Four months have passed since the American investment group Liberty came to the rescue of Prisa, the publisher of the newspaper El País. However, little has been said so far about Nicolas Berggruen, the man behind this investment vehicle or special purpose acquisition company (spac) that has been integrated into Prisa.
The Liberty operation came to save, or at least try to alleviate, the debt that the Polanco family group hoarded at that time: 4,500 million euros. After intense negotiations, the mysterious entered the capital of the company led by Nicolas Berggruen.
This French art collector, philanthropist and owner of an enormous personal fortune, the result of his hand in finances, managed to convince the Polanco family to reduce their participation from 70% to 30% and grant Liberty, one of the Berggruen, a privileged position.
Nicolas Berggruen owns among his businesses a prestigious think tank political institute where international personalities such as Gerhard Schröeder, Fernando H. Cardoso, Chris Patten, Shaukat Aziz, Nathan Gardels and former Spanish President Felipe González.
Millionaire, single, who flees from the public spotlight, self-made, art collector and son of the dealer of the painter Pablo Picasso, and who, as a curiosity, lives in hotels, since he decided to get rid of his real estate. They were of little use to him because he flies to more than 80 cities a year with his Gulfstream plane.
“I’m not interested in owning things. Living in a great environment to prove to myself and others that I’m rich is of zero interest to me. Everything I have is temporary as long as we’re here for a short period of time. It’s what we do , our actions, what will last. That’s what has real value,” Berggruen said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal
billionaire with art
Little is known beyond the fact that he is ranked 158th on the latest Forbes list of wealthy Americans. A wealth that has its origin in his father, Heinz Berggruen, art dealer and collector who frequented icons of the 20th century such as Frida Kahlo or Pablo Picasso, of whom he came to own 85 works. Jewish, he emigrated to the United States in 1936 and in 1959 married Bettina Moissi, a Berlin actress.
Nicolas Berggruen grew up between France and Switzerland before moving to New York to complete his university studies. He started his professional career in real estate. and later he created his own investment firm, Alpha Investments, the seed of what later became Berggruen Holdings. With locations in New York, London, Berlin, Istanbul, Tel Aviv and Mumbai, the company’s branches reach into renewable energy.
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