Joe Berardo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Joe Berardo
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| Born |
José Manuel Rodrigues Berardo
4 July 1944 Santa Luzia, Madeira, Portugal
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| Occupation | Businessman, investor, and art collector |
| Spouse(s) |
Carolina da Conceição Gonçalves
(m. 1969) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Ilse Everlien Berardo (sister-in-law) Rubina Berardo (niece) |
José Manuel Rodrigues "Joe" Berardo, born on July 4, 1944, is a well-known businessman, investor, and art collector from Portugal and South Africa. In 2010, he was considered one of the richest people in Portugal.
Contents
Joe's Life Journey
Early Life and First Steps
Joe Berardo was born in 1944 in Santa Luzia, Funchal, on the island of Madeira, Portugal. His parents were Manuel Berardo Gomes and Ana Rodrigues.
He left school at 13 years old and started working in the wine industry in Madeira. When he was 18, Joe moved to South Africa. There, he began working with plants and eventually built very successful businesses. By the end of the 20th century, he became one of the most famous and wealthy Portuguese business owners.
In South Africa, he started a company called Egoli Consolidated Mines Ltd. This company focused on finding gold, especially in areas that others had overlooked. Later, his mining company also began to search for diamonds. Joe Berardo returned to Portugal in 1986.
Returning to Portugal and Big Investments
Back in Portugal, Joe Berardo became a very important person on the Portuguese stock exchange in the 2000s. He was known for being a powerful investor who bought shares in companies to influence their decisions.
His many businesses included hotels, tobacco, animal food, phone companies, banks, and even wines. At one point, his total wealth, including shares in big Portuguese banks and phone companies, was estimated to be over €1.9 billion.
Joe Berardo made long-term investments in major companies like Millennium BCP bank and Portugal Telecom (PT), a telecommunications company. In 2006, he played a big role in stopping Sonae.com from taking over Portugal Telecom. This was a very public fight between different business leaders, and Sonae.com's attempt failed.
Supporting Football Clubs
In June 2007, Joe Berardo tried to buy a large part of the shares in Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Futebol, S.A.D., which is a famous football club. He offered a good price for the shares, hoping to gain control of the club's business side. However, his offer did not attract enough sellers, and he did not become the largest individual shareholder.
After this, Berardo turned his attention to his hometown club, Club Sport Marítimo. He is a big supporter of this club and a registered member. In 2007, he was honored for being a Marítimo member for 25 years. He also showed interest in helping with the club's new stadium plans, the Estádio do Marítimo, offering his support as a passionate fan.
Amazing Art Collection
Joe Berardo is one of the most important collectors of modern art in Portugal. He has always loved collecting things, starting with stamps and postcards when he was a schoolboy. In the 1980s, he began collecting modern and contemporary art.
His collections are huge, with more than 40,000 pieces. These include art deco items, Chinese porcelain, and about 1,200 works by famous modern and contemporary artists. The value of these art pieces has been reported to be around $750 million.
Joe Berardo first showed his collection to the public in 1997. He displayed works at an old casino in Sintra and later at the Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisbon. He made an agreement with the Portuguese Government to create a special organization called a foundation to house his art collection.
This foundation supports the Museu Colecção Berardo, which opened on June 25, 2007, at the Centro Cultural de Belém. The government agreed to display part of his collection and had an option to buy many of his paintings and sculptures later.
Berardo also created the Buddha Eden Gardens, a large sculpture park north of Lisbon. He started this project after hearing about the destruction of ancient Buddha statues in Afghanistan in 2001. He bought many Buddhist statues to create this peaceful garden.
In 2011, he opened the Aliança Underground Museum. This unique museum is located in an unused tunnel on a winemaker's property. It shows off collections of tiles, traditional art, ceramics, minerals, and fossils.
Awards and Recognitions
Joe Berardo has received several important honors from Portugal:
He was made a Commander of the Order of Prince Henry in Portugal on March 13, 1985. Later, on October 4, 2004, he received an even higher honor, becoming a Grand-Cross of the Order of Prince Henry.
