Who is Evangelos Marinakis: Controversial Nottingham Forest owner, shipping & media baron

Marinakis is the founder and chairman of Capital Maritime & Trading Corp, an international shipping company, and was voted Greek Shipping Personality of the Year by British publication Lloyd’s List in 2017.

He has also invested in the media and his company, Alter Ego Media, bought two of Greece’s best known daily newspapers – Ta Nea and To Vima.

In 2019, he launched a new television channel, One Channel, in Greece. Earlier this year, his Alter Ego Media company, the largest media organisation in Greece, floated on the Athens stock market.

As well as owning Forest, Marinakis bought Olympiakos in 2010.

Under his ownership, the Greek side have won 11 domestic league titles and the Europa Conference League in 2024. Portuguese side Rio Ave also come under his portfolio.

Marinakis also confirmed in December he had been in talks to purchase Brazilian side Vasco da Gama.

“We have a multi-club ownership and a lot see it as business. I don’t necessarily see it this way,” he said. “It’s very difficult to combine business with football, especially with big teams when you need to win trophies, you need to participate in Europe.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that you can make money – the opposite in a lot of cases. We don’t have an unlimited budget, we are not a state company or a company that can afford each year to lose money.

“We need to find the balance between what we spend and what we can achieve.”

As he looks to extend his football empire, Marinakis has tempted Edu away from Arsenal.

Edu is yet to be officially announced by Forest, but he is widely expected to become their new global director of football to oversee all Marinakis’ clubs. The former Brazil international left the Gunners after five years in November, having been sporting director since 2022 and technical director previously.

He was at Wembley in April to watch Forest lose their FA Cup semi-final to Manchester City.

Edu’s anticipated appointment is a signal of Marinakis’ intentions and desire to elevate Forest to another level, after buying them in May 2017 from Fawaz Al Hasawi.

Forest had just avoided relegation to League One on goal difference, and Marinakis stated his ambition was a return to the top flight by saying the club “belongs to the elite of the Premier League”.

They achieved Premier League status for the first time in 23 years by winning promotion under Steve Cooper in 2022.