Who

John Catsimatidis is a player in two of the favorite realms of New Yorkers: food and politics. In addition to owning the Gristedes supermarket chain, the Greek-born magnate may very well be a candidate for mayor in 2009.

Backstory

The son of a busboy, Greek-born Catsimatidis (it's pronounced Cah-tsee-mah-TEE-dees) grew up in a tenement in Harlem, moonlighted at his uncle's supermarket during college, and dropped out of a graduate program in engineering at NYU to open his first Red Apple supermarket at 87th and Broadway in 1968. Eighteen years later, Red Apple had grown large enough to acquire 36 Gristedes Brothers Supermarkets, giving it a grand total of 75 supermarkets, more than any other chain in the city. While Catsimatidis's supermarket assets aren't what they once were—there are now fewer than 40 Gristedes in New York, close to half than there were a decade ago—these days his Red Apple Group has interests in a wide variety of other businesses, from oil refining (the United Oil Refinery) to convenience stores (the Kwik-Fill chain) to real estate and aviation. All in, the privately held Red Apple employs some 10,000 people and brings in some $3.8 billion in annual revenue.

Of note

Catsimatidis has long been a big-time Democratic fundraiser—he's raised money for Bill and Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, and John Kerry—but in the fall of 2007 he switched his affiliation to the Republican party, part of a plan, most assume, to run for mayor in 2009. Catsimatidis has reportedly set aside $60 million for his bid and has started courting the support of various business and civic leaders. Whether he has any sort of shot is unclear, but Catsimatidis can certainly count on at least one newspaper endorsement: He is owner and editor of the Hellenic Times, the largest Greek American newspaper in the country.

Keeping score

Forbes pegged Catsimatidis's net worth at $2.1 billion in 2008.

Personal

The heavyset Catsimatidis has two kids with his second wife Margo, his former secretary: Andrea John ("AJ") and John Andreas ("Yanni"). The family lives on the Upper East Side.