RESULTS FOR 2008
Ranking: 6
Worth: £5,650m
Source of wealth: Pharmaceuticals
During the 2007 America’s Cup, yachting fans accused Bertarelli, the owner of
the Swiss team, of bad form in “purchasing key members of the New Zealand
team”, or effectively buying up the best of the opposition. Why? Well,
probably because he could. Biotechnology tycoon Bertarelli, 42, is one of
Switzerland’s richest men. His Swiss team has won yachting’s prestigious
America’s Cup twice on the trot — beating New Zealand by just one second in
a dramatic finish last year. Bertarelli, who was born in Rome, makes it into
our list with his blonde wife, Kirsty, a former Miss United Kingdom from
Staffordshire. Last year she created a special clothing range to show her
support for the Swiss team and she is regularly to be seen smashing Moët
against a new boat. Also a songwriter, she helped write the All Saints No 1
hit Black Coffee in 2000, which was about her husband. The couple have three
children. When they were dating, Kirsty tried to demonstrate that she could
cook. She recalls: “I brought a chicken home and put it in the oven, only to
find that his chef had also put a chicken in the oven — so we had an
argument about whose chicken should be in there. As the chickens were flying
around the kitchen, Ernesto said, ‘I don’t care whose roast chicken it is, I
just want to have some dinner!’ Anyhow we now have two kitchens, one for me
and another for the chef.” Bertarelli prefers to stay out of the limelight
and drink beer in a London pub rather than quaff champagne. By the age of
31, following his father’s death, he was running Serono, Europe’s biggest
biotechnology organisation. Back in 1947, Serono’s researchers discovered a
natural hormone, urinary gonadotropin, which could be used to treat
infertility. To ensure good quality material, they turned to the nuns of an
Italian convent, with the Vatican’s blessing. The Geneva-based company
became the world leader in reproductive treatments and also produces drugs
for treating growth deficiency and multiple sclerosis. Educated at Harvard
Business School, Bertarelli sold Serono in 2006, one day before his 40th
birthday, saying: “I have to admit, it’s part of my life that’s going.” He
shared the money with his sisters, and the family has a £5.65 billion
fortune, according to Bilan, the Swiss rich list, last year.
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