John A. Catsimatidis (born September 7, 1948) is an American billionaire businessman and radio talk show host.

He is the owner, president, chairman, and CEO of grocery chains Gristedes and D'Agostino Supermarkets in Manhattan, as well as the Red Apple Group, a real estate and aviation company with about $2 billion in holdings in New York, Florida and Pennsylvania.

He received a congressional nomination to West Point, but chose to study electrical engineering at New York University instead.

[1] In 1971, Catsimatidis opened his first business in Manhattan's Upper West Side; it was the first Red Apple grocery store.

Among his business innovations were keeping stores open late seven days a week, offering free delivery, and cashing checks for customers.

[2] In 1986, Red Apple purchased 36 Gristedes supermarkets and 11 affiliated Charles & Co. speciality-food stores from the Southland Corporation.

In 2009, it was reported that Catsimatidis's main holdings included 50 Gristedes supermarkets, 371 gas stations in three states, $500 million in real estate, and an expanding oil business.

[2] In October 2009, Forbes magazine reported that United Refining Energy Corp., a publicly-traded special-purpose acquisition company sponsored by United Refining Company, was purchasing "privately held Chaparral Energy in a deal worth roughly $1.6 billion.

[7] In 2008, Catsimatidis became engaged in efforts to take over SemGroup LP, a bankrupt oil, gas, and asphalt trading, storage and transportation company, headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

[10][11] In 2015, the Red Apple Group ranked 156th on Forbes magazine's list of "America's largest private companies", with revenue of $3 billion and 8,000 employees.

[1] In 2015, press reports indicated that Catsimatidis donated the use of a chartered jet valued at $70,000 to the Republican primary campaign of Scott Walker.

"[35] Through May 15, Catsimatidis (a self-financed candidate) had spent $880,000 on the campaign, mostly on television and radio ads, but also on billboards and items including lip balm and groceries.

[37] On a December 13 appearance on Inside City Hall, Catsimatidis compared raising taxes on the wealthy to how "Hitler punished the Jews".

[38] Catsimatidis expressed support for the New York City stop-and-frisk program, and two weeks after the Boston Marathon bombing, his campaign ran a radio ad attacking "career politicians want to end stop and frisk and cut the NYPD's powers of surveillance.

[40] At campaign events in April 2013, Catsimatidis claimed that he could have beaten Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election[41] and got into a contentious exchange with various Republican audience members, telling one to "go bullshit yourself if you want!

[28] The New York Times reported that Catsimatidis "struck an odd note when discussing education policy, expressing unease about the makeup of his daughter's graduating class from New York University's Stern School of Business," stating that "I think close to 480 of the 580 were Asian — Asian including India.

"[28] Catsimatidis called for street vendors to be limited to certain areas, and prohibiting setting up within 300–500 feet of stores selling the same products, complaining at a candidates' forum that "We have cart people right in front of our doorstep.

[53] Catsimatidis told the Washington Examiner in April 2023 that he was ruling out supporting Florida governor Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries, due to the latter not returning his phone calls.

[54] On April 24, in an interview with Steve Bannon, Catsimatidis hinted at a potential run in the 2025 New York City mayoral election.

[55][full citation needed] On October 2, 1988, Catsimatidis married Margaret "Margo" Vondersaar at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York;[56] the two had met when she became his secretary in 1972.

[56] Catsimatidis and Margo have two children, Andrea and John Jr.[1] Andrea married Christopher Cox, grandson of former President Richard Nixon, on June 4, 2011, at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, "before a church packed with family members and political powerhouses.

[63] In light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Catsimatidis created the WABC Radio Foundation to provide humanitarian relief for Ukrainians in need.