More than a thousand people attended last Saturday’s surprise birthday party of Greek Australian petrol magnate Andreas Andrianopoulos, at Peninsula Ballroom in Docklands, to celebrate his 80th birthday.
A surprise visit to Melbourne, for the party of the well-known businessman, was the appearance of Greek superstar Anna Vissi, who entertained the guests throughout the night with her well known hits.
Everything was carefully planned out for Saturday’s party in style, to portray the colourful Andreas’ character.
Numerous family members, friends and business partners were there to honour the man who built the whole empire, after taking off modestly from his village in Greece with a pair of old shoes.
From shepherd to businessman, Andreas Andrianopoulos has been described as the paradigm of a good family man and a great member and humanitarian of the wider Greek and Australian community.
During the night, the biography of Andreas Andrianopoulos – written by Anastasios Tamis – was presented, and gifted to all the attendees.
Andreas Andrianopoulos bought his first service station bearing the BP logo in 1970. Forty-four years later, along with his four sons, he runs a network of 49 sites, with fuel sales of almost 500 million litres in 2012.