The Swiss now know which family is the richest – and pollutes the most – in their country. Originally hailing from Naples, the secretive Apontes, who own a cruise brand as well as the world’s largest containerline, Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), have had their names splashed in the local press in recent days, with reports highlighting their extraordinary wealth.
Local newspapers have indicated the Geneva-based Apontes have amassed a personal fortune of as much as $100bn, helped largely by container shipping’s record run over the past couple of years, firmly putting the family as the richest in Switzerland, three times as wealthy as the second-placed family.
Locals have also been shown how MSC’s total emissions on an annual basis are now more than the whole of the Alpine nation.
Privately held MSC does not publish its financial results, and the wealth of the Apontes has always been a well-guarded secret. If the $100bn wealth was confirmed that would place the Apontes in sixth place on Forbes rich list, nestled between Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
Other liner leaders have had to face scrutiny and criticism for the enormous profits they’ve earned since 2020 – CMA CGM’s Rodolphe Saade forced to defend himself in front of politicians in Paris for instance, while Hapag-Lloyd’s top shareholder Klaus-Michael Kuehne recently described how he was “not comfortable” with the multi-billion euro profits made by the Hamburg liner.
Liner shipping is on course for a collective record net income significantly north of $200bn this year, multiple analysts have predicted, dwarfing profits made by the FANG quartet – namely tech giants Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google.
MSC, which overtook Maersk as the world’s largest containerline at the start of this year, has been on an incredible expansion charge. This has seen the line, now headed by ex-Maersk COO Soren Toft, hoover up 240 secondhand ships in a little over two years, as well as build a 2m teu orderbook, something that is larger than the combined orderbooks of Maersk, CMA CGM and COSCO, the world’s second, third and fourth largest liners, respectively.
Last month the carrier debuted MSC Air Cargo, something that will take to the skies from early next year. The cash-rich line has also bought many other assets including Bolloré Africa Logistics and Log-In Logistica.
Incredible achievement 👏