President Joe Biden will attend a few swanky fundraising events this month with a few well-to-do New Yorkers.
On May 10, Biden will attend an event for the first time at the home of Hamilton “Tony” James, 72, a former Blackstone executive worth approximately $3.3 billion who has previously organized similar fundraisers for Biden and former President Barack Obama .
Tickets for the event at James’ home — a duplex on Fifth Avenue in Central Park that he bought for $24.9 million in 2011 — will cost at least $25,000 each, according to CNBC. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will also be attending the event.
Later, Biden will head to town for a fundraising dinner at the Upper East Side, the home of 48-year-old George Logothetis, a Greek shipping magnate who also previously hosted the Obamas for a similar dinner in 2015.
The events are the president’s first NYC fundraising events since he announced his plans to run for reelection in April.
President Joe Biden heads to New York City on May 10 for a few fundraising events
One of the events takes place at the home of Tony James, former CEO of Blackstone (right). The second event takes place at the home of shipping and hotel magnate George Logothetis (left)
George Logothetis’s Upper East Side mansion in New York City, where he hosted the Obamas
A tent set up outside Logothetis’ apartment for the 2015 fundraiser for Barack Obama
Logothetis with Michelle Obama in 2016. He has done several fundraisers for Barack Obama
James’ ties to Biden go beyond mere fundraising — last March, the president announced his plans to nominate him to his Intelligence Advisory Board.
He was previously offered by Obama but turned down the role of trade secretary after raising about $2 million for the then president.
Then, during Biden’s 2020 election, James raised another $2 million for the campaign, according to OpenSecrets.
James joined investment management group Blackstone in 2002, rising to the role of CEO and massively expanding the company’s presence.
He remained in charge until the end of 2021 and announced his retirement after selling $500 million worth of Blackstone stock.
James married his wife, Amabel Boyce James, in 1973. The couple has three children together.
He is also the co-chairman of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the chairman of the finance committee of the Mount Sinai Hospital System and also chairman of Costco Wholesale Corp., according to the Wall Street Journal.
A graduate of Harvard College, James received his business degree from Harvard Business School.
Logothetis bought his Upper East Side home for $12.5 million where he held his fundraiser for the Obamas that cost $33,400 per capita. That, according to OpenSecrets, was one of many fundraisers for Democratic politicians he has organized over the years.
Obama appointed him to the board of directors of My Brother’s Keeper, an initiative launched in April to help young black men stay on track and realize their potential.
And over the years, the London-born Logothesis has shown that he has a tendency to get what he wants.
He started working in his father’s company, Lomar Shipping, when he was just 18. Within 10 years he was CEO and determined to expand. He grew the company from just two ships to 70.
Together with his younger brother Constantine, he turned the company into the Libra Group, which now runs hotels, rents planes and helicopters and is heavily involved in renewable energy.
George Logothetis and Joe Biden shake hands in 2017 (left), and Tony James and his wife at the White House in 2012 (right)
The posh apartment building on Fifth Avenue where Tony James bought a duplex for $24.9 million
The Grace Santorini is one of several luxury hotels that Logothetis owns under his company
A view of a villa pool at the Libra Group’s Grace Santorini hotel in Santorini, Greece
A lounge at the Libra Group’s Grace Santorini hotel in Greece, which is owned by Logothetis
The Vanderbilt Grace in Rhode Island is one of many Logothetis luxury hotels
But life for the father of three is not all work. He insists on taking three months off every five years to give himself time to think about his goals for the next five years, and refuses to check his work emails or take business calls. “Ideas take time to breathe,” he says.
During his first sabbatical, he came up with the idea of “asking inappropriate people to do appropriate tasks” and began expanding the company.
“We took all the great people out of our shipping industry and sent them around the world to start businesses. We ended up with a ship captain who runs a $200 million real estate company and a Russian fruit seller who runs six biogas plants in Latvia,” he said. Fortune magazine.
His family’s net worth is unclear but is believed to be over $1 billion.
Logothetis and his glamorous wife Nitzia, a psychotherapist also from a Greek shipping family, are regulars on the Democratic fundraising circuit. Last year they organized a fundraiser in upstate New York for Obama.
In 2015, the couple was on the guest list for the White House state dinner for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
George Logothetis and former Deputy National Security Adviser Anthony Blinken in 2016
George Logothetis greets Bill Clinton in New York City in 2012 at the Plaza Hotel
George and Nitzia Logothetis greet Nancy Pelosi in Washington DC in 2015
George Logothetis with New York Governor Kathy Hochul in NYC in 2022
Members of the Secret Service and security officials stood outside the house before President Obama arrived in 2015
Police blocked the street outside Logothetis’ mansion before Obama arrived in 2015
The tent outside the Logothetis mansion is set up for Obama’s 2015 fundraiser
NYPD officers patrol the street where Logothetis lives before Obama arrived in 2015
Obama’s security detail outside the Logothetis mansion in New York City in 2015
Streets leading to Logothetis mansion were cordoned off in 2015 for Obama’s fundraiser
NYPD officers man the street barricades on Logothetis Street during Obama’s 2015 visit
A police officer standing guard during Obama’s 2015 visit to the Logothetis mansion
Both events indicated that the president still has a base of loyal, wealthy Democratic voters, despite some expressing preference for another candidate in charge.
Biden previously leaned on Wall Street wealth to fund his campaign, raking in about $74 million during his 2020 race against Donald Trump, according to CNBC.
That amount was far greater than what Trump raised from Wall Street.
It comes out as a new poll NBC showed that 70 percent of Republican voters favored Trump over his rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
A majority of voters did not support Biden, who is 80 years old and going back to work, largely out of fears about his age.