Board & Management | Navios Maritime Holdings

Angeliki Frangou has been our Chairwoman and CEO since August 25, 2005. In addition, Ms. Frangou has been the Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NYSE: NMM), an affiliated limited partnership, since August 2007, the Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of Navios Maritime Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: NNA), an affiliated corporation, since March, 2008. Ms. Frangou has been the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Navios Logistics since its inception in December 2007. Ms. Frangou is the Chairwoman of IRF European Finance Investments Ltd., and is also a Member of the Board of the United Kingdom Mutual Steam Ship Assurance Association (Bermuda) Limited. Since 2015, she has also been a Board Member of the Union of Greek Shipowners, as well as on the Board of Trustees of Fairleigh Dickinson University. Ms. Frangou also acts as Vice Chairwoman of the China Classification Society Mediterranean Committee, and is a member of the International General Committee and of the Hellenic and Black Sea Committee of Bureau Veritas, and is also a member of the Greek Committee of Nippon Kaiji Kyokai. Ms. Frangou received a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, summa cum laude, from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University.

Efstathios Loizos was appointed to our Board of Directors in July 2010. Mr. Loizos was also director of Navios Partners from October 2007 until June 2010. In October 2008, Mr. Loizos joined the Managing Team of ION S.A., a leading Greek chocolate and cocoa group of companies, with the responsibility of supervising MABEL S.A., one of the affiliated companies of the group. In June 2010, Mr. Loizos was appointed to the Board of Directors of ION S.A. and assumed enlarged executive responsibilities within the group. Since March 2014, Mr. Loizos serves as the CEO of the affiliated company INTERION S.A., which operates in Bulgaria and since 2018 as the Vice President of the ION group of companies. In May 2010, Mr. Loizos was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of IOBE (Foundation of Economic and Industrial Research). Between 2001 and 2008, Mr. Loizos served as the General Manager and a member of the Board of Directors of ELSA S.A., a Greek steel packaging company, and also as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of its affiliated company ATLAS S.A. From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Loizos served as the President of the International Packaging Association and as the Vice President of the Greek Association of Steel Packaging Manufacturers. Mr. Loizos received a Maitrise en Sciences Economiques from the University of Strasbourg and an M.B.A. in Finance from Stern Business School—New York University. Mr. Loizos also serves as Chairman of the Audit Committee and chairman of the Compensation Committee. Mr. Loizos is an independent director.

Spyridon Magoulas has been a member of Navios Holdings’ Board of Directors since its inception, and prior to that was a member of the board of directors of ISE. Mr. Magoulas is the co-founder and director of Doric Shipbrokers S.A., a chartering firm based in Athens, Greece, and has served as the managing director of Doric Shipbrokers S.A. since its formation in 1994. From 1982 to 1993, Mr. Magoulas was chartering director and shipbroker for Nicholas G. Moundreas Shipping S.A., a company located in Piraeus, Greece, and from 1980 to 1982, Mr. Magoulas served at Orion and Global Chartering Inc. in New York. Mr. Magoulas received a bachelor’s degree in Economics (honors) from the City University of New York, New York, a master’s degree in Transportation Management from the Maritime College in New York and a master degree in Political Economy from the New School for Social Research in New York. In addition to his role on the Board of Directors, Mr. Magoulas also serves as a member of the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee. Mr. Magoulas is an independent director.

George Malanga has been a member of our Board of Directors since April 2010. He is currently serving as the Chief Credit Officer of BNY Mellon. Mr. Malanga has held a variety of positions during his 32 year tenure with the bank. He began his banking career in various relationship management roles before moving to risk management in 2000. Mr. Malanga has served in roles with increased responsibility in credit risk management over the past 19 years. His credit risk experience includes head of asset recovery, head of domestic corporate credit and currently as Chief Credit Officer of BNY Mellon. Mr. Malanga holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Rutgers College and an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University. Mr. Malanga also serves as a member of the Audit Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee. Mr. Malanga is an independent director.

Vasiliki Papaefthymiou has been Executive Vice President — Legal and a member of Navios Holdings’ board of directors since its inception, and prior to that was a member of the board of directors of ISE. Ms. Papaefthymiou has served as general counsel for Maritime Enterprises Management S.A. since October 2001, where she has advised the Company on shipping, corporate and finance legal matters. Ms. Papaefthymiou provided similar services as general counsel to Franser Shipping from October 1991 to September 2001. Ms. Papaefthymiou received her undergraduate degree from the Law School of the University of Athens and a master degree in Maritime Law from Southampton University in the United Kingdom. Ms. Papaefthymiou is admitted to practice law before the Bar in Piraeus, Greece.

Michael Pearson has been a director of the Company since April 2021, and is based in the Cayman Islands. He is a qualified accountant (UK) and worked at EY, PwC and Deloitte. In 2012, he founded FFP, a fiduciary services firm based in the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands. Mr. Pearson is also a qualified insolvency practitioner (UK) and has been appointed by Caribbean Courts in a protective or investigative capacity. He graduated from the University of Bath in 1999 with an Honours degree in Business Administration. Mr. Pearson is an independent director.

John Stratakis has been a member of Navios Holdings’ Board of Directors since its inception, and prior to that was a member of the board of directors of ISE. Since 1994, Mr. Stratakis has been a partner with the law firm of Poles, Tublin, Stratakis & Gonzalez, LLP, in New York, New York, where he specializes in all aspects of marine finance law and general corporate law. Mr. Stratakis also has been a director and the President of the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce in New York. He serves on the board of New York Maritime Inc., an association that promotes the New York region as a maritime business center. Mr. Stratakis received a Bachelor of Arts (cum laude) from Trinity College and a Juris Doctor degree from Washington College of Law at American University. Mr. Stratakis is admitted to practice law in the State of New York and in the courts of the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. In addition to his role on the Board of Directors, Mr. Stratakis also serves as chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee and a member of the Compensation Committee. Mr. Stratakis is an independent director.

Shunji Sasada became a director of Navios Holdings and President of Navios Corporation in January 2015. Mr. Sasada has also served as a director in Navios Maritime Partners L.P. since August 2007. Previously, as Chief Operating Officer of Navios Corporation and Senior Vice President of Fleet Development, he headed Navios Holdings’ program for the growth and development of the Company’s long-term chartered-in and owned tonnage. Mr. Sasada started his shipping career in 1981 in Japan with Mitsui’s O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (“MOSK”). Mr. Sasada’s first position with MOSK was in steel products in the Tokyo branch as a salesman for exporting steel products to worldwide destinations. Two years later, Mr. Sasada moved to the tramp section in Mitsui’s bulk carrier division and was in charge of operations and then of chartering 20-40 smaller Handysize vessels between 21,000 dwt and 35,000 dwt. In 1991, Mr. Sasada moved to Norway to join Trinity Bulk Carriers as its chartering manager as well as subsidiary board member, representing MOSK as one of the shareholders. After an assignment in Norway, Mr. Sasada moved to London and started MOSK’s own Ultra Handymax operation as its General Manager. Mr. Sasada joined Navios Holdings in May 1997. Mr. Sasada is the member of the North American Committee of Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (Class NK). He is a graduate of Keio University, Tokyo, with a B.A. degree in Business and he is a member of the Board of Trustees of Keio Academy of New York.

Angeliki Frangou has been our Chairwoman and CEO since August 25, 2005. In addition, Ms. Frangou has been the Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NYSE: NMM), an affiliated limited partnership, since August 2007, the Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of Navios Maritime Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: NNA), an affiliated corporation, since March, 2008. Ms. Frangou has been the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Navios Logistics since its inception in December 2007. Ms. Frangou is the Chairwoman of IRF European Finance Investments Ltd., and is also a Member of the Board of the United Kingdom Mutual Steam Ship Assurance Association (Bermuda) Limited. Since 2015, she has also been a Board Member of the Union of Greek Shipowners, as well as on the Board of Trustees of Fairleigh Dickinson University. Ms. Frangou also acts as Vice Chairwoman of the China Classification Society Mediterranean Committee, and is a member of the International General Committee and of the Hellenic and Black Sea Committee of Bureau Veritas, and is also a member of the Greek Committee of Nippon Kaiji Kyokai. Ms. Frangou received a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, summa cum laude, from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University.

George Achniotis has been Navios Holdings’ Chief Financial Officer since April 12, 2007. Prior to being appointed Chief Financial Officer of Navios Holdings, Mr. Achniotis served as Senior Vice President-Business Development of Navios Holdings from August 2006 to April 2007. Before joining Navios Holdings, Mr. Achniotis was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”) in Greece, heading the Piraeus office and the firm’s shipping practice. He became a partner at PwC in 1999 when he set up and headed the firm’s internal audit services department from which all SOX implementation and consultation projects were performed. Mr. Achniotis is currently a Director and Executive Vice President-Business Development of Navios Partners; a New York Stock Exchange traded limited partnership, which is an affiliate of Navios Holdings. He has more than 19 years’ experience in the accounting profession with work experience in England, Cyprus and Greece. Mr. Achniotis qualified as a Chartered Accountant in England and Wales in 1991, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Manchester.

Ted C. Petrone became Vice Chairman of Navios Corporation in January 2015 having previously served as a director of Navios Holdings from May 2007 to January 2015 and President of Navios Corporation from September 2006 to January 2015. Mr. Petrone has served in the maritime industry for 41 years, 38 of which he has spent with Navios Holdings. After joining Navios Holdings as an assistant vessel operator, Mr. Petrone worked in various operational and commercial positions. Mr. Petrone was previously responsible for all aspects of the daily commercial activity, encompassing the trading of tonnage, derivative hedge positions and cargoes. Mr. Petrone is currently also a director of Navios Acquisition, a New York Stock Exchange listed company, and an affiliate of the Company; and has served in such capacity since June 2008. Mr. Petrone graduated from New York Maritime College at Fort Schuyler with a Bachelor of Science degree in maritime transportation. He has served aboard U.S. Navy (Military Sealift Command) tankers.

Anna Kalathakis has been Chief Legal Risk Officer since November 2012, and Senior Vice President — Legal Risk Management of Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. from December 2005 until October 2012. Before joining Navios Holdings, Ms. Kalathakis was the General Manager of the Greek office of A. Bilbrough & Co. Ltd. and an Associate Director of the Company (Managers of the London Steam-Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Limited). She has previously worked for a U.S. maritime law firm in New Orleans, was admitted to practice law in the state of Louisiana in 1995, and has also worked in a similar capacity at a London maritime law firm. She qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales in 1999 and was admitted to practice law before the Bar in Piraeus, Greece in 2003. She has studied International Relations at Georgetown University, Washington D.C. (1991). She holds an MBA from European University at Brussels (1992) and a J.D. from Tulane Law School (1995).

Efstratios Desypris has been our Chief Financial Controller since February 2011. Mr. Desypris has previously served as Financial Controller since May 2006. Mr. Desypris is also the Chief Financial Officer of Navios Maritime Partners since January 2010. In addition, Mr Desypris is a director of Navios Maritime Containers L.P. since 2017. He also serves as Senior Vice President — Strategic Planning and Director of Navios Logistics, and as director in Navios Europe Inc. Before joining Navios Group, Mr. Desypris worked for 9 years in the accounting profession, most recently as manager of the audit department at Ernst & Young in Greece. Mr. Desypris started his career as an auditor with Arthur Andersen & Co. in 1997. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Piraeus.

Ioannis Karyotis has been our Senior Vice President — Strategic Planning since February 2011. Mr. Karyotis is also Chief Financial Officer of Navios Logistics since March 2011. Prior to joining the Company, from 2006 until 2011, Mr. Karyotis was Consultant and later Project Leader at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), an international management consulting firm. From 2003 until 2005, Mr. Karyotis was Senior Equity Analyst at Eurocorp Securities, a Greek brokerage house, and in 2003, he was Senior Analyst in the Corporate Finance Department at HSBC Pantelakis Securities, a subsidiary of HSBC Bank. Mr. Karyotis began his career in 2002 with Marfin Hellenic Securities as Equity Analyst. He received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Athens University of Economics and Business (1998). He holds a master’s of Science in Finance and Economics from the London School of Economics (1999) and an MBA from INSEAD (2006).

Erifili Tsironi has been our Senior Vice President – Credit Management since October 2014. Ms. Tsironi is also Co-Chief Financial Officer of Navios Maritime Acquisition Corporation. Furthermore, she served as Chief Financial Officer of Navios Maritime Midstream Partners L.P since its inception in 2014 until completion of the merger with Navios Maritime Acquisition Corporation. Ms. Tsironi has over 17 years experience in banking focusing on ship finance. Before joining us, she was Global Dry Bulk Sector Coordinator and Senior Vice President at DVB Bank SE. Ms. Tsironi joined the Bank in 2000 serving as Assistant Local Manager and Senior Relationship Manager. Previously, she served as account manager in ANZ Investment Bank / ANZ Grindlays Bank Ltd from May 1997 until December 1999. Ms. Tsironi holds a BSc. in Economics, awarded with Honours, from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a MSc in Shipping, Trade and Finance, awarded with Distinction, from Cass Business School of City University in London.

Ruben Martínez Baeza was appointed General Manager of Corporación Navios S.A. in 2005. He has been working with Navios since 1989 after graduating as Mechanical Industrial Engineer from the University of the Republic at Montevideo, Uruguay. Beginning as a Mechanical Engineer at Navios' Port Terminal at Nueva Palmira, Uruguay, he has been promoted to several positions inside the company. Having special training in maintenance and asset management, he has been involved in several Port development and investments on the Terminal over the years.