William Tavoulareas

William Peter "Bill" Tavoulareas (November 9, 1919 – January 13, 1996) was a Greek-American petroleum businessman who served as President and Chief Executive of the Mobil Corporation in the 1970s and 1980s. He was best known for his libel lawsuit against The Washington Post, due to the newspaper's investigative journalism articles criticizing him.

He was a close friend of U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou.

Early life and education

Tavoulareas was born in Messenia, Greece and moved to the United States, to Queens, New York, at age 15. He earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from St. John's University School of Law.

Lawsuit

In 1982 Tavoulareas was unsuccessful in bringing $2 million libel suit against the Washington Post for saying he used his corporate position to "set up his son" (Peter Tavoulareas) in a shipping business. The initial jury's award was put aside by the judge hearing the case because he said Tavoulareas had not proven "actual malice". The Court of Appeals confirmed the ruling, finding the story substantially true and holding that "the record abounds with uncontradicted evidence of nepotism in favor of Peter [Tavoulareas' son]".

Career

He succeeded Rawleigh Warner, Jr. at Mobil.

He was also on the Boards of Aramco, Bankers Trust, Philip Morris, St. John's University, Georgetown University, Athens College, St. Francis Hospital, a Governor of New York Hospital, and served on the Boards of numerous charities both nationally and internationally. He was a Knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

Death

He died at age 75 in Boca Raton, Florida, where he lived in his later years.