On a bright spring afternoon in Monaco, billionaire investor Filippo Ghirelli casually gestures toward the Mediterranean visible from his office window, describing the city-state as a convenient base for his globe-spanning business life. Five years on the French Riviera have not slowed his pace; London, New York and Dubai remain regular stops, according to Forbes.
Just months later, Ghirelli reconnects from London, reflecting on a career shaped by constant movement. After graduating in Rome, he left Europe for Africa, working on demanding infrastructure projects in countries such as Guinea and Mali. The early years, he says, were formative but far from easy.
From Early Setbacks to a Transformational India Bet
Now 45, Ghirelli has navigated dramatic highs and lows. He built early wealth through real estate ventures in Italy and North Africa, only to see much of it unravel during Egypt’s political upheaval in 2013. Returning to Italy, he reinvented himself again—this time in energy efficiency—founding a firm that helped major corporations cut energy costs.
But the defining moment of his financial journey came in January 2023, when he acquired a 25% stake in Nayara Energy, India’s second-largest oil refinery, from global trading firm Trafigura. Funded through proceeds from a partial exit in his energy business and property investments, the deal transformed his fortunes.
Public filings show Ghirelli bought the stake for $169 million—a steep discount compared to Trafigura’s 2017 purchase price. Forbes now estimates that holding to be worth at least $1.1 billion after debt, accounting for the bulk of Ghirelli’s estimated $1.5 billion net worth.
“We’ve seen the value of the business grow exponentially. The company has significantly increased its productivity and greatly increased its profit margin,” Ghirelli told Forbes. “It’s a financial investment that’s been particularly fortunate.”
Nayara Energy owns not just a massive refinery on India’s western coast, but also the country’s largest private fuel retail network and a deep-water port. As India sharply increased imports of discounted Russian oil, the company’s profits surged. In the fiscal year ending March 2025, Nayara reported net income of $760 million on revenues of $17.6 billion.
“Nayara has a very important role. India is a growing country where fuel demand is continuously on the rise,” says Pankaj Srivastava, senior vice president of commodity markets at Rystad Energy. “Nayara supplies a significant amount of the country’s domestic fuel needs. It’s very strategically located.”
Expanding Beyond Energy: Airports, AI and Space
Despite Nayara’s success, the asset has faced turbulence. Reports suggest Saudi Aramco and Reliance Industries explored acquiring the refinery, with Rosneft allegedly seeking a valuation as high as $20 billion. Talks stalled after European Union sanctions linked to Rosneft triggered banking disruptions and temporary supply issues.
While Ghirelli remains invested, his focus has shifted toward a broader vision under his firm Infracorp, which targets infrastructure-heavy sectors ranging from energy transition and transportation to decentralized AI and the space economy.
“The objective is to invest in systemic infrastructure,” he says. “We want to create energy for the grid. We’re working a lot on decentralized AI. We bought our first airport, which will become Europe’s most important private jet terminal. We’re working on space modules, on future space stations and orbital data centers. In the next six months to a year, we’re going to come out with some very interesting projects.”
Among the most prominent initiatives is the acquisition of Riviera Airport near Genoa, which Ghirelli plans to convert into a private aviation hub serving Monaco. The airport is intended to anchor a future network of private terminals across Europe.
“He’s someone who can see the bigger picture and go for it,” says Stefano Poli, chief commercial officer at Ramon Space. “He can play chess on multiple chessboards.”
Adds Monaco-based billionaire Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio: “He’s extremely entrepreneurial. He tends to actually do the things he talks about.”
Born into a middle-class Roman family, Ghirelli credits his entrepreneurial parents for shaping his risk appetite. After early engineering roles across Africa and Turkey, he pivoted into real estate, endured losses during Egypt’s unrest, and later found stability through energy efficiency projects with global clients such as Unilever and Pirelli.
Following the sale of his remaining stake in Genera Group in late 2024, Ghirelli has committed more than $100 million across 65 projects, including biofuel plants, waste-to-energy facilities, data centres and experimental space infrastructure.
“When you have a business model with foreseeable cash flow, it’s pretty easy to find money,” he says. “We’re not having any problems finding funding around the world. There’s great attention from the Middle East to finance these things.”
Looking ahead, Ghirelli is confident his next wave of investments will eclipse even his extraordinary return from India.
“I imagine we’re going to get something close to four or five times,” he says. “Especially on space and data centers.”
For now, the timeline remains long—but for a billionaire who has repeatedly rebuilt from setbacks, patience appears to be part of the strategy.