|
"The basic point, is to be well assisted. For my part, I'm only the tip of the iceberg and if I am successful, it is only because I am among people who help me to manage the company. It is simply impossible to think that we can make everything directly and in the first person."
Such is the philosophy of Ernesto Bertarelli, the CEO and Deputy Chairman of Serono International SA (since 1996) one of very first big world groups, specialising in advanced biotechnology and pharmaceutical products. To this philosophy, Bertarelli adds ability - he obtained his MBA at Harvard Business School - along with a good dose of charisma and many other talents.
It was this recipe that Bertarelli would apply to his conquest of the America's Cup, magnificently won with Alinghi, on March 2nd, 2003, by defeating Team New Zealand who had held the trophy since 1995. With the win, Bertarelli had realised his childhood dream, all the while balancing the needs of his company, and the Alinghi syndicate.
Landing in Geneva, on March 8th, 2003, was a very emotional moment for Ernesto Bertarelli. As he descended from the plane which had carried his team from New Zealand with the America's Cup he said, "I so often dreamed to land here, with this trophy in my hands, that I feel I am living an almost unreal moment, and if I have succeeded, it is due to the work of a lot of people." The win was all the more exceptional as it came on his first attempt at the Cup. Alinghi was bringing the America's Cup to Europe for the first time since it had left Britain in 1851.
"If you see my boat, you will understand my management style," is a refrain that Bertarelli likes to repeat. The key to success for this dynamic manager and head of syndicate can be expressed in a simple formula: speed and stage-of-art technologies, along with the support of a general-purpose team focused on the same goal. "A team is building itself bit by bit. If bases are right from the beginning, if people manage to share common values, this process of mixture of various competencies and nationalities (there were 14 in Team Alinghi in 2003) allows you to build a real Team, where each member is respected for his values."
'Alinghi' is a magic word that is now forever associated with Swiss sailing. The name comes from the imagination of Ernesto and his sister Donatella, when, as children on holidays in Toscana, they played by the sea. It was a word the children repeated over and over and which their father, Fabio, naturally thought of when he christened the small, wooden, family boat Alinghi.
For Bertarelli, a passion for yachting came very early. A sportsman all his life - he does not hesitate to climb the alpine summits with his close friends - Bertarelli participates in numerous sailing races, as skipper, helmsman, navigator or crew member, as often on Lake Geneva as at sea. His recent prize list speaks for itself: Winner of the 1998 Sardinia Cup, third in the 1999 Fastnet race, five wins in the Bol d'Or sailed on the Lake Geneva (in 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003), 12-Meter World Champion with South Australia and World Champion in the Farr 40 in 2001, winner of the Swedish Match Cup in 2002 and winner of the 2003 America's Cup.
With Alinghi SUI-64, there is no doubt; Ernesto is indeed in accomplished and complete yachtsman. In 2007, he sees his role as more than merely defending the America's Cup: "I want to win back the Cup, not to defend it!" And there is no doubt his team will be prepared to do just that.
J.T./pr
|
)
