The unique success of the Greeks was that they created the global shipping business while still retaining the traditional family character that had characterized Greek shipping. What happened to the Vagliano and Onassis businesses after their deaths? They both left public benefit foundations and a great legacy in Greek shipping. Their main contribution was in developing the institution of the shipping firm. The element that characterised them was innovation in management and in the creation of new institutional framework in shipping business at critical moments of transition of the Greek shipping business. The Vaglianos invented the “London shipping office,” a hybrid form of shipowning and ship-management office that led Greek shipping firms into the twentieth century. Onassis pioneered the modern model of the global shipping company, with the use of multiple offshore companies, flags of convenience and management from many locations. The stories of the two businesses indicate the use of the local to reach the global, of how local European maritime culture has made the world trade function.