Ernesto Bertarelli- Net Worth, Money and More
Net worth -$ 12.1 billion
Occupation- entrepreneur
Profile:
Ernesto Bertarelli is a Swiss entrepreneur active in the fields of business, finance, sport and philanthropy. Born on 22nd September’1965 in Rome. Ernesto was ranked 94th in the list of wealthiest people of world by Forbes magazine in 2013. The family wealth was estimated to be approx. 14 billion. He is the richest man of Switzerland. Ernesto graduated from Babson College in 1988 and completed his MBA from Harvard business school in 1993.
Career:
Ernesto has been the CEO of Serono company, which is a pharmaceutical company and founded by his grandfather. He became the CEO of the company in 1996, and his sister; Dona also inherited the company in 1998. Under the leadership of these siblings ‘Serono’ shifted its focus from pharmaceutical to bio-technology, luckily this move proved as a smart move as company’s profit increased from $809 million to $2.8 billion over the course of less than a decade. The company gained fame from its discovery of a natural hormone used in the treatment of female fertility and its treatment for multiple sclerosis and growth hormone deficiency. Soon Serono merged with German pharmaceutical company Merck KgaA in 2007 to become Merck-Senoro.
In addition to his work with Serono, he also served on the board of USB AG for & years and currently manages multiple investments through Kedge Capital Group and Northill Capital, and helms Ares Life Sciences, a medical technology investment firm.
Ernesto is the Co-Chairman of the Bertarelli Foundation founded in 1999 for promoting R&D in the field of male and female fertility, andrology, education etc. through grants. He is also a member of the Strategic Advisory Board at Ecole Polytechnique Federal the Lausanne (EPFL) and of the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows. In 2008 he was inducted into Babson College’s Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs. He was also awarded the Legion the Honor by President Jacques Chirac of France and the Cavalier the Gran Croce by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, President of the Italian Republic.
Apart from interest in biotechnology Bertarelli also founded the yachting syndicate Team Alinghi in 2000 that defeated Team new Zealand in Auckland to win the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2003. This was the first time a team had ever won the coveted sailing trophy on its first attempt. Ernesto himself served as a navigator in 2003 and afterguard runner and grinder in 2007.
Personal life:
Ernesto Bertarelli married to Staffordshire born and former 1988 Miss UK; Kirsty Roper in 2000. They first met each other in 2000 on aboard the private yacht of Ernesto while he was having a weekend in sardine, Italy. There love is said to be love at first sight and Kirsty even wrote a song ‘Black coffee’ inspired from their love story, which was a great hit. Today Kirsty Bertarelli is the richest women of UK. They both had three children.
Wealth and property:
Ernesto Bertarelli owns three big royal mansions and also due to his great intimacy in sailing sports he own three huge and beautiful yachts.
1. Mansions:
a) LA bergeria: Ernesto owns a royal and lavish house on the shore of Lake Geneva in Switzerland, his home country. This place is known probably for Yacht racing which can be the basic reason to buy this mansion. Here he usually comes for holiday.
b) Gstaad Chalet: This mansion is situated in Switzerland, this is the primary residence of Ernesto and he lives here with his wife and three children. This mansion is worth 8 million euros. This mansion has swimming pool, garden, Lake Etc. type’s royal facilities in it.
c) Knightsbridge Mansion: this mansion is located in London and named after a road which gives its name to an exclusive district lying to the west of central London.
2. Yachts:
a) Vava yacht: This yacht was launched in 1996 and it is 155 foot headship yacht. This is luckiest yacht for Ernesto as he met first time with Kirsty here and it was love at first sight. This huge yacht has been the playground for famous Richie rich Ernesto Bertarelli.
b) Vava II yacht: This was another huge yacht bought by Ernesto, which cost approx. 100 million euros. It has replaced his existing mega yacht Vava. It is constructed as largest private yacht on British soil with the size of 96 meters and took around 2 years to build. Pharmaceutical tycoon Mr. Bertarelli is an avid sailor and has won many American races with this yacht. This yacht has excellent interior with facilities like pool, golf court, beach club etc. also it has six decks and contains a helipad.
c) Alinghi yacht: This is the most advanced among all the yacht which Ernesto owns. This yacht was launched on 8th July ’2009. The light but stiff Y shaped central spine makes this yacht a unique and incredible yacht, it has a complete carbon fiber body. It also contains optic fiber sensors which provide real time monitoring of the boat. This amazing yacht was designed by team headed by Grant simmer.
Quotes:
“Our strong first quarter top-line performance reflects a healthy business across the board. Moving forward we will continue to invest in our existing businesses and R&D pipeline.”
“Everybody says my dream was to win this but in reality I just wanted to put a good team together, a team we could be proud of and capable of maybe winning.”
“It is clear we cannot stand still.”
