John Catsimatidis

John A. Catsimatidis (pronounced KAT-sih-mə-TEE-deez) was born on September 7, 1948, on the Greek island of Nisyros. At six months old, he emigrated to the United States with his parents. The family settled in West Harlem, New York. His father previously worked as a lighthouse operator in Greece and later as a busboy in New York.

Catsimatidis graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1966. He received a congressional nomination to attend West Point Academy but chose to study electrical engineering at New York University instead. During college, he worked for Tony, the uncle of a friend, at a small supermarket on 137th Street. While still in college, Catsimatidis bought Tony’s half of the store. He completed four years of college but did not graduate, being eight credits short.

In 1971, Catsimatidis founded his first business, the original Red Apple grocery store, in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. He subsequently acquired another grocery store nearby on 87th Street, renamed it Red Apple, and introduced business innovations such as extended store hours, free delivery, and check-cashing services. By age 24, Catsimatidis claimed to have established ten stores generating approximately $25 million annually, earning him about $1 million per year.

By the summer of 1981, Red Apple expanded to include 27 stores across the Bronx and Manhattan, with annual sales near $40 million. The company's sales increased to roughly $110 million in 1985. In 1986, Red Apple purchased 36 Gristedes supermarkets and 11 affiliated Charles & Co. stores from Southland Corporation.

Catsimatidis’s holdings in the late 2000s included approximately 50 Gristedes supermarkets, 371 gas stations across three states, real estate valued at around $500 million, and an expanding oil business. In the same year, he acquired United Refining Co., which owned gasoline refineries in Pennsylvania and Alabama. In October 2009, Forbes reported that United Refining Energy Corp., a publicly traded company sponsored by United Refining, attempted to acquire Chaparral Energy in a deal valued at roughly $1.6 billion; however, the shareholders did not approve the deal, leading to its termination in December 2009.

Catsimatidis serves as chairman and CEO of United Refining Co., a subsidiary of the Red Apple Group. In 2008, he engaged in efforts to take over SemGroup LP, a bankrupt company involved in oil, gas, and asphalt trading and transportation. He gained management control but faced opposition from existing SemGroup executives. The dispute culminated in a lawsuit in February 2009, with a settlement reached in July that year, where Catsimatidis acquired a portion of SemGroup’s asphalt business.

The Red Apple Group was ranked 156th on Forbes’s list of "America’s Largest Private Companies" in 2015, with revenue of approximately $3 billion and about 8,000 employees. Historically, the company ranked within the top 100 private firms in subsequent years.

Catsimatidis has been involved in media as a talk radio host. He hosted “The Cats Roundtable” on WABC, which originated in New York and was syndicated nationally, and he also hosted “Cats at Night” on WABC and as a podcast. In 2019, he announced plans to purchase WABC radio station for $12.5 million, a transaction finalized in March 2020. His media company, Red Apple Media, also owns other regional stations.

Politically, Catsimatidis and his wife have contributed to both Republican and Democratic campaigns. He has donated over $60,000 to the Republican National Committee and supported various Republican figures, including Mitt Romney, Eric Cantor, Olympia Snowe, and Richard Lugar. His contributions to Democratic campaigns include donations to Congress members such as Carolyn B. Maloney, Charlie Rangel, and Jerrold Nadler. He provided financial support to Bill de Blasio’s campaigns and supported Michael Bloomberg’s political actions. Catsimatidis has been identified as a longtime supporter and donor to Hillary Clinton, contributing substantially to her presidential campaigns and hosting fundraising events for her.

He considered running for Mayor of New York City in 2009 as a Republican but withdrew after Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a third term. In 2013, Catsimatidis officially entered the mayoral race, financing much of his campaign through self-funding, and emphasizing a message targeting Harlem and Wall Street. His campaign expenditures included television and radio advertising, billboards, and various promotional items.

Catsimatidis is also a published author; in February 2023, he released a memoir titled "How Far Do You Want to Go?: Lessons from a Common-Sense Billionaire."