Italian born, Swiss citizen Ernesto Bertarelli, 37, educated at Babson College, and obtaining an MBA at Harvard, is head of Europe's largest BioTech company (and the world's third largest, after Amgen and Genentech ), an avid sailor, and the only current boat owner to also be a member of it's crew, spent $90 million on what appears to be a winning effort, for a land locked nation.

"Alinghi", so far 4-0, best out of nine, needs only one more victory, to win and take the Cup back to Europe for the first time in 152 years. Race 5, was rescheduled for today, Sunday, 4 PM Pacific Time. What does "Alinghi" mean??? (answer at end)

Home to Bertarelli is Geneva, where he lives with his English wife, Kirsty, a former Miss United Kingdom, and their first child. The French paper "Matin" has described Kirsty as a striking blonde beautiful blonde, sympathetic, and intelligent.

Two articles below:
Business Week: The Stars of Europe--Innovators
Boat-Online: 'Baby Billionaire' Ernesto Bertarelli
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The Stars of Europe--Innovators

ERNESTO BERTARELLI
Chief Executive, Serono

Business Week
June 17, 2002

State-of-the-art technology and a capable crew. Ernesto Bertarelli, 36, knows he needs both to succeed in his two passions, sailing and running Serono (SRA ), his family-controlled company. An expert sailor, Bertarelli, an Italian-born Swiss citizen, hopes to crew a boat for Switzerland in the 2003 America's Cup. And his weekday job? Running Europe's biggest (by sales and market cap) biotech group.

Bertarelli is the second generation in his family to head Geneva-based Serono. He took the helm after the death of his father, returning from the U.S., where he graduated from Babson College and earned an MBA from Harvard University.

Determined to broaden Serono's product range beyond fertility treatments, he boosted research spending on drugs to combat diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. Using recombinant DNA production technologies, Serono developed Rebif, an MS treatment. Then it took the unusual step of conducting clinical trials comparing Rebif to U.S. rival Biogen's MS drug, Avonex. In March, 2002, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration made the unprecedented decision to overturn Avonex' marketing exclusivity, approving Rebif on the grounds that it was more effective. Analysts estimate that by 2005, Rebif will control 35% of the $4 billion world market for MS drugs.

Bertarelli is investing heavily in research and development to build on Rebif's success--24% of sales last year. Serono was able to fill its war chest with more than $1 billion from its successful initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2000. This year, Commerzbank estimates Serono will report pretax profits of $419 million on sales of $1.4 billion, making it the world's No. 3 biotech company after the U.S.'s Amgen and and Genentech. Bertarelli intends to keep up the pace--at the company and on the seas.

Bertarelli intends to keep up the pace--at the company and on the seas.

BW Online | June 17, 2002 | Ernesto Bertarelli
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_24/b3787618.htm
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FOR 'BABY BILLIONAIRE' ERNESTO BERTARELLI, CUP IS STRESSFUL FUN

Before the current round of the Louis Vuitton Cup began, great emphasis was placed on the so-called “Billionaires’ Club”, the group of super-wealthy team owners whose presence in the event recalled an earlier era of the America’s Cup. At 37, Ernesto Bertarelli of Switzerland is the club’s youngest member, which has earned him the occasional nickname of “Baby Billionaire”. Yet, of all of them, Bertarelli survives as the only one still racing every day as a member of the crew.

Two other members of the club also raced on board their yachts, but shipping magnate Vincenzo Onorato saw his fledgling Mascalzone Latino team bow out early, while software mogul Larry Ellison demanded a crew shake-up on his Oracle BMW Racing team – and lost his regular place on board in the process.

“I am enjoying it. I am pleased with my performance and the performance of the team,” Bertarelli said today, although he also confessed: “I am finding it more stressful than I was hoping for.”

The scion of a pharmaceuticals family, Bertarelli has a long association with sailing. As a young boy he hung posters of the America’s Cup in his bedroom and dreamed of competing in the historic contest one day. That day came when he founded the Alinghi Challenge.... Bertarelli races on board every day as navigator and clearly relishes the whole experience.

The “Billionaires’ Club”, or the Bees, has inevitably drawn a lot of fascination in this event. Apart from Ellison, Vincenzo Onorato and Alinghi’s Bertarelli, other members of the exclusive group include Patrizio Bertelli, head of the Prada fashion empire, telecommunications king Craig McCaw, and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen of the OneWorld team... -- and German software billionaire Dr Hasso Plattner, whose SAP company is a major backer of Team New Zealand.

By definition, all of them are gripped by the America’s Cup obsession that has inspired a rich cast of suitors down the centuries to invest huge amounts of energy and money in its quest. Drawn by the challenge of winning one of sport’s most elusive trophies, they bring passion, style, aggression, and often no small amount of controversy, to the event. Some play very active roles in the day to day running of their teams, others take more of a hands-off approach.

Onorato, for example, was a member of the Mascalzone Latino afterguard, although he reluctantly ceded the helming duties largely to Paolo Cian. Larry Ellison an early helmed Oracle BMW Racing,.. but, when USA-76 started to falter, Ellison retired....

Ellison’s predicament makes Bertarelli the sole member of a club within a club, as the only owner still actively racing on a day to day basis.... Conceding he was “a little more than just a crew member”, he added: “I have been very lucky that the management of the team is very strong... “I get told off when I make mistakes and I am pleased when I do something right.” ...

With an MBA from Harvard University, Bertarelli has been the Chief Executive Officer and the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the pharmaceuticals giant Serono SA since 1996. He became Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors in 1991. He started his career with Serono in 1985 and held several positions in sales and marketing.

Prior to his appointment as CEO, he served for five years as Deputy CEO. Mr. Bertarelli was born on 22 September 1965. Asked how he split his time between spearheading an America’s Cup campaign and a global business, Bertarelli said it was a matter of delegation. “My management is about delegation and it’s proving to be working, both here in the Cup and in business,” he said. “I have a team back home who’ve been working with me for almost 10 years and they are very senior. They know exactly what to do, so I don’t need to interfere too much with what’s going on in the business.

“Also, pharmaceuticals is a business that moves fairly slowly – it takes10 years to bring a product to market. So we have time to see things coming and there’s not much I can add on a daily basis. We have a clear strategy to go forward and we’ve done great deals in the past few months -- we just signed one a couple of days ago. The company is in good shape and that gives me the opportunity to spend a bit more time here and enjoy the sailing.”

BOOT PORTAL -- For 'baby billionaire' Ernesto Bertarelli Cup racing is stressful fun
http://www11.boot-online.de/cipp/md_boot
/custom/pub/content,lang,2/ticket,g_u_e_s_t/oid,4774/local_lang,2
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"Alinghi" "cloche--- a cowbell the likes of which the Swiss fans usually lug up mountains to cheer on their alpine skiers.