John Koudounis: Making Japan big in Wall Street!

Demetrios Rhompotis

Happy New Year to all!

I hope you enjoyed the Holiday Season and now you are ready to start demolishing your new year’s resolutions! Like many other great promises they are great because we will never reach up to them. Let us satisfy our appetite for greatness with more realistic goals. I, for a change, decided to become president and this presidential election offers the best possible opportunity given how insane my fellow Republican candidates are. If this isn’t my chance, when will it be? Even PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain) are about to fly!!!

On a serious note now, the January issue of Forbes magazine features John Koudounis, CEO of Mizuho Securities USA, an arm of Japan’s second-largest bank by assets, Mizuho Financial.

His grandparents emigrated from Sparta in 1900 and started their life here selling hot dogs outside of Wrigley Field. His father, George, expanded the family business by opening a drive-in called George’s Old Town Red Hots. Although he was accepted at both Yale and Harvard, John chose to study at Brown.

As head of Mizuho USA since 2010, he has already managed to make the Japanese bank a serious player in Wall Street and the night is young. According to Forbes, “Earlier this year Koudounis embarked on the second stage of his growth plan. Mizuho bought a $36.5 billion book of loans from RBS for around $3 billion, giving the firm expanded access to corporate clients and absorbing 130 investment bankers. Equities are next, he says.”

We at NEO magazine are especially proud for the additional reason that we had John Koudounis as our cover story in September 2014. We are taking this opportunity to salute his continuous success and to wish him many more in future. He deserves every bit of it because he is a great American, a great Hellene and a great person!