Alejandro Bulgheroni
Alejandro Bulgheroni | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 24, 1943 Rufino, Santa Fe Province, Argentina |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Known for | Oil and gas industry, Bridas Corporation |
Alejandro Pedro Bulgheroni (born 24 October 1943) is an Argentine billionaire entrepreneur specializing in the oil and gas industry. Upon completing his studies at the University of Buenos Aires, he became involved with his family's enterprise, the Bridas Corporation, established in 1948. The firm experienced considerable growth, culminating in the sale of half its shares to the Chinese state-owned CNOOC Group in 2010. By March 2022, his fortune was valued at approximately US$1.9 billion.
Early life
Born in Rufino, Santa Fe Province, Alejandro Bulgheroni is the son of an Italian father and a Spanish mother. He holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Buenos Aires. His younger sibling was Carlos Bulgheroni (1945–2016).
Career
At age 22, in 1965, Bulgheroni entered the family-run Bridas Corporation. By the decade of the 1970s, Bridas had become one of Argentina's foremost private energy companies. Following their father's passing in 1985, Alejandro and Carlos assumed majority ownership.
In 1992, Bridas gained some of the earliest foreign gas exploration rights in Turkmenistan. Five years later, Bulgheroni spearheaded talks with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban regime to construct the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline linking Turkmenistan to Pakistan, positioning Bridas against a competing proposal led by Unocal's CentGas consortium. Although initially awarded the contract, political instability and the 2001 U.S. military intervention resulted in its cancellation and replacement by Unocal’s project. Despite these setbacks, Bulgheroni maintained an active interest in advancing the pipeline amid ongoing regional complexities.
In 2010, he divested a 50% interest in Bridas to China’s CNOOC Group. Subsequently, in 2012, he acquired Axion Energy Argentina, which included ExxonMobil’s crude oil refineries along with fuel and lubricant distribution networks spanning Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay.
Personal life
Bulgheroni is married with seven children and lives in Manantiales, Uruguay. Forbes recognizes him as Uruguay's sole billionaire.
His brother Carlos passed away from cancer at age 71 in 2016.
As of March 2022, Forbes estimated his net worth at $1.9 billion.
He possesses multiple vineyards internationally, notably Bodega Garzón, which earned Wine Enthusiast’s New World Winery of the Year award in 2018. Notwithstanding this connection to wine, he ceased alcohol consumption after marrying his second wife Bettina.