GEORGIOPOULOS – BUILDING BUSINESS
Georgiopoulos, the son of a maritime lawyer with a leading downtown firm, attained an
MBAin 1987, fromthe Tuck Business School atDartmouth University.After graduation, he
worked in the Tsakos organisation. There he learnt the art of managing a business. In an
interview, he said, “I observed there was a lot of fat in the organization, and I thought that
there had to be a better way to do things. I felt there was an opportunity but I wasn’t sure
whether I could capitalize on it at that point...
INDUSTRY OVERVIEW
Tankers transport crude oil from the points of production to the points of consumption,
which are typically oil refineries. Themain clientswithin the industry are oil companies, oil
traders, large oil consumers, petroleum product producers, and government agencies. The
contract by which crude oil is transported includes spot charters, time charters and
“bareboat” charters. The pricing of crude oil transportation services is subjected to a
highly competitive global tanker charter market...
TANKER DEMAND AND SUPPLY
Tanker demand is expressed in “ton-miles” and ismeasured as the product of the amount of
oil transported in tankers and the distance over which this oil is transported. Tonnage of oil
shipped is primarily a function of the global oil consumption, which is driven by economic
activity aswell as the long-termimpact of oil prices on the location and related volume of oil
production. Tonnage of oil shipped is also influenced by transportation alternatives such
as pipelines...
NEED ANDOPPORTUNITY FORGOING PUBLIC
Many oil tanker owners were hesitant to go public due to the fear of loss of control over the
management. But Georgiopoulos intended to take his firm public at the right time. He
observed that several trends were altering the dynamics of the market for tanker services.
He believed that these trends (Exhibit V) presented an opportunity for willing entrepreneurs...
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