| Joe Berardo | |
|---|---|
| Born | José Manuel Rodrigues Berardo July 4, 1944 Madeira, Portugal |
| Nationality | Portuguese |
| Occupation | Businessman, stock investor, speculator, and art collector |
| Net worth | €598 million |
| Spouse | Carolina da Conceição Gonçalves |
José Manuel Rodrigues Berardo, GCIH, more commonly known as Joe Berardo (born 4 July 1944), is a Portuguese businessman, stock investor, speculator, and art collector. According to Portuguese magazine Exame, he has an estimated net worth of €598 million.[1] Berardo is the ninth richest person in Portugal.
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Berardo was born at Santa Luzia, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, in 1944, as the seventh child of a modest family, father Manuel Berardo Gomes (born Monte, Funchal, bap. 8 November 1896) and wife Ana Rodrigues (born Monte, Funchal, 1898). Berardo left school when he was 13 years old and got a low-ranked job in the winery sector of Madeira wine. At the age of 18, he emigrated to South Africa where he worked in horticulture distribution and eventually set up large commercial ventures, becoming at the end of the 20th century one of the most renowned and wealthiest Portuguese entrepreneurs. In South Africa, he created Egoli Consolidated Mines Ltd, a gold extraction company. Initially, the gold extraction was performed using low-value waste lands that were apparently being ignored. Later, the mining company started to deal with diamond mining as well.
Berardo returned to Portugal in 1986. He has multiple businesses, including participation in many companies listed on the Euronext Lisbon. His businesses include hotels, tobacco, animal food, telecomunications, banking, and wines. He has a special interest for modern art, being one of the most successful contemporary art collectors in Portugal. By agreement with the Portuguese Government, a foundation (Fundação de Arte Moderna e Contemporânea — Colecção Berardo) was created to support the housing of his art collection at the Centro Cultural de Belém, in Lisbon.[2] The Museu Colecção Berardo was inaugurated on June 25, 2007.
The Berardo Collection is estimated at over €316 million by Christie's. Berardo's estimated total wealth, including stock in large Portuguese banking and telecommunications companies, is over €1,900 million. Berardo is father of two (Renato Gonçalves Berardo, born in 1971, and Cláudia Gonçalves Berardo, born in 1972, wife of Zaid Abdali), born from his marriage in South Africa in 1969 with Carolina da Conceição Gonçalves, born in South Africa of Portuguese immigrants José Gonçalves and Alzira Mota.[3] He frequently wears black clothes.[4]
As a very wealthy and active stock trader, Berardo is a central personality on the Portuguese stock exchange, Euronext Lisbon, where he trades large amounts of stock throughout the year, often having immediate capital gain as his only perceived goal. He legally uses his foundation, the Fundação Berardo, as a tool for indirect trading in order to get fiscal benefits.
Berardo also has long-term investments in large companies, like Millennium BCP bank and Portugal Telecom (PT) telecommunications operator, which are both listed on the Euronext Lisbon. In 2006, he took a prominent part in the struggle against Sonae.com's very publicized takeover bid over Portugal Telecom. Sonae.com's takeover bid opposing Belmiro de Azevedo (founder and historical chairman of Sonae holding company) and his son Paulo Azevedo (ex-head officer of Sonae.com telecommunications operator and actual chairman of Sonae) to the investor Berardo and PT's administrators Zeinal Bava and Henrique Granadeiro, failed.
In June 2007, Berardo made a bid for 60% of Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Futebol, S.A.D. shares at €3.50 a share, a 30% premium to the recent share price. Meanwhile Benfica's president Luís Filipe Vieira refused the offer, saying "Benfica will always have the majority of the stock."[1] But the price was well below the €5 a share set at Benfica's IPO in May 2007, when after an initial flurry of optimism the shares fell steadily to below €3 apiece, hammered hard by the team's fourth-place finish in the Portuguese Liga and the failure to make any great gains in European competition. Berardo's bid was not hostile, as reports said the Benfica management had been informed in advance and was generally in favor of the offer. Overall, the bid was worth some €31.5 million and was conditional on Berardo netting 50% of the company plus one share, to ensure control. The bid valued Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Futebol, S.A.D. at €52.5 million. However, Berardo didn't exclude a major stake in the Futebol, S.A.D., which could have been achieved within the 33% free float of publicly traded stock that was issued in the stock market in May 2007. Berardo, who is a registered member of Sport Lisboa e Benfica and a declared supporter of the club, failed to become the largest individual stockholder in the Benfica - Futebol, S.A.D. organization, since only about 1% of the intended stock was sold to him as of the 20 August 2007 deadline.
After his failed attempt to bid on Benfica, Berardo refocused his attention on his hometown club Club Sport Marítimo, of which has also declared his support for and is a registered member also. On 17 November 2007, during the club's 97th anniversary celebration, he was honoured with a silver medal to commemorate his 25 years as a Marítimo member.[5] He used the occasion to announce his interest in the clubs' new stadium plans, the Estádio do Marítimo, and offer his aid as a "supporter with passion" for the club.[6]
In 1990, Berardo received a nomination in the Van Zyl Commission of Enquiry, following an illegal action.[7]
José Berardo is commonly known by the first name Joe, the short-form of Joseph, which is José in Portuguese.