Rafaela Aponte-Diamant, a Swiss-Italian businesswoman, is one of the world’s wealthiest individuals. With a net worth of $33 billion, she ranks seventh on Forbes’ list of the richest women and 48th overall among all billionaires. In 1970, she founded the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) alongside her husband, Gianluigi Aponte.
Together, they have built MSC into the largest global container shipping company by fleet size and capacity, with over 800 vessels. The Apontes have maintained a low profile in public life, only appearing at the launch of new MSC cruise ships. However, Rafaela has a passion for interior design and is known to oversee the decor of these vessels.
Rafaela and Gianluigi have two children who hold senior roles at MSC: their son Diego is the president, and their daughter Alexa is the CFO. As a family, they are worth an impressive $66 billion, placing them ahead of prominent figures like Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, SoftBank boss Masayoshi Son, and Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin on Forbes’ list of billionaires.
