He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II’ for services to entrepreneurship, in 2006. He is also the Founder and Chairman of the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation, which supports a wide range of philanthropic actions close to his homeland, in the countries where he has lived and worked, including Greece and Cyprus. In 2017, Sir Stelios Hatziioannou signed The Giving Pledge (led by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet), pledging to give half of his fortune to his charity to continue his charitable work in perpetuity.
< p>The Founded in 2012, THI is a global non-profit organization that brings together Diaspora Greeks and Philhellenes to invest in Greece through programs focused on economic development and crisis relief. Since its establishment, THI has invested more than 21 million dollars in Greece and has grown into the largest organization of the Greek diaspora in the world.
Sir Stelios Hatziioannou donates most of the profits from the royalties of the family of companies “easy” to the “Stelios Philanthropic Foundation”, which is registered in the United Kingdom and offers significant philanthropy. Its flagship philanthropic program in Greece is the Food from the Heart initiative, under which free snacks are distributed daily to those in need, serving approximately 100,000 beneficiaries per month.
In 2023 the Foundation acquired and renovated a historic building in the heart of Athens, at 22 Kydathinaion Street in Plaka, which functions as a conference room and is available free of charge to Greek charities for holding their charity events.
Furthermore, Sir Stelios Hatziioannou has agreed to take over the leadership of the Hellenic Initiative chapter in Monaco, where he resides, and has agreed to host a charity event there on June 25, 2024 to raise funds for the Hellenic Initiative Summer Youth Academy in Athens (THI Summer Youth Academy).
