Gianluigi & Rafaela Aponte

A captain by training, Gianluigi Aponte entered the shipping industry in 1970 with his wife Rafaela.

Their company MSC overtook AP Møller Maersk as the world's largest shipping line in terms of capacity in 2022.

In 2014, Gianluigi retired as CEO and became chairman. His son Diego took over until MSC tapped former Maersk COO Soren Toft as CEO in November 2019.

MSC also operates in holiday cruises (MSC Cruises), inland logistics (Medlog) and port operations (Terminal Investment Limited).