Garo H. Armen

Who is Garo H. Armen?

Dr. Garo H. Armen is a Turkish-born, of Armenian descent, USA businessman.

He was born on January 31, 1953, in Turkey. He moved to New York in 1970. According to the New York Times he became a messenger boy for a nonprofit Armenian organization. In the article Armen stated, "I worked five hours a day, five days a week. I got two bucks an hour…and that was a lot of money for me. His second job was in the kitchen of the Lawyers’ Club but it only lasted a day. "I thought I’d learn to cook. Instead, they asked me to wash dishes. I had to climb into the soup bucket, which was huge, and clean it out. Shortly after, I got a job in a bank as a clerk."

One night in 1978, in the middle of the energy crisis, Armen was driving home when he stopped at a gas station. "I noticed that gas pumps only had two digits [for the per gallon price]," in interview with The Scientist "Realizing that continued rising prices would force the pumps to be replaced in the near future, I borrowed $5,000 to invest in gas pumps." Soon enough, virtually every gas pump in America was replaced – and Armen had made $20,000. His interest in business was pricked, and had already paid off.