The Founder

His most defining achievement has been the operational restart and modernization of two of Greece’s largest shipyards, first in Syros and later in Elefsina, restoring them as productive industrial assets and repositioning them as internationally competitive maritime hubs. Under his leadership, ONEX Group has reactivated production lines that had remained idle for years, restored employment opportunities for thousands of workers, and returned Greek shipbuilding to the global stage after nearly three decades of decline.

What began as a shipyard turnaround evolved into a diversified industrial platform. Panos Xenokostas expanded ONEX Group into shipbuilding and ship repair, naval defense, offshore construction and floating wind, port and logistics infrastructure, energy, combined transport, railway rolling stock, and emerging technologies. His strategy views these sectors not as isolated businesses, but as interconnected components of a single industrial ecosystem designed to position Greece as a strategic hub at the crossroads of the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and Southeastern Europe.

His leadership is defined by execution. He has built ONEX Group on the principle that strategic vision matters only when it is matched by industrial delivery, and that international partnerships are meaningful only when they result in ships built, infrastructure developed, and jobs created on Greek soil. Through this work, he has become closely associated with a broader vision: that national sovereignty, energy independence, and industrial competitiveness are inseparable, and that rebuilding a nation’s productive capacity is among the most important contributions one generation can make to the next.