Born in Greece, Dean and his family migrated to the United States when he was ten years old. He grew up outside of Boston and attended Babson College where he earned his BS and MBA degrees and attended Columbia University where he worked toward his PhD for two years. Mr. Metropoulos started his career with GTE International where he was Director of Finance for GTE International overseeing its business for Europe, Middle East and Africa with residency in Geneva, Switzerland. At age 28, Dean was promoted to Senior Vice President of Finance for GTE International responsible for the company’s financial affairs throughout the world with a number of joint ventures in Japan, India, Mexico, Venezuela and direct business ownership in 30 other countries.
Mr. Metropoulos is currently Chairman and CEO of C. Dean Metropoulos & Company (“CDM”), a boutique acquisition and management firm with offices in Greenwich, Connecticut. Dean has spent the past 25 years building, restructuring and growing numerous businesses throughout the U.S. and Europe. Many of these entities were subsequently taken public or sold to strategic corporations or other private equity groups for significant returns. Dean has an excellent, well known reputation among the private equity, investment banking and financial communities. In addition, Dean and his sons have been principal investors in a number of retail and commercial properties, as well as an international dry cargo shipping company.
CDM has successfully partnered with several high-profile equity firms including Hicks Muse, J.P. Morgan Partners, TH Lee and J.W. Childs and has been involved in more than 68 acquisitions involving over $12 billion of invested capital. These acquisitions have earned some of the most attractive returns on Wall Street, as CDM investments have returned a 3.2x multiple and a 44% IRR. Dean has sat on the board of several companies in the United States and Europe.
Mr. Metropoulos has been featured in numerous national publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, Forbes Magazine, Fortune Magazine, The Financial Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, Brand Week, Investor’s Business Daily and The Deal. Dean has also been showcased on several national television networks including CNN, CNNfn, Bloomberg, CNBC, MSNBC and CBS Market Watch.
Mr. Metropoulos and his wife of 35 years, Marianne, a noted philanthropist and president of Aegean Entertainment, a film production company based in Beverly Hills, CA, both reside in Greenwich, CT and are the parents of two sons, Evan, 31 and Daren, 28.