{{short description|American billionaire businessman}} {{Infobox person | name = Dean Metropoulos | image = Dean Metropoulos.jpg | alt = | caption = Metropoulos in 2015 | education = | alma_mater = Babson College | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1946|5}}<ref name="Wealth-X" /> | birth_place = Tripoli, Kingdom of Greece | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Death-date and age|death date†|birth date†}} --> | death_place = | occupation = Chairman and CEO of C. Dean Metropoulos and Company | known_for = Hostess Brands and Pabst Brewing Company | children = 2 }}

'''Charles Dean Metropoulos'''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nacsonline.com/Media/Daily/Pages/ND0426117.aspx#.V8E1zRLeJkg |title=AGs Urge Pabst to Lower Alcohol Content in Blast &#124; NACS Online – Media – News Archive |publisher=Nacsonline.com |date=2011-04-26 |accessdate=2016-10-05}}</ref> ({{langx|el|Ντιν Μητρόπουλος}}; born May 1946<ref name="Wealth-X">{{cite web |url=http://www.wealthx.com/articles/2015/charles-dean-metropoulos/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429053150/http://www.wealthx.com/articles/2015/charles-dean-metropoulos/ |archive-date=2017-04-29 |url-status=dead |title=Billionaires: Charles Dean Metropoulos |publisher=Wealth-X |accessdate=2017-01-02}}{{cbignore}}</ref> in Tripoli, Greece<ref name=greekreporter>{{cite web |author=Anastasios Papapostolou |url=http://usa.greekreporter.com/2014/09/23/metropoulos-sells-pabst-blue-ribbon-to-russian-company/ |title=Metropoulos Sells Pabst Blue Ribbon to Russian Company |publisher=USA.GreekReporter.com |date= |accessdate=2016-10-05}}</ref>) is a Greek-American billionaire investor and businessman. He was the owner of Pabst Brewing Company, which was founded by Jacob Best in 1844.<ref name="greekreporter" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/beer/2017/03/02/pabst-milwaukee-brewery-open-mid-april/98606826/|title=Pabst is finally coming home: New Milwaukee brewery set to open in April|work=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|access-date=2018-04-13|language=en}}</ref> On the ''Forbes'' 2020 list of the world's billionaires, he was ranked #875 with a net worth of US$2.6 billion.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/c-dean-metropoulos/?list=billionaires|title=#962 C. Dean Metropoulos}}</ref>

==Early life== Metropoulos was ten years old when he and his parents emigrated from Greece to the U.S.,<ref name="Forbes 2016 The World's Billionaires">{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/c-dean-metropoulos/?list=billionaires|title=The World's Billionaires (2016 ranking): #722 C. Dean Metropoulos|date=1 March 2016|work=Forbes|accessdate=2017-01-02}}</ref> settling at Watertown, Massachusetts.<ref name=greekreporter />

Metropoulos has a bachelor's degree and an MBA from Babson College, located in Wellesley, Massachusetts.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/denizcam/2017/10/20/what-should-you-major-in-if-you-want-to-be-a-billionaire/#384a535d7cf4|title=What Should You Major In If You Want To Be A Billionaire?|last=Cam|first=Deniz|work=Forbes|access-date=2018-04-13|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.babson.edu/Academics/centers/blank-center/academy-of-distinguished-entrepreneurs/Pages/metropoulos-c-dean.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616154221/http://www.babson.edu/Academics/centers/blank-center/academy-of-distinguished-entrepreneurs/Pages/metropoulos-c-dean.aspx|archive-date=2018-06-16|url-status=unfit|title=Distinguished Entrepreneurs: C. Dean Metropoulos |website=Babson College|access-date=2022-11-09}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

At age 25, he went to Geneva, Switzerland, to become a financial director for GTE International's (now Verizon) European, Middle Eastern, and African operations. Later he returned to the U.S. as the company's youngest controller.<ref name=greekreporter />

==Career== In 1981, Metropoulos made his first acquisition of Stella Foods Inc., a Vermont-based cheese company, which later sold to Robert Bass for $375 million.<ref name=companies>{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703341904575266812952883720 |date=26 May 2010 |title=Pabst's New Owner Built Fortune on Old Brands|last1=Lattman|first1=Peter|last2=Kesmodel|first2=David|publisher=Wall Street Journal |accessdate=22 October 2023}}</ref>

Some of the buy-build private equity transactions of Metropoulos have included Pinnacle Foods, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, International Home Foods, Pabst Brewing Company, The Morningstar Group, Inc. (sold to Suiza Foods<ref>Lipin, Steven, [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB875537824481612000 "Suiza Foods to Buy Morningstar Group"], ''Wall Street Journal'', September 29, 1997. Retrieved 2017-01-15.</ref> which has become Dean Foods), Solar Marine ("a private, European based, international dry cargo shipping company"<ref>[https://hellenicnews.com/a-vision-for-the-future-of-business/ "A Vision for the Future of Business" (conference program)], ''Hellenic News of America'', February 14, 2014. Retrieved 2017-01-15.</ref>), Bumble Bee Foods, Vlasic Pickles, and Mumm's/Perrier-Jouët champagnes.<ref name="haba.org">{{Cite web |date=2018-08-31 |title=View events - Hellenic American Bankers Association |url=https://www.haba.org/view_event.php?id=8 |access-date=2024-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831072159/https://www.haba.org/view_event.php?id=8 |archive-date=2018-08-31 }}</ref><ref name=companies/>

Metropoulos is the executive chairman and chief executive officer of C. Dean Metropoulos & Company. The company was founded in 1993 and is based in Greenwich, Connecticut.<ref name=BW01>[https://archive.today/20140831183055/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=217479 "Company Overview of C. Dean Metropoulos & Co."], ''Businessweek'', January 15, 2017,</ref> As of 2011, C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. has been involved in over 72 acquisitions with over $12 billion in invested capital.<ref name="haba.org" /> The company jointly owned Hostess Brands along with Apollo Global Management.

In September 2014 American entrepreneur Eugene Kashper, backed by TSG Consumer Partners, announced an agreement to acquire Pabst Brewing from C. Dean Metropoulos & Co for $700 million.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nypost.com/2014/09/20/pabst-not-moving-to-russia/ |work=New York Post |first=James |last=Covert |title=Pabst not moving to Russia |date=20 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cspnet.com/category-news/beverages/articles/pabst-we-will-remain-american-company |title=Pabst Brewing: We Will Remain an American Company &#124; CSP Daily News |publisher=Cspnet.com |date=2014-09-23 |accessdate=2016-10-05}}</ref> The sale represented a gain of $550 million more than what the company paid for it in 2010. Bumble Bee Tuna is another brand owned by a company "bought and flipped" by the firm.<ref>Leitereg, Neal J., [http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/hot-property/la-fi-hp-hotprop-20160827-snap-story.html "Daren Metropoulos takes ownership of Playboy Mansion, Hef included"], ''Los Angeles Times'', August 27, 2016. Retrieved 2017-01-15.</ref>

On July 7, 2015 there were rumors of a Hostess Brands IPO. Metropoulos stated that there was no plan for an IPO.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.darenmetropoulos.com/forbes-hostess-ceo-says-no-plan-for-twinkie-ipo/ |title=Metropoulos & Co. &#124; Hostess, Playboy Mansion, Daren Metropoulos |publisher=Darenmetropoulos.com |date= |accessdate=2016-10-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709090105/http://www.darenmetropoulos.com/forbes-hostess-ceo-says-no-plan-for-twinkie-ipo/ |archive-date=2015-07-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In July 2016, a Hostess IPO was announced.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-07-06 |title=IPO plan values Hostess at $2.3 billion |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2016/07/06/ipo-plan-values-hostess-at-2-3-billion/ |access-date=2025-08-19 |website=The Denver Post |language=en-US}}</ref>

In February 2021, Nestlé SA agreed to sell most of its North American bottled-water brands, including Poland Spring, Arrowhead and Pure Life, to Metropoulos & Co and One Rock Capital Partners LLC for $4.3 billion.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chaudhuri|first=Saabira|date=2021-02-17|title=Nestlé to Sell Poland Spring, Pure Life and Other Water Brands for $4.3 Billion|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/nestle-to-sell-poland-spring-pure-life-and-other-water-brands-for-4-3-billion-11613555874|access-date=2021-02-25|issn=0099-9660}}</ref>

==Personal life== Metropoulos lives in Palm Beach, Florida, with his wife<ref name="Forbes 2016 The World's Billionaires" /> Marianne, who in 2011, was President and Principal of Aegean Entertainment, a movie production company in Beverly Hills. They are parents of sons Evan and Daren.<ref name="haba.org" /> Daren purchased the Playboy Mansion for $100 million in 2016.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/hot-property/la-fi-hp-hotprop-20160827-snap-story.html |author=Leitereg, Neal J.| title=Daren Metropoulos takes ownership of Playboy Mansion, Hef included |newspaper=LA Times |date=2016-08-27 |accessdate=2016-10-05}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metropoulos, C. Dean}} Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:Date of birth missing (living people) Category:American chief executives Category:American billionaires Category:Pabst Brewing Company Category:Babson College alumni Category:Businesspeople from Palm Beach, Florida Category:21st-century American philanthropists Category:Greek emigrants to the United States