Terry Serepisos (born 1963) is a

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

-based

property developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...

and former owner of A-League

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

. In 2010, he was the host in the New Zealand incarnation of the hit TV series ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with various professional backg ...

''. After a string of failed commercial property ventures, by 2011 he had accrued tax debts of NZD $41.4 million, and owed NZD $8 million to numerous banks, prior to his successful application for bankruptcy.

Biography

Born in the village of Paleros Akarnania,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, Terry Serepisos and his family emigrated to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

when he was two years old. Serepisos attended

Rongotai College Rongotai College is a state single-sex boys' secondary school in the southeastern suburb of Rongotai, Wellington, New Zealand. Serving Years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18), the school has 622 students as of July 2015. About 40 per cent of the studen ...

with

All Whites The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Footbal ...

legend

Wynton Rufer Wynton Alan Whai Rufer (born 29 December 1962) is a New Zealand retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent more than a decade of his professional career in Switzerland and Germany, achieving his greatest success at Werd ...

Business

Serepisos made his name in property development, having previously been involved in the Italian

menswear Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion ...

and Nightclub businesses. His Century City group managed a portfolio of properties in the greater Wellington area including commercial buildings, high-end inner city apartments, retail spaces and residential homes. He has invested in, and developed, a number of Wellington landmark sites. These include the former Bank of New Zealand (Manners Street), Maison Cabriole (Tory Street), National Bank Building ( Courtenay Place), Prudential Building (

Lambton Quay Lambton Quay (once known as The Beach) is the heart of the central business district of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Originally, as the name implies, it was the high-water line of the foreshore, and sometimes the sea would roll ...

), Century City Tower (former World Trade Centre, Victoria Street), Lone Star Building (Tory Street), Century City Carpark Building (Tory Street), and IBM Building (The Esplanade,

Petone Petone (Māori: ''Pito-one''), a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. The Māori name means "end of the sand beach". Europeans first settled in Pe ...

Sport

Wellington Phoenix

On 19 March 2007 it was announced that New Zealand Football would be entering a new Wellington-based team into the A-League and that Serepisos would be providing the one million dollars (

NZD The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New ...

) start-up capital and be the club's sole owner. In the first season of the club, Serepisos played a key role in getting

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

footballer

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...

and his

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

team to play an exhibition game against the Wellington club. In 2007 Serepisos was the recipient of the Mercure Wellington Sports Personality of the Year award for his contribution to sport in Wellington in the year that had passed. Many New Zealand football fans believe that it was Serepisos' actions that helped get the

New Zealand national football team The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Football ...

into the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. Serepisos has been open to agree with the argument ''"They say I'm the saviour of football in this country. Well, they're right."'' On 23 September 2011, it was announced that Serepisos had relinquished ownership of the club after ongoing personal financial difficulties. Subsequently, a new consortium of 7 Wellington businessman headed by Rob Morrison took control of the club. Serepisos was declared

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...

the following Monday. It was revealed in 2012 that Serepisos was among the victims of

Ahsan Ali Syed Ahsan Ali Syed (born 23 April 1973) is an Indian businessman. He is the founder of Western Gulf Advisory, estimated to be worth approximately 8 billion pounds. He is the owner of Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. () ...

Western Gulf Advisory Western Gulf Advisory was a supposed asset management company based in Bahrain and Switzerland. It was founded by Ahsan Ali Syed, an Indian businessman. In 2008 Ahsan Ali Syed, claimed to have $8 billion and then formed Western Gulf Advisory. A ...

loan scam.

''The Apprentice New Zealand''

In 2010 Serepisos featured in the 13-week first series of ''

The Apprentice New Zealand ''The Apprentice New Zealand'' was a New Zealand reality television series that aired on TV2 16 February to 11 May 2010. It features Terry Serepisos, Wellington based multi-millionaire property developer, as the chief executive officer (CEO). ...

'' as the master to the would-be apprentices. The show aired in New Zealand on TV One. Thomas Ben won and was awarded a $200,000 employment deal working with Serepisos.

Bankruptcy

After revelations that unpaid

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

debts could lead to the liquidation of his football club, it was revealed that Serepisos also owed $1.4 million in unpaid rates and ground leases to the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

. On 26 September 2011 he was declared

at the Wellington High Court, and later discharged on 24 October 2014.

References

External links

Century City Ltd

Terry Serepisos named as New Zealand's Donald Trump

Terry Serepisos declared bankrupt - TV3 Video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serepisos, Terry 1963 births People educated at Rongotai College Greek businesspeople Greek emigrants to New Zealand Greek football chairmen and investors Living people New Zealand businesspeople New Zealand association football chairmen and investors