Kirsty Bertarelli
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Kirsty Bertarelli (
née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Roper; born 30 June 1971) is a British songwriter and beauty pageant titleholder who won
Miss United Kingdom Miss United Kingdom is a title held by the highest-ranked contestant from the UK in the Miss World pageant. The winner sometimes competes at Miss International and Miss Supranational the following year under the ''Britain'', ''England'' or ' ...
1988 and represented her country at
Miss World 1988 Miss World 1988, the 38th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 17 November 1988 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom. The winner was Linda Pétursdóttir (''Queen of Europe'') from Iceland. She was crowned by Miss Worl ...
and placed 2nd Runner-up, she is former wife of
Ernesto Bertarelli Ernesto Silvio Maurizio Bertarelli (born 22 September 1965) is an Italian-born Swiss billionaire businessman and philanthropist. The 2017 edition of the Sunday Times Rich List estimated the family's wealth at £11.5 billion, an increase of £1 ...
an Italian-Swiss businessman who was the owner of biotech giant
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 ...
until 2007 and winner of the
America's Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...
in
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
and
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
with his yachting syndicate
Alinghi Alinghi, or Alinghi Red Bull Racing because of the sports marketing branding by Red Bull, is the syndicate set up by Ernesto Bertarelli, racing under the colors of the Société Nautique de Genève, to challenge for the America's Cup, as well ...
. In the ''Sunday Times Rich List 201''7 ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK, her former husband's family were placed 6th with an estimated fortune of £11.5bn, making her Britain's richest woman. In Swiss ''
BILANZ ''Bilanz'' (, ''Balance'') is a biweekly business magazine published in Zürich, Switzerland, which has been in circulation since 1977. The magazine started its edition in Germany in 2014. History and profile ''Bilanz'' was established in 1977 ...
'' magazine's ranking of the wealthiest people in Switzerland, her former husband's family were placed 4th with an estimated fortune of over CHF11 billion.


Early life and career

Born in the United Kingdom on 30 June 1971, Kirsty spent her childhood in
Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
in Staffordshire.Rich List 2012: No.1 – Kirsty Bertarelli (£6.5bn) – Birmingham Post
Retrieved 28 March 2018.
Her family formerly owned one of the world's major manufacturers of ceramic products,
Churchill China Churchill China PLC () is an English pottery manufacturer based in Stoke-on-Trent in England. History of the company Churchill China traces its origins back to 1795 and the foundation of its first factory in what later became Stoke-on-Trent in ...
. She was crowned Miss UK in 1988, giving her the right to compete in the 1988
Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...
pageant where she placed 2nd runner-up. After moving to London, she began to write music professionally and was signed on to Warner Records. Kirsty was married to "biotechnology tycoon" Ernesto Bertarelli in 2000. The couple and their children lived on
Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...
in Switzerland. Kirsty and Ernesto divorced in the summer of 2021, making her one of richest "divorced" women of the UK, with a total estimated worth of more than £400 million. She is a trustee 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 ...
, which works primarily in neuroscience research and marine conservation and science. Recent projects have included the sponsorship of the neuroscience research at the Centre for Neuroprosthetics at the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...
and also a joint programme between that university and
Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...
. In marine conservation and marine science, the Foundation has supported the creation of a number of marine reserves, including in the
British Indian Ocean Territory The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) is an British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia. The territory comprises the seven atolls of the Chago ...
,
Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...
and the
Turneffe Atoll Turneffe Atoll is located southeast of Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker, off the coast of Belize in Central America, from Belize City. It is one of three atolls of the Belize Barrier Reef, along with Glover's Reef and Lighthouse Reef. It is ...
 in Belize. Kirsty Bertarelli lead the family's Foundation's community work in Stoke-on-Trent, the city close to where she grew up. This includes a bursary scheme worth £4,500 for disadvantaged student at Staffordshire University, a partnership with the city's
YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
, and support for the annual Stoke-on-Trent Literary Festival.


Music career

In 2000, she co-wrote "
Black Coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially ava ...
". The song was recorded by
All Saints All Saints' Day is a Christian holiday. All Saints, All Saints Day or Feast of All Saints may also refer to: Art and entertainment * ''All Saints'' (film), a 2017 Christian drama film * ''All Saints'' (TV series), an Australian hospital drama * ...
and became a worldwide hit. It was number one in the UK chart, reached the Top 10 in seven other countries and featured in various international charts for 20 weeks. Always interested and involved in music, Bertarelli has continued to write songs. She recorded some of her songs for the UK-Swiss charity Smiling Children Foundation and ''Le Matin'' described her as having a "golden voice".
Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...
liked the songs and decided to sign her. The first single, "Don't Say", was released digitally through online stores on 9 December 2009. Her debut album ''Elusive'' was published on 15 January 2010, entering the Swiss charts in the 20th position. Throughout 2010, Bertarelli published two more singles in Switzerland ("Elusive" and "More Than Anything"). She also had several live performances, including the
Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annu ...
and opening acts for
Simply Red Simply Red are an English soul music, soul and pop band formed in Manchester in 1985. Band leader, singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall was the only original member left by the time Simply Red initially disbanded in 2010. They have released thir ...
in Edinburgh and
Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
. In 2011, a remix of her conservation song "Green" was chosen by the WWF to be their anthem to mark the Fund's 50th year of conservation at their annual Panda Ball. Bertarelli donated all proceeds from the single to WWF to support their ongoing conservation projects around the world. The song is included in the acoustic album ''Green'', first released as an iTunes digital download in February 2012. Proceeds from the album are also being donated to the WWF, as part of her continuing support for the organization. 2011 saw the release of her single "Set Your Body Free", which included remixes from Loverush UK!, Jason van Wyk,
Full Intention Full Intention are an English house music duo consisting of Michael Gray and Jon Pearn. They are best known as prolific producers and remixers. They have reworked songs for varied artists such as the Sugababes, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey a ...
and Nova. In January 2012, Bertarelli signed a long-term exclusive music deal with
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
/
ATV Music Sony Music Publishing LLC (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is an American music publisher. Responsible for publishing the largest quantity of music, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021, it is part of Sony ...
publishing and collaborated with world-renowned
trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...
DJ Armin van Buuren. Van Buuren's remix of Kirsty's song "Twilight" was in dance charts for 9 weeks, peaking at No. 2 on Music Week's club chart. This collaboration has continued, with van Buuren producing Kirsty's new single "Free of War". Bertarelli then released her next album titled ''Love Is'', which was partly recorded in
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
. Her latest album, called Indigo Shores, was released on 12 May 2014 following her signing by Decca Records in the autumn of 2013.


References


External links


Bertarelli FoundationKirsty's Music websiteEvening Standard (13 Aug 2010): "The ballad of the billionaire"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertarelli, Kirsty Living people British billionaires People from Stone, Staffordshire 1971 births Swiss billionaires Miss United Kingdom winners Miss World 1988 delegates British emigrants to Switzerland