.
Christos M. Cotsakos (born July 29, 1948) is Founder, Chairman of the Board, CEO, and President of EndPlay, Inc. [1]
President Speert with alumnus Christos Cotsakos (left) '73 during the announcement of Cotsakos's major donation to the University in May 2001
Early Life & Education
Christos M. Cotsakos is a first-generation Greek-American from Paterson, New Jersey and is fluent in Greek.[2] He is the fourth of five children. His mother worked as a store clerk and his father worked as a cook.[3]
Cotsakos graduated from Eastside High School in 1965.[4] He enlisted in the US Army in 1967. He served in the Vietnam War as a fire team leader and squad leader with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division.[5] He was honorably discharged from active duty in 1970.
Immediately following his return from Vietnam, Cotsakos quickly realized that being a weapons expert and leader while serving in the military wasn’t enough for potential employers to hire him; the need to further his education become clear after his brother John, a Paterson State student, suggested college as a way for Cotsakos to get his life on track. [6]
Because of Cotsakos’ poor performance in high school, he used a family connection to get accepted to Paterson State College (later William Paterson College, now University) in New Jersey.[3] He received an honors BA in Communications from William Paterson in 1973. In 1983, he received an honors MBA from Pepperdine University. Cotsakos, while serving as CEO of E*TRADE Group, Inc. graduated with honors with a PhD in Economics from University of London. In 2010, Christos Cotsakos joined the Graziadio Senior Fellows in Entrepreneurship at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management [7]
William Paterson University honored Christos Cotsakos in May of 2001 by naming its business school the Cotsakos College of Business.
In 2002, Dr. Cotsakos received an honorary doctorate from Hellenic College in recognition of his leadership [8] .
Personal life
Christos Cotsakos is married to Tami Cotsakos. She also holds a B.S. in Music and a teaching credential (K-12) from William Paterson University '71.[9] Together they have one daughter, Suzanne Renee. Suzanne pursued an MBA at her father's namesake institution: the Cotsakos College of Business at the William Paterson University.[9]
In 2003, he listed his Atherton, California home for $28 million.[10]
Christos Cotsakos enjoys spending time with his family and friends, mentoring entrepreneurs, reading, writing, and teaching. Christos Cotsakos has traveled to Japan several times participating in Chanoyu (the Japanese tea ceremony of the Urasenke School of Tea) [11].
Career
In 1973, Cotsakos started as a package handler at Federal Express in Los Angeles. In 1988 he became VP for European Operations, a title he held until 1992. For his next job, he stayed in Europe to work for ACNielsen, a market research firm. He was promoted to co-CEO in 1995. He left the Nielsen Company in 1996 to become CEO of E*TRADE, a financial services company.[12] In April 2011, Cotsakos was announced as Founding Chairman, CEO and President of EndPlay, a Web Content Management System currently serving media, entertainment and education companies.[13]
Cotsakos co-founded and served as co-managing general partner of ArrowPath Ventures Inc from 1999 to 2003 [14].
In 2000, Dr. Cotsakos served as a technical advisor at President Clinton’s first Cyber Security Summit at the White House. [15]
He has also served as an advisor to the Military in the Information Age, a project on national defense and security systems technology sponsored by the Pentagon. [16]
E*TRADE
Cotsakos is former Chairman of the Board and CEO for E*TRADE, a financial services company. He was named president and CEO in April 1996.[17] E*TRADE had its IPO on August 16, 1996.[18] With Cotsakos's leadership, E*TRADE became a leading online financial services company.[19] In 2000, Cotsakos was instrumental in acquiring Telebanc. The Chairman of the board of directors, President and Chief Executive Officer of Telebanc Financial Corporation and Telebank was Mitch Caplan.[20]
In 2001, E*TRADE experienced losses of $242 million. On April 30, 2002 E*TRADE disclosed that it had paid Cotsakos $77 million in a compensation package. On May 10, 2002 Cotsakos offered to return $21 million to E*TRADE.[21] Nevertheless, 38 negative articles were written about Cotsakos’ excess compensation.[22]
During Dr Cotsakos' last year as Chairman and CEO, in 2002 E*TRADE Group, Inc. reported the most profitable year in the company's history, earning $0.45 per share from ongoing operations in 2002, delivering it's 3rd consecutive cash flow positive quarter and growing GAAP quarterly net income 41percent over the same quarter last year.
Earns $0.14 Per Share from Ongoing Operations in the Fourth Quarter
Double the $0.07 Earnings Per Share from Ongoing Operations in the Same Quarter Last Year
Grows GAAP(1) Quarterly Net Income 41 Percent Over Same Quarter Last Year
Delivers Third Consecutive Cash Flow Positive Quarter
Total active accounts 4.2MM
Cash and cash equivalents $771MM [23]
Cotsakos resigned from E*TRADE on January 23, 2003.[24]
In January 2000, E*TRADE Group, Inc. invested $5 Million in Official Payments Corp and E*TRADE Group, Inc. Chairman and CEO, Christos Cotsakos joined Official Payments Corp.'s Board of Directors. [25]
Philanthropy
Cotsakos served as co-chair for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, together with Senator Charles Hagel (Nebraska) and James Kimsey (founder of America Online). In 2005, Cotsakos agreed to lead a nationwide effort to create an educational center near The Wall in Washington DC. In November 2005, thanks to the financial support of Cotsakos, a state of the art performing arts theatre opened at St.John's International School in Belgium.[5]
Dr. Cotsakos is personally engaged in various civic and community activities through the Cotsakos Family Trust, of which his wife and daughter are principals. The Cotsakos Family Trust focuses on education, community outreach, and wildlife and environmental preservation. Christos and Tami Cotsakos donate generously to his parish of St. Athanasius in Paramus, New Jersey and to William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ, of which he is an alumnus. [26]
Awards and recognition
Cotsakos received the Bronze Star with "V," the Army Commendation Medal with "V," the Purple Heart, the Air Medal, Parachute Wings and the Combat Infantryman's Badge.[5]
In 1984, Christos Cotsakos received the Chief Operating Officer’s Five Star Award for Leadership and Innovation while working at Federal Express and was instrumental in Federal Express receiving the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award in 1990. [27]
Christos Cotsakos was invited to become a Visiting Professor of Economics at the University of London, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine from 2004 to 2006 [28]
In December 2010, Dr. Christos Cotsakos joined the Graziadio Senior Fellows in Entrepreneurship at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management. [29]
Christos Cotsakos has been featured in a variety of media publications including:
The October 1998 issue of Time Digital: The Top 50 Cyber Elite
[30]
100 People Who Have Changed the Way Americans Think About Money (Worth September 2001)
25 Most Influential Personalities in Financial Services (Future Banker May 2001 and May 1999)
The Online Finance 40 (Institutional Investor April 2001)
http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/Article/1403163/The-Online-Finance-40.html
Executive of the Year (Hellenic American Bankers Association March 2001) see above
The CIO 100 (CIO August 2000) [31]
The E-Establishment: The Top 50 Technology Leaders (Vanity Fair April 2000)
The Financial Online Elite (Institutional Investor April 2000 and September 1997)
Powerful Wall Street Pioneers (Wall Street Journal December 1999)
The e.biz 25 Most Influential People in Electronic Business (Business Week September 1999)
[32]
Power 50 – The Most Influential People in Financial Services (American Banker May 1999)
The 25 Most Powerful People in Networking (Networld January 1999)
Entrepreneur of the Year USA (Entrepreneur of the Year Institute November 1998)
[33]
Entrepreneur of the Year California (Entrepreneur of the Year Institute June 1998)
http://www.stanford.edu/group/mfp/publicity/EYPressRelease.htm
The New Entrepreneurial Elite (Inc. December 1997)
[34]
Top 10 Visionary CEOs (Communications Week February 1997)
Thirty Who Matter in Technology (Forbes ASAP October 1996)
Hellenic American Bankers Association honored Cotsakos by awarding him the Executive of the Year Award in March 2001. [35]
References
^ www.endplay.com , Board of Directors
^ "RESUME: Christos M. Cotsakos, CEO, E*trade.com", BusinessWeek, February 7, 2000. Accessed 26 November 2007.
^ a b "Tricks of E*Trade", BusinessWeek, February 7, 2000. Accessed 26 November 2007.
^ "Trading on a great education wp's richard reiss has a conversation with E*TRADE ceo christos cotsakos", WP: The Magazine of William Paterson University"], Fall/Winter 1999. Accessed December 6, 2007. "Born and raised in Paterson, New Jersey, Cotsakos was a 1965 graduate of Eastside High School. He will tell you -- 'barely.'"
^ a b c "Cotsakos Accepts Chairmanship of Campaign", The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, March 2, 2005. Accessed 26 November 2007.
^ William Paterson University, board-of-directors
^ Pepperdine University, Christos Cotsakos
^ CHRISTOS COTSAKOS ANNOUNCES GIFT OF $1 MILLION IN HONOR OF HELLENIC
^ a b "Christos M. Cotsakos, College of Business”, William Paterson University. Accessed 26 November 2007.
^ Schiffman, Betsy "Notorious CEOs' Notorious Homes”, Forbes. Accessed 26 November 2007.
^ http://www.wpunj.edu, Christos Cotsakos Christos M. Cotsakos
^ "E*TRADE Financial Corporation (ETFC:NASDAQ), “Business Week.”Accessed 26 November 2007.
^ "EndPlayTM Launches With New Solution for the Content Economy". Marketwire. April 11th, 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
^ Bloomberg, Christos M. Cotsakos
^ http://cryptome.org
^ Plans Underway for 8th Annual EDC Life Science Conference http://www.edc-tech.org
^ "E*Trade Financial Corporation", “Funding Universe." Accessed 26 November 2007.
^ "Price Range of Common Stock", “EDGAR Online." Accessed 26 November 2007.
^ "E*Trade Group Inc - One Of The First All-electronic Brokerages", “Net Industries." Accessed 26 November 2007.
^ "Mitchell H Caplan", “Forbes.com." Accessed 26 November 2007.
^ Elgin, Ben " E*Trade: CEO Pay Isn't the Only Problem ", BusinessWeek, May 17, 2002. Accessed 26 November 2007.
^ " What Happens When the Press Blasts Your CEO for Excess Compensation? Apparently Not Much", Knowledge@Wharton, March 22, 2006. Accessed 26 November 2007.
^ , E*TRADE Group, Inc. Reports Most Profitable Year in Company's History, Earning $0.45 Per Share From Ongoing Operations in 2002
^ " E Trade Financial Corp • 10-K • For 12/31/02 • EX-10.57", "Separation Agreement" January 23, 2006. Accessed 26 November 2007.
^ ETRADE and Official Payments Corp. Announce Strategic Alliance
^ William Paterson University
^ http://neco.org/awards/recipients/ccotsakos.html
^ http://www.edc-tech.org/index.php?src=news&refno=278&wpos=0,5000,9356
^ https://bschool.pepperdine.edu/alumni/successes/index.php/2011/02/christos-cotsakos-ph-d-mba-83/
^ *he was also featured in the October 1999 issue of Time Digital: The 50 Most Important People Shaping Technology Today. http://www.time.com/time/digital/digital50/index.html
^ http://books.google.com/books?id=8ggAAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA156&dq=cotsakos&pg=PA148#v=onepage&q=cotsakos&f=false
^ http://www.businessweek.com/archives/1999/b3648002.arc.htm
^ http://www.thefreelibrary.com/E*TRADE+CEO+Christos+M.+Cotsakos+%26+Chairman+William+A.+Porter+Named...-a053224698
^ http://www.inc.com/magazine/19971201/1375_pagen_2.html
^ http://www.haba.org/about.php
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