Nicolas Berggruen

His mother played the female lead in the 1948 German Holocaust film Long Is the Road.

Although born in France, Berggruen's first language is German.

He is also fluent in English and French.

Berggruen has two older half-siblings from his father's first marriage: John, an art dealer, and Helen, an artist.

Furthermore, he has a full younger brother, Olivier, an art historian and curator.

Berggruen credits his father for his competitive drive: "What I learned from my father [was] passion and focus... He valued quality over quantity".

Nicolas and Olivier attended elementary school at the École alsacienne in Paris.

They were raised Catholic, their mother's faith.

Nicolas Berggruen (born 10 August 1961) is a US-based billionaire investor and philanthropist.

Born in Paris, France, he is a dual German and American citizen.

He is the founder and president of Berggruen Holdings, a private investment company and the co-founder and chairman of the Berggruen Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan think tank that works to address global governance issues.

Growing up in Paris in the 1970s, Berggruen spent his time reading.

He was particularly drawn to the work of French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and the issues of political governance.

Berggruen attended high school at Le Rosey in Switzerland.

He became interested in Marxism and by 15 had written a constitution for a utopian country.

Berggruen refused to learn English at the time because he thought it was "the language of imperialism."

Berggruen had a rebellious nature, frequently challenging teachers on intellectual matters and eventually, he was expelled from the school for sedition.

At 16, Berggruen passed his state exams in Paris before completing a baccalauréat in Paris as a candidat libre.

In 1978, Nicolas moved to London, where he became fluent in English and trained under property developer and philanthropist Lord Max Rayne at London Merchant Securities, known today as LMS Capital Plc.

In 1979, 17-year old Berggruen moved to New York to attend New York University, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in Finance and International Business in 1981.

After obtaining his degree, Berggruen moved to Philadelphia to work for the real estate arm of Bass Brothers Enterprises, led by the investor Sid Bass.

In the mid-1980s, Berggruen began purchasing distressed real estate across New York City and has since made over 100 direct control and real estate investments globally.

Between 1983 and 1987, Berggruen was a Principal at Jacobson and Co.

Berggruen moved back to New York and, based on a trust fund worth about $250,000, he started investing in real estate and public stocks, later expanding to private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds.

In 1984, he founded Berggruen Holdings, Inc. as an investment vehicle for the Nicolas Berggruen Charitable Trust.

Berggruen Holdings predominately operates as a long-term investor/owner for their portfolio companies.

In 1988, he and Julio Mario Santo Domingo, Jr. co-founded Alpha Investment Management, a hedge fund.

In the mid-2000s, Berggruen Holdings began acquiring residential and commercial real estate across the world in Tel Aviv, Berlin, Istanbul, and the American West Coast.

The firm grew to about $2 billion under management before the founders reportedly sold to Safra Bank in 2004.

In 2005, for the symbolic fee of 1 euro, Berggruen bought the insolvent German retailer Karstadt, investing over 65 million euros (US$83 million) and saving over 25,000 jobs.

Through Freedom Acquisitions – his first investment vehicle that went public in 2006 – Berggruen bought a stake in the hedge fund group GLG Partners in 2007.

In 2009, with his second fund, Liberty Acquisitions, Berggruen bought Pearl Insurance, and in 2010, he bought a majority stake in the Spanish media group, Prisa, for a reported US$900 million.

Commenting on the importance of the retail brand, Berggruen said: “We want to take a brand with a big presence all across Germany and restore it to all its former glory.” In 2010, having spent 400 million euros, he brought the company out of bankruptcy.

In 2011, alongside business partner Martin Franklin and investor William Ackman, Berggruen launched his third investment vehicle, Justice Holding, a company that raised £900m in its initial public offering.

In 2012, Justice holdings took an £881m (29%) stake in Burger King Worldwide, Inc.

In 2014, through the Institute, Berggruen launched Noema Magazine, formerly the WorldPost, a digital and print publication dedicated to exploring global issues.

Nicolas Berggruen was born in Paris, France.

He is the son of art collector and dealer Heinz Berggruen and actress Bettina Moissi.

His father was of German–Jewish descent, and his mother, a Catholic of German and Albanian descent.

Heinz Berggruen was considered one of the world's greatest art collectors, having donated and sold works by Picasso, Klee, and Matisse to the Berggruen Museum in Berlin, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and the National Gallery in London.