Nicolas Berggruen is an investor. He is the son of art collector Heinz Berggruen

Heinz Berggruen

Heinz Berggruen was a German art dealer and collector who founded the Berggruen Museum in Berlin, Germany.-Biography:...

. He is the founder and president of Berggruen Holdings, a private investment company and the Nicolas Berggruen Institute

Nicolas Berggruen Institute – NBI

The Nicolas Berggruen Institute is an independent, non-partisan think tank and consultance engaged in the comparative study, design of systems of governance suited to the new and complex challenges of the 21st century...

, a political think tank. His father created the Museum Berggruen in Berlin and his mother was actress Bettina Moissi. The press has sometimes referred to Berggruen as "the homeless billionaire" because he lives in hotels and does not own a home.

Education and career

Berggruen attended Le Rosey in Switzerland and obtained a Bachelor of Science

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 in Finance and International Business from New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

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Forbes magazine estimated Berggruen's net worth at $2.2 billion . He founded Berggruen Holdings, Inc. in 1984 to act as investment adviser to a Berggruen family trust that has made over 50 investments in businesses since its inception. In 1988, he and Julio Mario Santo Domingo, Jr.

Julio Mario Santo Domingo, Jr.

Julio Mario Santo Domingo Braga was the eldest son of Julio Mario Santo Domingo and Edyala Braga, of the same family as Eduardo Braga, current governor of Amazonas...

 co-founded Alpha Investment Management, a hedge fund

Hedge fund

A hedge fund is a private pool of capital actively managed by an investment adviser. Hedge funds are only open for investment to a limited number of accredited or qualified investors who meet criteria set by regulators. These investors can be institutions, such as pension funds, university...

 that was reportedly sold to Safra Bank in 2004.

Berggruen is interested in architecture and has collaborated with Richard Meier

Richard Meier

Richard Meier is an American architect, whose rationalist buildings make prominent use of the color white.- Biography :Meier is Jewish and was born in Newark, New Jersey...

, Shigeru Ban

Shigeru Ban

Shigeru Ban is an accomplished Japanese and international architect, most famous for his innovative work with paper, particularly recycled cardboard paper tubes used to quickly and efficiently house disaster victims...

, and David Adjaye

David Adjaye

David Adjaye OBE is a British architect.-Early life:David Adjaye was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The son of a Ghanaian diplomat who has lived in Tanzania, Egypt, Yemen and Lebanon before moving to Britain at the age of nine, he led a privileged life and was privately educated...

. Berggruen is a member of the Board of the Museum Berggruen, the Los Angeles County Museum

Los Angeles County Museum

The Los Angeles County Museum may refer to:* Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County* Los Angeles County Museum of Art...

 (LACMA), the International Councils of the Tate Museum in London, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Berggruen is a member of the Young Presidents' Organization

Young Presidents' Organization

The Young Presidents’ Organization is a global network of young chief executives. With approximately 18,000 members in more than 100 countries, YPO and its graduate organization, WPO share a founding mission: Better Leaders Through Education and Idea Exchange....

, the Council on Foreign Relations

Council on Foreign Relations

The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...

 and the Pacific Council on International Policy

Pacific Council on International Policy

The Pacific Council on International Policy is a non-partisan organization headquartered in Los Angeles with members and activities throughout the West Coast of the United States and internationally....

.

In 2010, Berggruen created a group called the Think Long Committee for California with the purpose of promoting "innovation and entrepeneurship" in California. He donated $20 million to the group. Committee members include George Schultz, Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...

, Willie Brown

Willie Brown

Willie Brown may refer to:*Willie Brown , Mayor of San Francisco, 1996–2004, Speaker of the California State Assembly, 1980–1995*Willie Brown , American football Hall-of-Fame cornerback...

, Gray Davis

Gray Davis

Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis, Jr. is an American Democratic politician who served as California's 37th Governor from 1999 until being recalled in 2003...

, Eric Schmidt, and Eli Broad

Eli Broad

Eli Broad is an American businessman from Detroit, Michigan who resides in Los Angeles, California.-Life and career:An only child, Broad was born in the Bronx to Lithuanian Jewish immigrant parents. His father was a housepainter, his mother was a dressmaker. His family moved to Detroit when he...

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External links

• Nicolas Berggruen Institute
• Berggruen Holdings
• "Man Without a Country," WSJ. Magazine, September 29, 2011