Life
Berardo was born at Santa Luzia, Funchal, 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 entrepreneurs. 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 wines. 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.
Read more about this topic: Joe Berardo
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