Kriti Mehrotra
Since Alberto Maria Genovese was born on May 28, 1977, in Naples, Italy, to a set of very successful doctors, he learned the significance of hard work and perseverance at an early age. According to Netflix’s ‘‘Start Up, Fall Down: From Billionaire to Convict,’ he actually looked up to his parents a lot, and it resulted in him putting a lot of pressure on himself until he found his calling. Little did anybody know, though, that he would become infamous not for breaking all bounds of the online business world in his homeland but for his sexual offenses against women.
How Did Alberto Genovese Earn His Money?
Alberto Genovese developed an interest in business as a teenager, driving him to enroll at Bocconi University in Milan to pursue a degree in the same field. He graduated with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration around 1999, following which he kick-started his career by landing a spot at the financial services company Goldman Sachs. He served there for a few years before moving to the strategy and management consulting firm McKinsey & Company and then its competitor, Bain & Company. However, 2005 marked a turning point in Alberto’s professional standing, as he was appointed Head of the Motors & New Businesses division at eBay at the age of 28. He reportedly worked there for 4 years, overseeing the platform’s automotive marketplace while exploring ways to continue developing and growing it.
With all his experience, Alberto actually co-founded an online company in 2008 aimed at helping clients get the best available insurance and financial products in the market. He established Assicurazioni.it (later rebranded to Facile.it) alongside two others, but he reportedly played a significant role in helping it become profitable within just 14 months. As the CEO/President, he was wholly dedicated to the company’s operations from all aspects until things started to change in 2014, with Oakley Capital acquiring a controlling share for £27 million. That’s when the entrepreneur was reportedly pushed out, but he launched another online/tech company called Prima Assicurazioni that same year. Alberto co-founded it as a website insurance agency, which began thriving almost instantly, and also secured €100 million in venture capital funding in 2018.
Prima Assicurazioni made history with it, as it was Italy’s largest venture capital funding round at the time, thanks to multinationals like Goldman Sachs and the Blackstone Group becoming investors. By this point, he had also co-founded an online used car retailer platform, Brumbrum, which he later sold for €65 million. During this period, Alberto reportedly leveraged his connections and wealth to invest in several other beauty and technology start-up ventures. Amongst them are Abiby, Zappyrent, and Jobtech, where he even served as President at one point or another before ultimately falling from grace owing to some severe accusations of sexual assault. In 2022, before he was convicted, he sold his stake at Prima Assicurazioni, only to later establish the Franco Latanza Foundation to support drug addicts in rehab.
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Alberto Genovese’s Net Worth
Considering Alberto was actively working from when he was merely 20 until he was arrested on charges of sexual assault at 43 in 2020, he had managed to acquire significant wealth. From what we can tell, when Alberto first kick-started his career with Goldman Sachs, his income was likely between €20,000 and €30,000 per year (equivalent to roughly $23,000-$35,000). Then, he climbed up the ladder to earn in the range of €80,000 ($90,000) at McKinsey & Company and Bain & Company before making around €1.5 million ($1.7 million) at eBay.
Unfortunately, Alberto’s compensation during his tenure as an entrepreneur (2008-2022) is difficult to ascertain, as the companies he oversaw experienced rapid growth. However, with their valuation in the 10s of millions when he ultimately parted ways with them, we believe he was making at least €10 million to €20 million ($11.5 million and $23 million) per year by the early 2020s. Taking into account all these aspects, along with his assets, including homes, a private jet, vehicles, jewelry, and other investments, as well as his returns and lifestyle expenses, we estimate his net worth to be close to $1.5 billion.
