Constantine “Dinos” Iordanou, the chairman of Vantage Group Holdings and former chairman and chief executive officer of Arch Capital Group Ltd., has died.

Described as “an industry legend,” as well as “a remarkable businessman, generous philanthropist and devoted family man” by collegues in the industry, Iordanou was 74.

Born in Cyprus in 1950, Iordanou was a trained aerospace engineer, who was drawn into the insurance business in 1976 at the age of 26, thanks to a recruiting initiative from American International Group which was focused on engineers who could help with satellite launch insurance, a relatively new coverage at the time.

Ultimately, he became a senior vice president at American Home Insurance Co., an AIG subsidiary. He subsequently moved to Berkshire Hathaway Group, where he served as president of the commercial casualty division. He held various senior roles at Zurich Financial Services between 1992 and 2001.

In 2002, he joined Arch Capital Group (U.S.) as CEO. The following year, he was named CEO of Arch and became its chairman in 2009. He retired from Arch in 2019 and went on to help launch Bermuda-based re/insurer Vantage, along with CEO Greg Hendrick in 2020. He also sat on the board of Verisk Analytics Inc.

Industry leaders have weighed in about the death of Iordanou.

“We are profoundly saddened by the loss of Dinos Iordanou, Vantage Risk’s non-executive board chairman. A friend, mentor and colleague, Dinos was instrumental in Vantage’s founding and a champion for its success. He was a remarkable businessman, generous philanthropist, and devoted family man. He will be deeply missed.” – Vantage Risk Companies in comments on LinkedIn

“The entire international re/insurance industry mourns the passing of entrepreneur, Mr. Dinos Iordanou, who was a booming voice for Bermuda. Dinos was a tremendous leader, mentor and industry icon, particularly in his founding role of Arch Capital Group as a Bermuda-based powerhouse since its post-911 start-up. The market greatly benefited from Dinos guidance as a long-time board member of ABIR including a term as ABIR Chair from 2011-2012. ABIR expresses its sincere condolences to the Iordanou family and all those whose lives were touched by this industry giant.” – The Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR) President & CEO John M. Huff in an emailed statement

“The entire Arch family is saddened by the passing of former Chair and CEO Dinos Iordanou. In his nearly 15-year tenure as CEO, Dinos played an integral role in developing Arch into a market-leading company with a worldwide presence in insurance, reinsurance and mortgage insurance. He was full of life, incredibly generous and a role model for anyone seeking to make a lasting impact.” — Arch Capital Group Ltd. in a posting on LinkedIn

“I, along with so many others, was upset to hear about Dinos’ passing. So much of Arch’s success over the past 20-plus years can be directly attributed to Dinos and his leadership,” according to Marc Grandisson, CEO of Arch, in the LinkedIn statement. “Not only was he an insurance industry legend, but his leadership, tenaciousness and larger-than-life personality influenced both me and the company in many ways. We’ve lost a great man. He will be deeply missed.” (Grandisson succeeded Iordanou as CEO of Arch).

In an interview with Carrier Management in 2017, Iordanou said he found insurance to be a fascinating business in part because of its importance to the global economy as the catalyst for global commerce.

“No one would invest hundreds of millions to build a building if it couldn’t be insured against fire,” he said. “No one would invest in corporations if they don’t have liability coverage to help them withstand the financial burden if something goes wrong. Ships won’t sail without cargo and hull insurance. Planes won’t fly without liability insurance. I could go on and on.”

One key to success is doing what you love, he said. “If I hadn’t enjoyed what I was doing from the early days, I wouldn’t have been successful in my career.”