Alex G. Spanos*
Class of 1982
- Chairman of the Board A.G. Spanos Enterprises, Inc.
You must believe that you are capable of achieving what you set out to do. It's as simple as that.
Alex Spanos was born in 1923 in Stockton, California. His father, a Greek immigrant, ran a small restaurant and bakery. From the time he was eight, Spanos baked bread and cakes before school. After his high school graduation and his short time at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, World War II broke out. Spanos joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and spent the next three years serving his country.
After the war, Spanos resumed his studies at Stockton's College of the Pacific. He continued working in the bakery and lettered in swimming and diving. Spanos was expected to stay in the family business, but he wanted to strike out on his own. With an $800 loan, he bought an old truck and started a business supplying meals to farmworkers in California's Central Valley. The venture thrived.
In the mid-1950s, Spanos turned his attention to real estate. A. G. Spanos Companies became a builder of multifamily housing and has operations in construction, management, and land development. After turning over his business to his children, Spanos became chairman.
Spanos also bought the National Football League's San Diego Chargers, fulfilling a lifelong goal. "I've always set goals," he said. "There were always five-year goals, and I've been able to achieve every one of them in less than five years." Spanos exudes self-confidence and credits much of his success to that trait.
"If I don't tell people how good I am, who will?" he asks. "A lot of young people, if they fail the first time out, they give up. I would say to never give up. The opportunities are far greater today than they were 20 or 30 years ago. But you have to have a strong desire, and you've got to believe that you're the best at what you're doing. There isn't anything in this world you can't do if you set your mind to it."
In his autobiography, Sharing the Wealth, Spanos details his struggle to succeed as well as the lessons he learned along the way. He credits much of his success to his family. "My wife, my children, and my grandchildren are everything to me," he said. "They are why I continue to work. Family is what it is all about."