Although he’s a trustee of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, on the Leadership Council of the New Museum and a member of Tate’s International Council, until this year very few people were familiar with Greek entrepreneur Dimitris Daskalopoulos. (Having made his fortune in the food industry, ‘DD’ is currently chairman of the board of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises and on the board of directors of the National Bank of Greece.)
Now his name is everywhere – in London’s Stephen in the Whitechapel Gallery, which is currently hosting the second in a quartet of exhibitions drawn from his collection (which includes around 400 works ranging from what is believed to be the last Marcel Duchamp urinal in private hands to Christoph Büchel’s 450 sq m installation Unplugged (Simply Botiful), 2006–7); on Tate Modern curator Jessica Morgan’s business card (she’s now Daskalopoulos Curator, International Art); and ultimately on this list. Meanwhile he’s planning to open a foundation in Greece.