Sergio Mantegazza
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Sergio Mantegazza (31 October 1927 – 13 February 2024) was a Swiss-Italian billionaire businessman, chairman and owner of
Globus GLOBUS is a radar system in the town of Vardø in Vardø Municipality, Finnmark county, Norway. It is operated by the Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS) and its official uses are primarily space observation and Arctic airspace monitoring for Nor ...
, a multinational travel company. According to ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'', Mantegazza was the 16th richest person in Switzerland, with an estimated net worth of US$2.7 billion as of February 2024.


Early life

Sergio Mantegazza was born in
Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...
, Switzerland, to Antonio and Angelina Mantegazza in 1927. He had a brother, Geo Mantegazza. He was educated at Istituto Elvetico and Gademann Business School.


Career

As a young man, Mantegazza developed further business and entrepreneurial skills by working in the family business after leaving education. Founded by his father Antonio in 1928, Globus Viaggi initially started with a single gondola ferrying tourists and goods across and around
Lake Lugano Lake Lugano ( or , from ; ) is a glacial lake which is situated on the border between southern Switzerland and northern Italy. The lake, named after the city of Lugano, is situated between Lake Como and Lago Maggiore. It was cited for the first t ...
, Switzerland. Antonio Mantegazza went on to acquire a fleet of 12 coaches to transport tourists around the area. By 1950, the company operated 33 coaches with the addition of overnight excursions to Rome, Venice and the French Riviera. Globus operated circular tours to provide a more complete travel experience for its customers as well as providing the option of budget motor-coach European holidays. They later introduced the concept of Grand European Touring by offering first-class European tours to tourists. In 1961, the Globus group launched Cosmos Holidays in the United Kingdom and air holiday packages to southern Europe. This also led to other destinations like Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In the late 1960s,
Monarch Airlines Monarch Airlines, simply known as Monarch, was a British Air charter, charter and scheduled airline founded by Bill Hodgson and Don Peacock and financed by the Swiss Sergio Mantegazza family. The company later became a low-cost airline in 2004 ...
was financed by the Globus Partners. This airline, established by two British businessmen, Bill Hodgson and Don Peacock, operated independently of Globus Getaway Holidays. Monarch Airlines, working with Cosmos, were pioneers of packaged holidays and chartered flights in the UK. Mantegazza took over as president of Globus in 1975 and expanded the travel and tour business, introducing travel packages to Africa, Australia and South America. Globus also launched its North American company
Group Voyagers Group Voyagers, Inc. - also known as the "Globus family of brands", is a group of escorted tour, river cruise and independent travel package companies marketed worldwide. They include the brands ''Globus'', ''Cosmos'', ''Avalon Waterways.'' Time ...
, overseeing US tour operations and the American market for the Globus and Cosmos brands. In 2003, Avalon Waterways and Monograms were also created, focusing on independent travel and river cruises. In October 2014, despite a personal injection of $180 million into the business, it emerged that the Mantegazza family had allowed a £220 million pension shortfall to develop, and it was reported that the Mantegazza family sold Monarch Airlines to
Greybull Capital Greybull Capital LLP is a private investment company that specialises in medium- to long-term investments in UK-based companies. It was incorporated as a limited liability partnership in April 2010. After the 2008 financial crisis, Greybull's de ...
for £1. This deal involved the company's pension scheme transferring into the statutory Pension Protection Fund (PPF), causing 70 Monarch pilot's pension benefits to be affected by the PPF compensation cap. The Pension Regulator's subsequent statutory report later concluded that the majority of scheme members received 90% or more of their benefits. However, the deal was nonetheless criticised by ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', which stated that the pilots' retirement plans had been "wrecked", and as stated by Frank Field MP, Chairman of the
Work and Pensions Select Committee The Work and Pensions Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department for Work and Pen ...
, in a letter to the Pension Protection Fund - "Compared to the hundreds of millions pounds of debt they were being released from, the ensiondeal was a good one for the Mantegazzas only." Furthermore, in 2021, the court of appeal ruled the PPF pension cap unlawful. The fallout of this ruling means that the actions of Mantegazza and later Greybull, have cost the taxpayer additional millions.


Personal life

Mantegazza was married with three children (two living) and lived in Lugano, Switzerland. His son, Paolo, worked for
Bankers Trust Bankers Trust was a historic American banking organization. The bank merged with Alex. Brown & Sons in 1997 before being acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. Deutsche Bank sold the Trust and Custody division of Bankers Trust to State Street Corp ...
and
Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG (, ) was a global Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse was to be fully integrated into UBS. While the integration ...
, before becoming president and CEO of Globus' US business Group Voyagers in 1998, and killed himself in 2004, at the age of 34. His son, Fabio Mantegazza (born 1955), was working with Sergio in the United Kingdom, and was CEO and chairman of Monarch Travel Group Ltd until the beginning of its demise in 2014. His daughter, Maria Dolores Mantegazza (born 1956), serves as a trustee to the Sergio Mantegazza Charitable Foundation in Canton Ticino alongside Fabio Mantegazza and Geo Mantegazza. The Foundation focuses on supporting various charities within the arts and youth sports programs as well as education and medical-related areas. Mantegazza also remained active in the organisation. Mantegazza had a 64m super-yacht named ''Lady Marina'', where guests have included
Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...
. He owned substantial residential and commercial real estate in
Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...
, Switzerland. Sergio Mantegazza died on 13 February 2024, at the age of 96.


Awards

Mantegazza joined the British Travel Industry Hall of Fame in 2006 alongside
Sir Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...
,
Sir Rocco Forte Sir Rocco Giovanni Forte (born 18 January 1945) is an English hotelier and the chairman of Rocco Forte Hotels. Early life Born in Bournemouth, the son of Charles Forte, Baron Forte, and his wife Irene, he was educated at St Peter's Catholi ...
and Stephen Kaufer. Cosmos (formerly Cosmos Holidays) was shortlisted for the Travel Industry and Consumer Awards as well as the Globe Travel Awards, the TTG Travel Awards, the British Travel Awards and also the World of Cruising's Wave Awards, and Cruise International's Cruise Awards.


External links

*
Sergio Mantegazza
', in: ''Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz''


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mantegazza, Sergio 1927 births 2024 deaths Swiss businesspeople Swiss billionaires People from Lugano