A £100 million super yacht, the biggest private motor yacht ever built in the 海角视频 and the last word in six-deck luxury – not bad for an ex-beauty queen from Stone in Staffordshire.
The 314ft long Vava II set sail in the summer, the latest acquisition by Kirsty Bertarelli and her biotechnology billionaire husband Ernesto. Launched from Plymouth, the vessel – built by a team of 200 craftsmen with its own fold-down beach club, a helipad, swimming pool and sumptuous sleeping quarters – set sail for the Caribbean.
Kirsty Bertarelli tops our Rich List as the wealthiest Midlander for the fifth year in succession. Hardly surprising. Not only is she is the richest woman in the 海角视频, she is one of the richest in the world.
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Ms Bertatrelli – formerly Kirsty Roper from Stone who was crowned Miss 海角视频 in 1988 –married the biotechnology tycoon Ernesto Bertarelli in 2000 after meeting him three years earlier at a party in Sardinia. Ernesto’s wealth comes from Serono, the pharmaceutical company begun by his grandfather, which was sold for a fortune in 2006. Since then a series of lucrative property investments have ensured steady growth for the Bertarelli coffers.
Ernesto is a passionate yachtsman – he won the Americas Cup in 2003 and 2007 – and Kirsty has been heavily involved in that. But her main role is driving the charitable Bertarelli Foundation which supports the 海角视频-Swiss Smiling Children charity, as well as the Chagos marine reserve in the Indian Ocean, partnered by the British government.
Kirsty’s ambition was to make a career in music. She wrote her own songs and secured a record deal with Warner Records. In 2000 she co-wrote the All Saints hit Black Coffee which made No.1.
She released her debut album Elusive in 2010, followed by two single releases. She has also made several live appearances including the Montreux Jazz Festival, and supporting Mick Hucknall’s Simply Red in concerts in Zurich and Edinburgh.
Her husband, and their three children, Chiara, Falco and Alceo, now live on the shores of Lake Geneva. They also own a house in Knightsbridge, where the couple can often be seen drinking in the local pub, and a chalet in the Alpine resort of Gstaad, where the family own the legendary winter sports hotel Grand Hotel Park.
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Kirsty went to St. Dominic’s Catholic School in her home town of Stone before attending Howells Boarding School in Denbigh, North Wales, where she was a member of the school choir and enjoyed sports.
Kirsty, now aged 40, left school and entered modelling, becoming Miss 海角视频 a year later, at just 17. She went on to come third in the Miss World competition.
Her father, Michael Roper, and his two brothers ran the family pottery company in Stoke-on-Trent - Churchill China - and the Ropers are still significant shareholders. Churchill was AIM-listed in 1994 and is one of the world’s major manufacturers and distributors of ceramic tableware, tracing its origins back to 1795.
As well as singing and writing music she designs fashion clothing and jewellery, and has created her own fashion line.
Ernesto Bertarelli ran the family company Serono – the biggest biotechnology company in Europe and a leader in reproductive treatments as well as drugs for multiple sclerosis. He sold the company to Merck of Germany in 2006.
Ernesto’s business interests now include Kedge Capital, an investment management group with bases in London, Jersey and Geneva, and Crosstree, a private equity company which recently paid £155 million for a building in Mayfair.