Richest 250: How Nick Andrianakos built Milemaker Petroleum business
For Nick Andrianakos, a ‘journey of discovery to the lucky country’ has led to an estimated $894m petroleum fortune built over a lifetime.
The List is the biggest annual study of Australia’s 250 wealthiest individuals, with final figures calculated in late February 2022. See the full list here.
Nick Andrianakos remembers vividly making the journey back to the small village of Pikerni where he grew up in Greece, and finding it empty. It was 1966 and the 22-year-old had just completed two years of military service in the Greek Army. And his life was just about to change.
“I returned to my little village and I found it to be virtually deserted. Most of the young people had migrated to the United States, Canada or Australia. So I then decided not to waste an opportunity to create a better life for myself and bought a ticket to Australia.”
Andrianakos is talking to The List from the ancient Greek capital of Nafplio, a beautiful coastal town on the Peloponnese peninsula about two hours’ drive from the modern day capital Athens.
It is there where he has returned for a visit as Covid travel restrictions finally ease, and where Andrianakos is building a hotel he says he is doing in order to give something back to the country of his birth.
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But it is Australia where Andrianakos would first arrive with virtually nothing, build a family and a significant fortune by working his way up from the very bottom ranks of business. It is a story of hard work, persistence and perseverance, and also good judgement and timing.
In that way, Andrianakos encapsulates the post-World War II migrant boom that changed and enriched Australia. The ranks for The List alone throw up numerous examples, from Frank Lowy building Westfield, to Nick Politis making a fortune from selling cars and the Casella family arriving from Italy to build a winemaking dynasty.
Andrianakos debuts on The List this year with an estimated $894 million fortune he built from the Milemaker Petroleum business and parlayed into a string of big commercial property deals for his Nikos Property Group over the past two years.
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It is all a far cry from when he set sail on the famous ship Patris, the passenger liner that would bring tens of thousands of migrants from Greece and other European countries to Australia from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s.
It was, as Andrianakos describes, a “journey of discovery to the lucky country – Australia”. He recalls setting sail from the port at Piraeus in 1966, leaving his parents and two brothers behind.
“I was determined to give it my best, and knew if things didn’t work out for me I could always return home to Greece.”
He arrived in Melbourne after about a month at sea, and would never look back.
Andrianakos found work at the old General Motors car factory at Fisherman’s Bend and would also work night shifts at various hotels around town in order to make ends meet. It also didn’t take him long to settle, because within a month Andrianakos would meet and marry his late wife Anthoula and the couple would go on to have four children, Paul, Vicki, Theo and Kristina.
I believe in people, building relationships, trust and respect
In 1973, Andrianakos started working at a petrol station. It was a career-defining move as within three years he bought his first outlet on Sydney Road in the northern Melbourne suburb of Coburg, now famous for its migrant influence. It was just the beginning.
“As a determined young man, one service station was never going to be enough. I always wanted to continue to build up our property portfolio and business to support a growing young family.
“I continued to work hard, seven days a week. I never shied away from the hard work and I was always putting 100 per cent into everything I did.”
Andrianakos eventually built up a petrol station empire with 54 outlets around Victoria, and he would maintain a 40-year relationship with Caltex (now Ampol).
“I believe in people, building relationships, trust and respect,” he says. “Most deals were completed with a handshake and my word was the most important factor in my success, I believe.”
After four decades in business, Andrianakos faced another turning point. He was approached by Caltex to sell his outlets to the multinational, and he admits it was a decision that he wrestled with. But eventually he sold the fuel business assets to Caltex for $95 million in 2016, but kept the freehold sites on long-term leases.
“[Son] Theo was adamant that the timing to sell the business was ideal. For me, it was an emotional decision because I worked hard to build these petrol stations.
“It took me a long time to make the decision; however, looking back now, it was the best decision for the family. I have always loved property and therefore I was only interested in selling the business but not the properties.”
It proved to be a fortuitous decision. Andrianakos says he has always been a keen property investor and had for years bought large parcels of land on Melbourne’s fringes that have gone up in value as new suburbs stretched towards them. He has also been keen to diversify from retail property to commercial property. The family’s Nikos Property group had bought three commercial buildings along Melbourne’s prestigious St Kilda Road before the sale of the petrol business.
Then in 2020 Nikos made a big splash by outlaying more than $360 million on three commercial properties in Adelaide and Brisbane, to add to other industrial real estate and residential development sites the group also holds.
While there are some long-term implications for office holdings given Covid restrictions and the working from home movement that has happened during the pandemic, Andrianakos says the key for him is “to ensure the buildings you [buy] are A-grade with a great tenancy mix”.
For example, energy giant Santos is a big tenant at one of the Adelaide properties and has recently agreed to extend the lease by another decade.
With the 50th anniversary of his foray into his main business looming next year, Andrianakos says that looking back, the main lesson he learnt was that surrounding himself with good people and advisors was crucial. So was “always [taking] measured and logical, but also calculated risks, so the business could grow.”
See The List: Australia’s Richest 250
Andrianakos has also put a succession plan in place, one that he says he spent a lot of time and effort on given that everyone in the family has worked in the business in some capacity over the years. Son Theo is now chief executive of the property business and his three siblings also sit on the company board with Andrianakos as chairman.
“I work very closely with Theo in the business. Theo has been devoted to the business at a young age and I have had the opportunity over the years to teach him about the business.
“But as much as I have taught Theo, he too has taught me about modern-day business and the importance of taking calculated risks today. Together, we have planned out ways to continuously grow the business.”
Theo Andrianakos describes his father as “intelligent, kind and charming” and someone who has a “phenomenal work ethic and is also a devoted family man”.
Andrianakos himself says he has no regrets about leaving Greece all those years ago, and has learnt so many lessons along the way. When asked what advice he has for aspiring entrepreneurs, he simply says: “Take risks and be respectful and true to your word. You have to always continue to invest too, but be patient and believe in yourself to achieve your goals.”