Charles Dean Metropoulos^[3] (Greek:Ντιν Μητρόπουλος; born May 1946^[1] inTripoli, Greece^[2]) is a Greek-American billionaire investor and businessman. He was the owner ofPabst Brewing Company, which was founded byJacob Best in 1844.^[2][4] On theForbes 2020 list of the world's billionaires, he was ranked #875 with a net worth ofUS$2.6 billion.^[5]

Dean Metropoulos
Metropoulos in 2015
Born	May 1946 (age 78–79)[1] Tripoli,Kingdom of Greece
Nationality	Greek American[2]
Alma mater	Babson College
Occupation(s)	Chairman and CEO of C. Dean Metropoulos and Company
Known for	Hostess Brands andPabst Brewing Company
Children	2

Metropoulos was ten years old when he and his parents emigrated from Greece to the U.S.,^[6] settling atWatertown, Massachusetts.^[2]

Metropoulos has a bachelor's degree and an MBA fromBabson College, located inWellesley, Massachusetts.^[7][8]

At age 25, he went toGeneva, Switzerland, to become a financial director forGTE International's (now Verizon) European, Middle Eastern, and African operations. Later he returned to the U.S. as the company's youngest controller.^[2]

In 1981, Metropoulos made his first acquisition of Stella Foods Inc., a Vermont-based cheese company, which later sold toRobert Bass for $375 million.^[9]

Some of the buy-build private equity transactions of Metropoulos have includedPinnacle Foods,Ghirardelli Chocolate Company,International Home Foods,Pabst Brewing Company, The Morningstar Group, Inc. (sold to Suiza Foods^[10] which has becomeDean Foods), Solar Marine ("a private, European based, international dry cargo shipping company"^[11]),Bumble Bee Foods,Vlasic Pickles, andMumm's/Perrier-Jouët champagnes.^[12][9]

Metropoulos is the executive chairman andchief executive officer of C. Dean Metropoulos & Company. The company was founded in 1993 and is based in Greenwich, Connecticut.^[13] As of 2011, C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. has been involved in over 72 acquisitions with over $12 billion in invested capital.^[12] The company jointly ownedHostess Brands along withApollo Global Management.

In September 2014 American entrepreneurEugene Kashper, backed byTSG Consumer Partners, announced an agreement to acquirePabst Brewing from C. Dean Metropoulos & Co for $700 million.^[14][15] The sale represented a gain of $550 million more than what the company paid for it in 2010.Bumble Bee Tuna is another brand owned by a company "bought and flipped" by the firm.^[16]

On July 7, 2015 there were rumors of aHostess Brands IPO. Metropoulos stated that there was no plan for an IPO.^[17] In July 2016, a Hostess IPO was announced.

In February 2021, Nestlé SA agreed to sell most of its North American bottled-water brands, including Poland Spring, Arrowhead and Pure Life, to Metropoulos & Co and One Rock Capital Partners LLC for $4.3 billion.^[18]

Metropoulos lives inPalm Beach, Florida, with his wife^[6] Marianne, who in 2011, was President and Principal of Aegean Entertainment, a movie production company in Beverly Hills. They are parents of sons Evan and Daren.^[12] Daren purchased thePlayboy Mansion for $100 million in 2016.^[19]