Dona Bertarelli
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Dona Bertarelli (born 1968) is a Swiss entrepreneur, philanthropist and ocean advocate. She is co-chair of the
Bertarelli Foundation The Bertarelli Foundation is a private foundation founded by the Bertarelli family; brother and sister Ernesto and Dona Bertarelli, who are co-Chairs of the Foundation, and their mother, Maria Iris Bertarelli. It was established in 1998 in memor ...
, founder of Sails of Change, co-founder of the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy and founder of Global Fishing Watch Marine Manager. She is a Patron of Nature of the
IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...
. As a sailor, she is the winner of the 2010 and 2014 Bol d'Or Mirabaud and, with her team Spindrift Racing, the
Fastnet Race The Fastnet Race is a biennial offshore yacht race organized by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) of the United Kingdom with the assistance of the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes and the City of Cherbourg in France. The race is named after th ...
in 2013. In the same year, she and her team also broke the record for the America Discovery Route. In the winter 2016 she completed the
Jules Verne Trophy The Jules Verne Trophy is a prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht with no restrictions on the size of the crew provided the vessel has registered with the organization and paid an entry fee. A vessel holding t ...
challenge. In 2023 she was distinguished as a Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour of France and as a Commander of the national Order of Honorato Vásquez of Ecuador.


Early life and education

Bertarelli was born in Rome on 3 March 1968. She is the daughter of Maria Iris Bertarelli and Fabio Bertarelli. She and her brother
Ernesto Ernesto, form of the name Ernest in several Romance languages, may refer to: * ''Ernesto'' (novel) (1953), an unfinished autobiographical novel by Umberto Saba, published posthumously in 1975 ** ''Ernesto'' (film), a 1979 Italian drama loosely ba ...
inherited
Serono Serono was a biotechnology company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It was acquired by the German pharmaceutical company Merck in 2006. The company was founded as the Serono Pharmacological Institute by Cesare Serono in 1906 in Rome, Ital ...
, a biotechnology company. Serono was founded in 1906 in Rome and was the building block of the family's wealth. The family now has several activities and investments, with interests in areas such as finance, real estate, health, sports, hospitality or agriculture. According to ''Forbes'' magazine, she is ranked as the 486th wealthiest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $6.2 billion, . Bertarelli has a BSc from
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
's College of Communication.


Business

Bertarelli was active in Serono, the family business, and from 1992 to 1997 was Executive Director, Public and Professional Affairs, where she established the Serono Symposia and the Serono Foundation. The company was sold to
Merck KGaA The Merck Group, branded and commonly known as Merck, is a German Multinational corporation, multinational science and technology company headquartered in Darmstadt, with about 60,000 employees and a presence in 66 countries. The group include ...
at the beginning of 2007. The five-star Grand Hôtel Park in
Gstaad Gstaad ( , ) is a town in the German language, German-speaking section of the Canton of Bern in southwestern Switzerland. It is part of the municipality of Saanen and is known as a major ski resort and a popular destination amongst high society ...
was taken over by Bertarelli in 2003. In January 2025, it was announced the hotel would be managed by Four Seasons after a complete renovation. She became a special adviser to
UNCTAD UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the United Nations General Assembl ...
in June 2020. In late 2022, Bertarelli acquired Italian fashion brand
Fiorucci Fiorucci () is an Italian fashion label founded by Elio Fiorucci in 1967. The first Fiorucci shop exposed Milan to the styles of Swinging London and to American classics, such as the T-shirt and jeans. By the late 1970s, the direction of stylis ...
. Bertarelli was Executive Producer for the environmental documentary Deep Rising, which was released in 2023. In May 2025,
Aman Resorts Aman Resorts is the trading entity of Aman Group Sarl, a Swiss-headquartered multinational hospitality company. Founded by Indonesian hotelier Adrian Zecha in 1988, the company operates 35 properties in 20 countries. Vladislav Doronin is the ...
announced the launch of Amancaya, its first resort in The Bahamas, in partnership with Bertarelli, and investment firm Squircle Capital.


Philanthropy

After her father died, in 1999 Bertarelli and her brother founded the Bertarelli Foundation to promote the sharing and development of scientific, social and economic knowledge in the field of
infertility In biology, infertility is the inability of a male and female organism to Sexual reproduction, reproduce. It is usually not the natural state of a healthy organism that has reached sexual maturity, so children who have not undergone puberty, whi ...
. For ten years, Bertarelli was Chairman of the Foundation. An article on the need for blue recovery sustainability, for which Bertarelli was co-author, was published in July 2020.
Mukhisa Kituyi Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi (born October 20, 1956) is a Kenyan politician who served as Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD from September 2013 to February 2021 when he stepped down to run for the Kenyan P ...
, Secretary-General of
UNCTAD UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the United Nations General Assembl ...
and Berarelli encouraged countries to explore and expand the
blue economy Blue economy is a term in economics relating to the exploitation, preservation and regeneration of the marine environment. Its scope of interpretation varies among organizations. However, the term is generally used in the scope of internati ...
. In November 2020, Bertarelli praised the decision to protect the waters of the archipelago, which was made by the Island Council of
Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcano, volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is one of three constituent parts of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascensi ...
. In 2021, the Bertarelli Rare Cancers Fund supported USD 15 million in research projects and community building. In October 2022, Bertarelli launched the Sports for Nature partnership with the
International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...
to raise awareness for the protection of environment through the sporting community. Bertarelli is an ambassador for the Swiss transfusion charity Ma Vie Ton Sang and is a supporter of the World Health Organization's ‘Go Red for Women' campaign. She is also a godmother to the Womanity charity (formerly Smiling Children). In April 2024, Bertarelli, together with other organizations and private funders, pledged USD 60.8 million to protect the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
.


Sailing

Bertarelli is an avid sailor and since 2007 has raced with her team, Spindrift Racing, in the monotype multihull regattas on Lake Léman with her Décision 35
catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...
, ''Ladycat''. Bertarelli and her team won the Bol d'Or Mirabaud in 2010. Bertarelli was the first helmswoman to win this race since its inception in 1939. In January 2013, Bertarelli bought a Maxi Trimaran called ''Maxi
Banque Populaire V ''Banque Populaire V'', (now renamed ''Spindrift 2'') is an offshore-racing trimaran which was originally run by Team Banque Populaire. It was Team Banque Populaire's fifth boat designed to set oceanic records. She was launched on 4 October 2 ...
'' for her Spindrift racing team. In the same year, and with the boat now named ''Maxi Spindrift 2'', she co-skippered the team to victory in the 45th Rolex Fastnet and also set a new record for the America Discovery Route, beating the time set by
Franck Cammas Franck Cammas (born 22 December 1972 in Aix-en-Provence) is a French yachtsman. He has lived in Brittany since his victory in the Challenge Espoir Crédit Agricole in 1994. After completing a two-year maths course for the ‘Grandes écoles’, ...
in 2007 by more than 20 hours. In August 2015, Dona Bertarelli's Spindrift 2 defended her title by taking line honors at the 46th Rolex Fastnet race. Later that year, on 22 November, Bertarelli, with Yann Guichard and their crew, left
Ushant Ushant (; , ; , ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and in medieval times, Léon. In lower tiers of government, it is a commune in t ...
(a French island off the northwest corner of
Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
) on Spindrift 2, attempting to break the record for a crewed non-stop circumnavigation (the
Jules Verne Trophy The Jules Verne Trophy is a prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht with no restrictions on the size of the crew provided the vessel has registered with the organization and paid an entry fee. A vessel holding t ...
). While they did not break the record, Bertarelli became the fastest woman to sail around the world. In November 2021, Bertarelli and Guichard and their crew set off on their maxi-trimaran ''Sails of Change'' from La Trinite-sur-Mer in south-west Brittany being on stand-by to start their attempt to break the 2017
Jules Verne Trophy The Jules Verne Trophy is a prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht with no restrictions on the size of the crew provided the vessel has registered with the organization and paid an entry fee. A vessel holding t ...
record of
Francis Joyon Francis Joyon (born 28 May 1956) is a French professional sailboat racer and yachtsman. Joyon and his crew currently hold the Jules Verne Trophy for circumnavigation, on '' IDEC SPORT'' (40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds), nearly five ...
. They used the occasion to promote the
30 by 30 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...
campaign aiming to protect 30 per cent of the planet by 2030. However, in February 2022, Bertarelli and Guichard were forced to abandon their plans for their fourth attempt due to unfavourable weather conditions over the winter. This did not hinder them and their Spindrift Crew to pursue an ambitious year of record breaking attempts during 2022, and Bertarelli addressing One Ocean Summit delegates appealing again for the protection of at least 30% of the planet by 2030. In October 2022, Bertarelli and Guichard put their crew on standby again for their renewed record breaking attempt of the Jules Verne Trophy, the fastest non-stop and unassisted circumnavigation of the world.


Publications

*22 March 2021 – Op-ed: The blue economy is an ocean of opportunity to advance gender equality *26 August 2022 – Op-ed: It's High Time to Protect Our High Seas *24 October 2022 – Op-ed: To protect the Southern Ocean, leaders must act now (commentary)


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertarelli, Dona 1968 births Living people Businesspeople in the pharmaceutical industry Italian sailors Swiss businesspeople Italian billionaires Businesspeople from Rome