MISCELLANY (Continued from page 6) Knight Time It is becoming quite a year for Montecito business executive Demetri Argyropoulos. The 39-year-old entrepreneur, who attended Westmont College and Harvard Business School, became a cavaliere, the youngest knight in the former royal house Order of Merit of Savoy in a ceremony in New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral last month, as I exclusively chronicled here. And now Demetri, founder of Avant Global, a business networking company, is featured in a glowing article in Forbes magazine by writer Patrick Hanlon, which reports he has generated $10 billion in value for his clients, including being an early investor in Twitter. “I realized that if you put the right people together, you can have great outcomes,” reflects Demetri, whose abilities led to new contacts, new partners, new horizons, and made him a millionaire at 23 years old. “What I started was essentially a talent agency for business. From talent, we were able to gain momentum, from momentum we were able to get equity from deals, exits from deals. And we were able to get to where we are today.” He has helped raise money for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
For Sail After 16 years as manager of the Santa Barbara Yacht Club (SBYC), Craig Wilberg, 61, is sailing off into the sunset to enjoy retirement. Craig, who splits his time between homes here and in Lake Tahoe, with his wife, Nicole, and their two children, music executive Brittany, 30, and Russell, 28, a project manager, grew up in Glendale before moving to Santa Maria on the Central Coast 22 years ago, managing country clubs there and in San Luis Obispo. “The yacht club is very similar, but with water instead of grass,” laughs
Montecito’s Demetri Argyropoulos featured in Forbes (photo by Santi Visali)
and the Clinton Global Initiative, as well as creating strategic relationships with personalities including Deepak Chopra, Lady Gaga, and the Sam Walton family, among others. “I am grateful to have amazing partners in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Manila, Austin, and New York, who’ve helped me get where I am,” adds Demetri, “We are a family.”
Craig Wilberg retires after 16 years as the SBYC’s manager (photo by Rebecca Ditmore)
Sunday January 29 2-4 pm
Craig. “During my time there, we made some changes, mostly structural, to enhance it.” Now Craig will spend his time playing golf – he has an 18 handicap – hiking and biking, with future plans including a month in Spain taking the 497-miles pilgrimage trail “The Way of St. James” to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. His replacement at the SBYC is Eric VanderWerff, a former manager at Birnam Wood. Welcome on board. The Great Hair-after Santa Barbara warbler Katy Perry debuted a dramatic new dye job when she surprised her longtime beau, British actor Orlando Bloom, with a secret 40th birthday bash in Palm Springs. The former Dos Pueblos High student showcased a brand-new bleach blonde do, making her almost unrecognizable. The 32-year-old “Dark Horse” singer even managed to rope in the Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean star’s mother, Sonia, who flew in from England for the beano, which came just weeks after the loved-up twosome saw in the New Year in
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