Propelled by both the Suez Crisis and increasing demand for oil, he and rival Aristotle Onassis became giants in global petroleum shipping.

Niarchos was also a noted thoroughbred horse breeder and racer, several times the leading owner and number one on the French breed list.

[2] His parents were naturalized Americans who had owned a department store in Buffalo, New York, before returning to Greece, three months prior to his birth.

[3] Niarchos was a naval officer in World War II, during which time part of the trade fleet he had developed with his uncle was destroyed.

His most famous asset was the yacht Atlantis, currently known as Issham al Baher,[4] after having been gifted to King Fahd of Saudi Arabia.

In 1952, high-capacity oil supertankers were built for the competing Niarchos and Onassis fleets, who both claimed to own the largest tanker in the world.

After leaving the business for roughly two decades, he came back in the 1970s and eventually put together a highly successful stable of racehorses that competed in France and the UK.