Nicolas George Ioannou ( el, Νικόλας Γιώργος Ιωάννου; born 8 January 1965), also known as "Rudy", is a Cypriot yacht and speedboat manufacturer since 1991, and a property developer. He is the CEO of several companies including Coast and Hills Developments. He has investments in hotels and residential towers as well as
marina
A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.
A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...
developments. Ioannou has been appointed by the
Cypriot president
The president of Cyprus, officially the president of the Republic of Cyprus, is the head of state and the head of government of Cyprus. The office was created in 1960, after Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom.
Currently, t ...
as
honorary consul of Cyprus in the
Sinai Peninsula.
Career
Business
Boat-racing & Boat-building
During the time Ioannou resided in Egypt, he was the national
Union Internationale Motonautique president. As a speed boat manufacturer he organised the first
red sea rib rally and brought to this event a long list of world class royalty, celebrities, business people and adventurers, and created thereafter a series of events which included the first ever Formula 2 race in the
Egyptian Nile, "les 8 heurs du nil".
Rudy, also personally participated in several boat racing events such as the one in
Zeebrugge in which he came first place. However boat racing, boat races, and boat building reportedly remain to this day his hobby. In 2007, he moved to Monaco where he stayed in his apartment in
Fontvieille to work more closely with the
UIM. As for boat building, Ioannou formed his ship building company after having built his first 105-foot steel yacht by the age of 26. He later moved to speedboat and rigid inflatable boat manufacturing where he ended up receiving several awards for retail and military navy contracting. The Italian Navy also endowed him with a high honor award for marine contracting and contribution to their navy fleet of military vessels.
Projects in progress
Nicolas Ioannou is currently developing several projects around Europe. His company is working on the developments of projects to build a new commercial and residential compound and marina, as well as other several projects to pioneer high rise towers that consist of 5-star luxury apartments and hotels that are said to break the record for the tallest buildings in their countries. Ioannou is undertaking many of these projects reportedly along with his Egyptian and Saudi Arabian billionaire partners who are shareholders within the company.
Politics
Ioannou was in Egypt during the
2005 Sharm el-Sheikh attacks
The 2005 Sharm El Sheikh bombings were committed by Islamist group Abdullah Azzam Brigades on 23 July 2005 in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El Sheikh, at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Eighty-eight people were killed by the thre ...
where he intervened to aid the Cypriot tourists in Egypt at the time. After providing refuge to the surviving victims he was esteemed as a man of resources to aid the Cypriot government in political missions during crisis. This led to his endowment as the
Honorary Consul of Cyprus in Egypt where he was able to provide an exit from Egypt to Cypriots who desired to leave the country in a time where Egyptian airports were shut down by the government for security reasons during the
2011 Egyptian Revolution
The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...
.
Real estate
Ioannou owns a significant amount of land in Cyprus some of which he inherited. This land was owned by his grandfather before the
Turkish invasion of Cyprus in the north.
He also owns land in Greece, as well as an island in the
Ionian sea
The Ionian Sea ( el, Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, ''Iónio Pélagos'' ; it, Mar Ionio ; al, Deti Jon ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including C ...
.
See also
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List of richest Cypriots
The following is a list of Cypriot billionaires. It is based on an annual assessment of wealth and assets compiled and published by ''Forbes'' magazine in April every year.
2023 Cypriot billionaires
source: 2023 ''The World's Billionaires''
2 ...
References
Further reading
*
*
*
"Stelios threatens to grab easyJet's controls as profits nosedive"''The Scotsman'', 16 November 2008
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ioannou, Nicolas George
1965 births
Cypriot billionaires
Greek Cypriot people
Living people
Businesspeople from Cairo
Egyptian people of Cypriot descent
Egyptian people of Greek descent