Former banker built a fortune of $ 19 billion thanks to a shipping company

A few decades ago, Gianluigi Aponte left the financial industry to focus on shipping. And now he is one of the richest billionaires in the shipping industry.

While the Covid-19 pandemic impacted revenue and forced Aponte’s MSC Group to temporarily shut down its yacht business, the company quickly created the world’s largest container routes as freight rates the sea to a record level. With that, Aponte’s net worth more than doubled to $19 billion, ranking 77th in the world, according to Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

“They’ve grown unbelievably fast” in scaling, said Felix Mathes, commodities analyst at London-based research firm VesselsValue. “MSC is very confident in what they are doing.”

According to VesselsValue, MSC has purchased more than 150 ships since the beginning of 2021, bringing the fleet size to around 700. Meanwhile, prices for some of its oldest Panamax vessels have increased by nearly 400% in value. The ships are so named because they are among the largest cargo ships that can pass through the Panama Canal.

In April, MSC reached an agreement to acquire Bollore SA’s African logistics and transport business for 5.7 billion euros ($6 billion) including debt. Previously, the company also completed the purchase of shares in the Italian ferry operator Moby SpA in March.

In January, MSC teamed up with Germany’s flagship airline, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, to bid for ITA, the successor to Alitalia – the once icon of Italian glamour, which has consumed the government. billions of euros in bailouts.

The Aponte family has been involved in shipping for more than three centuries. Gianluigi Aponte, 81, bought his first ship in 1970 after quitting his job in the banking industry. Since then, the company has expanded into ports. Gianluigi’s son Diego became president and daughter Alexa became the group’s chief financial officer.

Like Aponte, other billionaires in the logistics sector have sought to capitalize on skyrocketing freight rates due to the impact of the pandemic.

Klaus-Michael Kuehne, the German industrialist behind Kuehne + Nagel International AG, one of Europe’s largest freight forwarders, doubled his stake last month in Deutsche Lufthansa. Last December, the family behind shipping group AP Moller-Maersk A/S agreed to acquire Covid-19 test maker and diagnostics company Unilabs to expand into healthcare.

According to Tan Dat