Gianluigi Aponte


Gianluigi Aponte is an Italian billionaire businessman, and the founder, owner and chairman of Mediterranean Shipping Company, the second-largest container shipping line in the world after Maersk.

Early life

Gianluigi Aponte was born in Sant'Agnello, Italy on 27 June 1940.

Career

Aponte is a Neapolitan captain, who entered the shipping industry in 1970 together with his spouse, Rafaela. At the time, the newly-formed company owned a single vessel that would ship cargo between Europe and Africa. With the growth of his business, he eventually made a move towards the cruise industry in 1988. As of 2014, he has retired from the position of CEO and president in favour of his son, Diego Aponte, and took on a role as executive chairman within MSC.

Honours

In 2009, at the Teatro di San Carlo of Naples, he received, along with Fabio Cannavaro, Ambra Vallo and others, a prize for "Neapolitan Excellence in the World" from the then Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
In 2012, he won the Cruise International Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his long term activity in the industry.
In October 2013, he received Containerisation International’s Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as a knighthood, the Order of Merit for Labour, from Italian President Giorgio Napolitano. The Aponte family have featured prominently in the Lloyd's List Top 100 most influential people in the shipping industry, named in the top 10 in 2014 and in position 16 in 2018.

Personal life

He is married to Rafaela Diamant, a Swiss woman he met when she was a passenger on a boat of which he was the captain. They have two children, Diego Aponte and Alexa Aponte Vago, who serve respectively as CEO and CFO of MSC.