‘I was lucky’: How Nick Andrianakos went from petrol-pumping to Australian billionaire

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Melbourne entrepreneur, Nick Andrianakos, has opened up recently to The Australian Financial Review about his life story and how patience, a passion for property and a lot of petrol-pumping led to him being named on Australia’s Rich List.

In the interview, Andrianakos describes how he was born in 1943 on a farm in the Greek village of Pikerni, about 160 kilometres west of Athens. He left school in the third grade to help his family and later completed two years of army service.

After returning home from his service, he decided he needed to leave and make a new life in Australia.

READ MORE: Nick Andrianakos invests over $135 million for half stake in Adelaide shopping mall.

“When I left my parents were crying, but there was no other option,” Andrianakos tells the newspaper.

Nick Andrianakos is also a property investor.

Migrating to Australia on the Patris, Andrianakos arrived at Port Melbourne in January 23, 1967. The rest, as they say, was history.

The billionaire met and married, Anthoula, and she raised their four children as Andrianakos worked stints at leather and steel factories. Later, he bought his first service station (and the land beneath it) in Coburg in 1976.

READ MORE: Petrol king Nick Andrianakos takes over Adelaide tower in $175 million deal.

“I was doing everything – checking tyres, fighting with the suppliers. It was 16-hour days to support my family and get ahead,” Andrianakos said.

Finally, in 1981, he secured two more BP sites in Footscray and Coburg. In 2017, he sold what was by then 54 service stations under his Milemaker Petroleum chain to their fuel supplier, Caltex, for $95 million.

Andrianakos sold his petrol stations to Caltex.

Since then, Andrianakos has also bought office towers in Adelaide and Brisbane.

READ MORE: 11 Australians of Greek heritage named on the prestigious ‘Richest 250’ list.

Andrianakos said he “was lucky” with these sales but it’s clear his success isn’t simply tied to luck. Rather, its his hard work ethic and strong morals which have made him the man he is today.

“I built Milemaker on my word and I respect people who keep theirs,” he concluded. “Tell me a lie, I can’t accept it. Tell me the truth, I give you my heart.”

Source: The Australian Financial Review.

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