Bertarelli Foundation
| Ernesto Bertarelli | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Ernesto Bertarelli 22 September 1965 Rome, Italy |
| Residence | Gstaad |
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Alma mater |
Babson College Harvard Business School |
| Occupation | Chairman, Waypoint Capital Group; Co-Chair, Bertarelli Foundation |
| Known for |
Serono Alinghi America's Cup Bertarelli Foundation |
| Net worth |
 US$9 billion (August 2017) |
| Spouse(s) | Kirsty Roper (m. 2000) |
| Children | 3 |
Ernesto Bertarelli (born 22 September 1965) is an Italian-born Swiss businessman and philanthropist.
The 2017 edition of the Sunday Times Rich List estimated the family's wealth at £11.5 billion and noted an increase of £1.72 billion since the previous year. According to Forbes, Bertarelli has an estimated net worth of $9 billion, as of August 2017.
Born in Rome, his family moved to Switzerland in 1977. He graduated from Babson College in 1989, and earned an MBA at Harvard Business School in 1993.
His grandfather, Pietro, joined Serono, a pharmaceutical company founded in 1906. In 1935 he became the company's managing director, a position he was succeeded in by his son, Fabio Bertarelli, in 1965. Bertarelli became CEO in 1996 and, along with his sister Dona, inherited ownership in 1998 on the death of his father. Changing the company's focus from pharmaceuticals to biotechnology, revenues increased from $809 million in 1996 to $2.8 billion in 2006. The company gained fame from its discovery of a natural hormone used in the treatment of female infertility, and its treatments for multiple sclerosis and growth hormone deficiency.
Bertarelli and his family sold the company to Merck KGaA of Germany in January 2007 for US$13.3 billion, forming the new company Merck-Serono. His family split an estimated $9 billion stake at that time, which added to previous share sales when the company floated on the NY stock market in 2000, which is now invested mainly through his Waypoint Capital investment vehicle. Bertarelli currently co-chairs – with his sister Dona – the Bertarelli Foundation which focuses on marine conservation and neuroscience research.
Between 2002 and 2009, he served as a board director of UBS AG. Management of the family's wealth is mainly through the Waypoint Capital group, which is a business enterprise for the managers and advisers of the funds and investments associated with the Bertarellis.
The group is active in two areas: Life sciences and asset management, including real estate. Chaired by Ernesto Bertarelli, Waypoint is headquartered in Geneva, with offices in London, Jersey, Boston and Luxembourg. Waypoint's interests include Kedge Capital, an investment management group specializing in hedge funds, private equity and real estate; a new asset management business, Northill Capital; and a UK real estate investment fund, Crosstree.
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