not necessarily what you expect. In other words, if nobody is watching, there will be some slack off.
My father died in '97. But at least he lived until 93, so he saw my success.
You have to work at everything. You've got to make it work.
What transpired at Semgroup was no less than a $500 billion fraud on the people of the world.
While in my late teens and in my 20s, I worked seven days a week, 20 hours a day. I worked my tail off.
The reason I grew so fast in the supermarket business, without help of the banks in those days, was through my vendors. I convinced my vendors, the companies I was doing business with, if I did more business, they would do more business.