Joe Berardo

Infobox Person
name = Joe Berardo


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birth_name = José Manuel Rodrigues Berardo
birth_date = birth date and age|1944|7|4
birth_place = Madeira, Portugal
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nationality = flagicon|Portugal Portuguese
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occupation = Businessman, stock investor, speculator and art collector
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networth = € 1,294 million
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spouse = Carolina Conceição
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José Manuel Rodrigues Berardo, GCIH, most commonly known as Joe Berardo, (born July 4, 1944, in Madeira, Portugal), is a Portuguese businessman, stock investor, speculator and art collector. As of 2008 and according to Forbes he has an estimate of 1.8 billion dollars, making him the third richest person Portugal.

Life

He was born in Madeira Island, Portugal in 1944, as the seventh child of a modest family. 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 apparentlly being ignored. Later, the mining company started to deal with diamond mining too. 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 foundation was created by Decree-Law 164/2006 of 9 August (from the Ministry of Culture) accessible from the search engine for the "Diário da República", the Portuguese Government's official gazzete (in Portuguese). See at http://dre.pt/gratis/diplomas/diplomas1s.asp] The Berardo Art Collection is estimated at over 316 million euros by Christie's. José Berardo's estimated total wealth, including stock in large Portuguese banking and telecommunications companies, is over 1,900 million euros. Berardo is father of two (Cláudia and Renato), born from his marriage with Carolina Conceição. He frequently wears black clothes. [ [http://diarioeconomico.sapo.pt/edicion/diarioeconomico/nacional/economia/pt/desarrollo/1006881.html Biography of José Berardo] , in Diário Económico (in Portuguese)]

Stock market

As a very wealthy and active stock trader, Joe 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 - Fundação Berardo as a tool for indirect trading in order to get fiscal benefits.

Long-term stockholding

He also has long-term investments in large companies, like Millennium BCP bank and Portugal Telecom (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 José Berardo and PT's administrators Zeinal Bava and Henrique Granadeiro, failed.

.L. Benfica - Futebol, SAD share bid

In June 2007, he made a bid for 60% of S.L. 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 Vieira 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 €31.5m, and was conditional on Berardo netting 50% of the company plus one share, to ensure control. The bid valued S.L. Benfica - Futebol, S.A.D. at €52.5m. 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 S.L. Benfica and a declared supporter of the club, failed to become the largest individual stockholder in the S.L. Benfica - Futebol, SAD, since only about 1% of the intended stock was sold to him as of the August 20, 2007 deadline.

Club Sport Marítimo

After his failed attempt to bid on Benfica, Berardo refocused his attention on his hometown club C.S. Marítimo, of which has also declared his support for and is a registered member also. On November 17, 2007, during the club's 97th Anniversary celebration, he was honoured with a silver medal to commemorate his 25 years as a Marítimo "sócio". [ [http://www.record.pt/noticia.asp?id=765029&idCanal=20 "Berardo vai receber medalha de 25 anos de sócio"] , article in Jornal Record, November 17, 2007 (in Portuguese)] 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. [ [http://www.record.pt/noticia.asp?id=765241&idCanal=20 "Berardo quer ajudar"] , article in Jornal Record, November 19, 2007 (in Portuguese)]

Apartheid Grand Corruption

In 1990 he achieve a nomination in the van Zyl Commission of Enquiry following an ilegal action.

Vuuren, Hennie van. [http://www.ipocafrica.org/pubs/reports/apartheidgrandc.pdf "Apartheid Grand Corruption: Assessing the scale of crimes of profit in South Africa from 1976 to 1994"] . Cape Town

References