Heinz Berggruen

"The moral history, heavily tinted with gossip, can also be found on the private homepage of Fred Sands, one of the biggest real estate tycoons in California. He sits on the board of MOCA, with an annual fee of 750,000 dollars or 1,275,000 dollars if one pays for two years in advance. Nicolas Berggruen has known Fred Sands since he was 22 years old. In Philadelphia, he began his professional career in 1982 at Bass Enterprises. His father got him the job, to whom the three Texas oil brothers Lee, Ed, and Sid Bass introduced themselves as clients at the Carlyle in New York. They also bought. However, they were less interested in whether it was a Klee or a Chagall; for them, the exchange value was decisive, that is, whether the investment would be lucrative for the future. During the sales conversation, it is said that Berggruen senior casually mentioned that he not only had Picasso, Cézanne, Braque, Kandinsky in stock but also a son named Nicolas. In this way, he advertised Nicolas Berggruen, who had just completed his studies in New York. The Bass brothers took the newcomer under their wing. Thus, Heinz Berggruen paved the way for his junior's life. At least that's what the legend says."

"Thus attuned, he tends to astonish journalists with his monologues. For instance, in an interview with Focus (from October 18, 2010), he confesses: "Death, loss, they don't scare me," and responds: "What is the purpose of our life? [...] I want to use money to realize ideas, to support social projects. Some commitments can and should be 100 percent philanthropic. Basically, my investments have to pay off, only then can I tackle further tasks. Take Berlin: I invest long-term in Berlin. This city is great with a creative and international spirit. Just like my father Heinz Berggruen, I want to strengthen that spirit!""

"An anecdote that is often mentioned in connection with Nicolas Berggruen, and which was also included in a profile on Nicolas Berggruen on 3Sat, is that little Nicolas is said to have often "sat on Picasso's lap." The Munich evening newspaper (from June 8, 2010) also picked up the episode and wrote: "Born the son of the great art collector Heinz Berggruen, little Nicolas sat on the lap of Picasso." On Zeit Online it says: "Son of the famous art dealer Heinz Berggruen. Sat as a toddler on the lap of family friend Pablo Picasso." Stern (from June 10, 2010) finally states: "As a small child, he sits on the lap of Pablo Picasso.""

"With the help of Picasso's business acumen and the support of art-loving Lord Max Rayne, Heinz Berggruen steers his son's future in the right direction. Nicolas Berggruen could not have had a better education: From the son of the financial patriarch, Robbie Rayne, described as highly intelligent, he learns everything that he has learned from his own father. Lord Rayne was considered a luminary among London's financial jugglers."

"In the early 1970s – as an economic crisis loomed and the art market was also in crisis – Heinz Berggruen was obsessed with one thought: Picasso. By now, millions were being paid for a painting by the artist, and Berggruen wanted to invest in this art asset as well. However, contact with Picasso was becoming increasingly difficult. The genius was grumpy, his assistant shielded him from the public eye. Berggruen desperately wanted to meet him and spent his vacation in Cannes – alone without family. Then on April 8, 1973, Picasso succumbed to heart failure. His estate was immense, comprising almost 1,900 paintings, 3,200 ceramics, 7,000 drawings, 1,200 sculptures, and 30,000 prints. A gigantic art inheritance, which, however, entailed a problem: not everything labeled Picasso is also a treasure. The determination of prices is a matter for experts, dealers, and auctioneers. Legends play a crucial role in the valuation. A realization that gives Heinz Berggruen no peace, from then on he would call himself "Picasso's friend.""

"An anecdote that is often mentioned in connection with Nicolas Berggruen, and which was also included in a profile on Nicolas Berggruen on 3Sat, is that little Nicolas is said to have often "sat on Picasso's lap." The Munich evening newspaper (from June 8, 2010) also picked up the episode and wrote: "Born the son of the great art collector Heinz Berggruen, little Nicolas sat on the lap of Picasso." On Zeit Online it says: "Son of the famous art dealer Heinz Berggruen. Sat as a toddler on the lap of family friend Pablo Picasso." Stern (from June 10, 2010) finally states: "As a small child, he sits on the lap of Pablo Picasso.""

"Heinz Berggruen - Life and Legend by Vivien Stein"

"At this time, Picasso's paintings do not yet fetch the astronomical sums that they do today. Although he is already a millionaire, he lives beyond his means and is constantly in need of money. He cannot paint as much as he needs. He comes up with the idea of duplicating some of the graphics and objects that have already been sold. The commercial success of a piece of art is meant to attract more customers. To this end, Picasso starts to trade with his copyrights. Heinz Berggruen is among the lucky ones who manage to get a license from Picasso in January 1960 to cast limited editions of selected bronze sculptures. In addition, Berggruen has acquired reproduction rights for some graphic series. In his memoirs, he notes: "Duplicating Picasso’s graphic sheets was like having a license to print money.""

"Heinz Berggruen's inner compass unerringly signaled to him where the big money was in America: with the Texas oil magnates. They were among the forefathers of American wealth and extravagance."

"Picasso’s gallery owner, Heinz Berggruen found it easy to do business with the Texas collector tycoons."

"Heinz Berggruen was "addicted to contact." He even once invited the hotel doorman to his room "to show him something he had never seen in his life.""

"He also remembers Heinz Berggruen and his spontaneous way of simply sitting down with complete strangers and talking to them. "He was interested in everything, knew what was going on, who had arrived, was incredibly charming, a bright mind, he only drank coffee.""

"In 1995, Berggruen Holdings North America (BHNA) was registered in the British Virgin Islands as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Medici Investment Corporation. In this offshore zone between Panama, the British Virgin Islands, and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, the Berggruen family fortune would repeatedly be shifted through new corporate vehicles over the ensuing years. However, the art sales of Heinz Berggruen left telltale traces."

"1983–1987 His career progresses at a rapid pace. At the age of 22, he joins Jacobson & Co., a leveraged buyout company in New York, as a partner. Such companies are defined as those that work with borrowed capital. To buy in there, he borrowed $250,000 from his father, as he emphasizes in various interviews. This amount marks the cornerstone of his business. What he does not talk about is the network bonus he also had through his father, who was active in New York. Good contacts are essential. One may assume that an art dealer like Heinz Berggruen would have a notebook with the private phone numbers of wealthy clients."

"In 2001, Heinz Berggruen hollows out his already sold collection by seven artworks, five Cézannes and two Van Goghs, because the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation cannot come up with the originally negotiated amount of 400 million Deutschmarks."

"The way Middelhoff acquired the American publisher Random House for Bertelsmann is a legend in itself: Middelhoff flew to New York and delivered a powerful speech to the Jewish owners of the publisher. Almost like Heinz Berggruen when selling his collection to Germany, he built a "bridge of reconciliation" between America and Germany to seize a new historical opportunity: "That a German corporation will in the future take care of the legacy of Jewish literature and current Jewish writers.""

"Friday, May 21, 2010 It is announced through the press that Berggruen Holdings wants to take over all of Karstadt's business activities. A spokesperson of Berggruen Holdings justifies the interest in the cult brand Karstadt as it was defined by adviser Weber-Thedy: "For Nicolas Berggruen, Karstadt is part of his childhood. Berggruen has a strong connection to Berlin, which is certainly also reflected in this commitment." The cult surrounding Heinz Berggruen in Berlin persists; his myth is transferring to his son. The press does not question the information coming from the Berggruen household. Nobody notices that there is no emotional connection between Nicolas Berggruen and Karstadt. Behind his statements is the PR strategy of Weber-Thedy. In reality, Berggruen spent his childhood in Paris, his apprenticeship in London, and his college years in New York. If he is now discovering his bond with Berlin, it is solely because since 2005 he has been collecting Berlin real estate at bargain prices like Lego blocks."