George Economou or Georgios Ekonomou (Γεώργιος Οικονόμου, born 1953) is a Greek billionaire shipowner, CEO of DryShips Inc. and Ocean Rig, and the owner of Cardiff Marine. Economou owns oil tankers as well as dry bulk ships and manages them through Cardiff Marine. He was on the Forbes Magazines list of the world's billionaires on place 707 and he is included in the Lloyd's List "One Hundred Most Influential People in the Shipping Industry" list, ranking 13th in 2025.[1][2]
Early life
Economou was born in Athens, where his father owned a small paper-products company.[3] He studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he obtained an MSc in naval architecture and marine engineering, and another MSc in shipping and shipbuilding management.[3]