José Berardo
Encyclopedia
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. Berardo is the ninth richest person in Portugal.
, 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 entrepreneur
s. 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 wine
s. 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
. 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. He frequently wears black clothes.
, 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.
(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.
refused the offer, saying "Benfica will always have the majority of the stock."http://www.record.pt/noticia.asp?id=748329&idCanal=11 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.
, which is José
in Portuguese
.
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
businessman, stock investor, speculator, and art collector. According to Portuguese magazine Exame, he has an estimated net worth of €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
598 million. Berardo is the ninth richest person in Portugal.
Life
Berardo was born at Santa Luzia, FunchalFunchal
Funchal is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira. The city has a population of 112,015 and has been the capital of Madeira for more than five centuries.-Etymology:...
, Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, in 1944, as the seventh child of a modest family, father Manuel Berardo Gomes (born Monte, Funchal, bap.
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
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
Madeira wine
Madeira is a fortified Portuguese wine made in the Madeira Islands. Some wines produced in small quantities in California and Texas are also referred to as "Madeira", or "Madera", although those wines do not conform to the EU PDO regulations...
. At the age of 18, he emigrated to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
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 entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
s. In South Africa, he created Egoli Consolidated Mines Ltd
Egoli Consolidated Mines Ltd
Egoli Consolidated Mines Ltd is a mining conglomerate headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, and founded in 1968 with the help of Joe Berardo....
, a gold extraction
Gold extraction
Gold extraction or recovery from its ores may require a combination of comminution, mineral processing, hydrometallurgical, and pyrometallurgical processes to be performed on the ore....
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
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
mining as well.
Berardo returned to Portugal in 1986. He has multiple businesses, including participation in many companies listed on the Euronext Lisbon
Euronext Lisbon
Euronext Lisbon is a stock exchange in Lisbon, Portugal. It belongs to the NYSE Euronext group, the first global stock exchange.Euronext Lisbon trades equities, public and private bonds, participation bonds, warrants, corporate warrants, investment trust units, and exchange traded funds...
. His businesses include hotels, tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, animal food, telecomunications, banking, and wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
s. He has a special interest for modern art
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
, being one of the most successful contemporary art collectors in Portugal. By agreement with the Portuguese Government, a foundation
Foundation (charity)
A foundation is a legal categorization of nonprofit organizations that will typically either donate funds and support to other organizations, or provide the source of funding for its own charitable purposes....
(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
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
. The Museu Colecção Berardo was inaugurated on June 25, 2007.
The Berardo Collection is estimated at over €316 million by Christie's
Christie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
. 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. He frequently wears black clothes.
Stock market
As a very wealthy and active stock traderStock trader
A stock trader or a stock investor is an individual or firm who buys and sells stocks in the financial markets. Many stock traders will trade bonds as well...
, Berardo is a central personality on the Portuguese stock exchange, Euronext Lisbon
Euronext Lisbon
Euronext Lisbon is a stock exchange in Lisbon, Portugal. It belongs to the NYSE Euronext group, the first global stock exchange.Euronext Lisbon trades equities, public and private bonds, participation bonds, warrants, corporate warrants, investment trust units, and exchange traded funds...
, where he trades large amounts of stock throughout the year, often having immediate capital gain
Capital gain
A capital gain is a profit that results from investments into a capital asset, such as stocks, bonds or real estate, which exceeds the purchase price. It is the difference between a higher selling price and a lower purchase price, resulting in a financial gain for the investor...
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.
Long-term stockholding
Berardo also has long-term investments in large companies, like Millennium BCP bank and Portugal TelecomPortugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom is the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal. Although it operates mainly in Portugal and Brazil, it has also a significant presence in Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Timor-Leste, Angola, Kenya, the People's Republic of China, and São Tomé and...
(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
Belmiro de Azevedo
Belmiro Mendes de Azevedo is a Portuguese entrepreneur, ranked by Forbes as the 605th richest person in the world , as well as the 2nd richest in Portugal, with an estimated wealth of US$2 billion...
(founder and historical chairman of Sonae
Sonae
Sonae is a conglomerate, and is the largest private employer in Portugal. The company is primarily engaged in the operation of retail stores through its subsidiary Modelo Continente....
holding company) and his son Paulo Azevedo (ex-head officer of Sonae.com telecommunications operator and actual chairman of Sonae
Sonae
Sonae is a conglomerate, and is the largest private employer in Portugal. The company is primarily engaged in the operation of retail stores through its subsidiary Modelo Continente....
) to the investor Berardo and PT's administrators Zeinal Bava and Henrique Granadeiro, failed.
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Futebol, S.A.D. share bid
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 VieiraLuís Filipe Vieira
Luís Filipe Vieira Ferreira , also known as "LFV" in Portugal, is a Portuguese businessman who is currently the chairman of Portuguese sports club Benfica...
refused the offer, saying "Benfica will always have the majority of the stock."http://www.record.pt/noticia.asp?id=748329&idCanal=11 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
Portuguese Liga
The Primeira Liga , formerly called Primeira Divisão, currently named Liga ZON Sagres after their main sponsors, is the top professional association football division of the Portuguese football league system...
and the failure to make any great gains in European competition
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
. 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.
Club Sport Marítimo
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. 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.Apartheid Grand Corruption
In 1990, Berardo received a nomination in the Van Zyl Commission of Enquiry, following an illegal action.Name
José Berardo is commonly known by the first name Joe, the short-form of JosephJoseph (name)
Joseph is a name originating from Hebrew, recorded in the Hebrew Bible, as יוֹסֵף, Standard Hebrew Yosef, Tiberian Hebrew and Aramaic Yôsēp̄. In Arabic, including in the Qur'an, the name is spelled يوسف or Yūsuf. The name can be translated from Hebrew יהוה להוסיף Yihoh Lhosif as signifying "YHWH...
, which is José
José
José is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, they are pronounced differently in each language: in Spanish and in Portuguese....
in Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
.