Alex Spanos Stays Charged Up; Feed On Risk: The self-starting construction mogul knows he'll come out on top.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)

Publication: Investor's Business Daily

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Investor's Business Daily, Inc.

Byline: MARILYN MUCH

For construction mogul and philanthropist Alex Spanos, the road to success is lined with risk. But he likes it that way.

Especially the first one, which ended up leading him on the path to becoming one of the nation's top apartment developers.

It was 1951, and Spanos, now chairman and owner of A.G. Spanos Cos., faced a real problem. His wife, Faye, was pregnant with their second child. The 27-year-old Spanos knew he wouldn't be able to make ends meet on the $40 weekly salary he got working at his father's restaurant and bakery. So after months of rehearsing his speech, he asked his father for a raise -- only to be turned down.

So Spanos did the unthinkable -- at least in his close-knit family: He quit. He gave up the security of a business where he'd worked since he was a kid. His father, a strong disciplinarian and Spanos' mentor, was furious.

Dream Big

Still, Spanos was undeterred. "You can't experience the ocean if you cling to the shore," he wrote in his autobiography, "Sharing The Wealth." "You...

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