Alpha Private Equity Group

"1984 Nicolas Berggruen founds the Alpha Private Equity Group (APEG). It is his first own investment firm. Parts of the family fortunes of Nicolas Berggruen and his partner, billionaire's son Julio Mario Santo Domingo Jr., form the initial capital. APEG becomes Nicolas Berggruen's ticket to big business. Due to his experience at Jacobson & Co., he also knows how to acquire investors. The Forbes Magazine (from February 23, 2000) states: “Much of the public interest in APEG was due to the family history of the two principals as founding partners. This connection opened important doors for the new firm.”"

"In 2004, the Alpha Group is sold to Safra Bank. The wealth managed by Nicolas Berggruen and Julio Santo Domingo Jr. is invested in multi-billion-dollar hedge funds and restructured. Alpha Private Equity Group, derived from both family fortunes, is given a new name: Berggruen Holdings. The aim is to "better reflect the range of the firm's investment focuses." Like a hurricane, Nicolas Berggruen sweeps through financial and economic markets. He buys, splits, and trims companies for profit. Within five years, he builds a phenomenal empire around the globe. He maintains offices in New York, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Dallas, Chicago, London, Berlin, Geneva, as well as Bogota, Bermuda, Tel Aviv, Istanbul, Mumbai. The investments made are in the order of at least ten million dollars each. For a while, everything converges at a location not initially associated with Berggruen: 9 Columbus Business Centre, Pelican Drive, Read Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. This is the office of the Maitland Group."