For years, Greek businessman Nikos Stathopoulos has worked hard to build the image of a successful international investor - a visionary from the world of large funds and a manager with a “special instinct“ for the markets. What he tries to hide, however, is the fact that his career has been shaped more by self-promotion than by real results. From Athens to London, Stathopoulos is a master of personal branding, but behind the glossy facade lies a worrying level of incompetence.
“Nikos Stathopoulos has invested the most in his public image. Perhaps more than in the success of his investments,“ writes In.gr, one of the leading analytical portals in Greece, describing Stathopoulos – current head of United Group, whose companies in Bulgaria include Vivacom, Bulsatcom and Nova Broadcasting Group.
What image will Stathopoulos try to “sell“ to Bulgarian citizens and will they believe that he is a “charming investment guru“ or rather a myth of a financial miracle that cannot withstand reality testing?
His business decisions are countless bad, many of which end in fiasco – such as the failed investment in the Parnita casino, which cost BC Partners hundreds of millions of euros and the loss of control over the prestigious Bretagne hotel.
In.gr notes that despite his desire to be the big boss who makes all the decisions, Stathopoulos often diverted BC Partners' money from large acquisitions to small, local deals in Greece – such as the Pet City pet store chain or Metropolitan College. In other words – from global ambitions to provincial adventures. At the time, the Greek media linked him to a local broker who collected huge commissions on failed deals – personally approved by Stathopoulos.
One of the biggest scandals erupted when BC Partners, under his influence, paid over 200 million euros for the private Greek college IEK AKMH – an institution with minimal profits and unrecognized degrees. While parents publicly protested that they had paid tens of thousands of euros for useless certificates, Stathopoulos' children studied at elite American universities. Lawsuits were filed, but he simply moved on, covering up the damage with paid PR articles to improve his image.
Recently, Stathopoulos has focused on United Group - a leading telecommunications and media company in Southeast Europe with an annual turnover of 3 billion euros. United Group was built from scratch to its current size and prestige by its founder Dragan Šolak and his right-hand man - CEO Victoria Boklag.
Last year, the process of selling United Group's assets in the EU, led by Stathopoulos and his advisors from JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, failed. At the same time, however, the sale of non-EU assets led by Solak and Boklag ended in a record deal, triggering the payment of a €250 million bonus to Solak and his team under the signed contract. Solak's request and subsequent court case in the High Court in London for the execution of the contract and payment of the bonus led to the immediate removal of the United Group management - Dragan Solak and Viktoria Boklag.
It is important to note that Solak, Boklag and the rest of the team still own 42% of the shares of United Group. In a “blitz” style Stahopoulos removed Sholak, reportedly over personal conflicts, and immediately installed new directors: Stan Miller and Libor Woncina, claiming that United Group needed “new European leaders” to realize his vision of expansion in the EU.
But... we checked the professional profiles of Mr. Miller and Mr. Woncina and found no evidence to support this thesis. Mr. Miller has experience primarily as a board member and consultant, with no operational involvement in the European telecommunications sector over the past decade. His recent engagements include non-executive positions at South Africa's MTN, Russia's MTS, and VEON, which operates in Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
Woncina, meanwhile, ended his last executive role during the Obama administration. Under his leadership, the Swiss company Sunrise went from a successful turnaround and IPO-readiness (2014) to a post-IPO period with declining revenues and a huge one-time loss (2015), despite the growth in the number of subscribers - and Vonchina left in May 2016, without reporting a single profitable year.
It is not clear what exactly these “managers” are aiming for, but their appointment raises serious doubts and concerns about the good condition and successful management of Vivacom and Nova TV - both important parts of the daily lives of many Bulgarians.
From Bulgaria to Greece, from Croatia to Slovenia, Nikos Stathopoulos has created chaos and is leaving the local teams of United Group with the difficult task of fixing what he has destroyed – killing scale, innovation and strategic focus. We sincerely hope they succeed… somehow.
Despite his constant talk of Europe and European values, and despite being married, Stathopoulos did not hesitate to start a public love affair with a United Group employee in Greece. With BC Partners being aware of this, it is apparently perfectly acceptable for the chairman of BC Partners Europe to “fish“ for love and fun in the pool of his own investments. Well, there is clearly something to be learned from Mr. Stathopoulos about “European values“.
One thing is for sure – Nikos Stathopoulos' ego far outweighs his intelligence. His story at BC Partners paints a portrait of someone who is less successful than his peers – in terms of wealth, industry recognition and even investor trust. Perhaps this is what makes him so unhappy, dissatisfied and insecure – and perhaps that is where his racist comments come from. He does not hesitate to fire managers with brilliant careers in the EU simply because they are not “European enough” for him – being Serbian and Ukrainian.
Well, Mr. Stathopoulos – knowledge and execution skills are not innately bestowed only on those born in Greece or France. That is a fact – and you will learn it the hard way. We can only hope that your “learning curve” it won't cost the others dearly.
Will this Greek businessman soon use the Bulgarian public scene as yet another arena for self-promotion – continuing to build a myth that headlines are more important than results? We will watch. And we will report.
Source: www.in.gr