The Société des Bains de Mer (SBM; ), officially the Société Anonyme des Bains de Mer et du Cercle des Etrangers à Monaco (; ), is a publicly traded company registered in the Principality of Monaco. SBM manages and owns the Monte Carlo Casino, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and the Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo. History SBM was founded on 2 April 1863 by a sovereign order issued by Charles III, Prince of Monaco. He ceded for 1.7 million gold francs to the businessman François Blanc for the privilege of exploiting the monopoly on gambling in the Principality of Monaco for 50 years. It initially consisted of a capital of eight million francs divided into 32,000 shares. Basil Zaharoff After World War I, the casino in Monte Carlo was in trouble. The world had changed, particularly the world of money, and the Prince of Monaco, Louis II, believed the casino's aged owner, Camille Blanc, had lost touch. As the casino supplied the principality with revenue, he sought to replace Blanc and bring in fresh business management. For assistance, he approached Basil Zaharoff, an international financier and arms dealer who had long been a patron of the Côte d’Azur. Zaharoff managed to get hold of the shares and, with the aid of the Prince, shouldered Blanc out and became the casino's master. Zaharoff brought in fresh administration and the result paid huge dividends. Aristotle Onassis In 1953, Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis bought up the shares of SBM via the use of front companies in the tax haven of Panama and took control of the organisation, moving his headquarters into the Old Sporting Club on Monaco's Avenue d'Ostende shortly after. Onassis's takeover of the SBM was initially welcomed by Monaco's ruler, Prince Rainier III, as the country required investment, but Onassis and Rainier's relationship had deteriorated by 1962 in the wake of the boycott of Monaco by the French president, Charles de Gaulle. Onassis and Rainier had differing visions for Monaco. Onassis wished the country to remain a resort for an exclusive clientele, but Rainier wished to build hotels and attract a greater number of tourists. Monaco had become less attractive as a tax haven in the wake of France's actions, and Rainier urged Onassis to invest in the construction of hotels. Onassis was reluctant to invest in hotels without a guarantee from Rainier that no other competing hotel development