Sandro Salsano

Early life

Born in Lecco, Italy, he grew up in Southern Italy (Campania) where he was a professional basketball player until he decided to move to Milan to study at Bocconi University. His mother was a teacher and his father was employed with the State Railways.

Education

Salsano graduated from Bocconi University in Milan with full honors with an MBA program from the University of San Diego, California, he also studied at Harvard Business School and at INCAE Business School.

Early business ventures

His first job was at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership in London. He later became a shareholder and partner in an investment bank and he sold his shares after Goldman Sachs acquired a stake. He co-founded what became one of the largest factoring companies for exporters to Central America and the Caribbean. He was a shareholder in a UK FCA regulated hedge fund and he started investing in distressed real estate from a very early age.

Investments

Salsano Group of Companies is a venture capital and private equity conglomerate that comprises over 100 companies with equity stakes in sectors like transmedia, social media, smartphone breathalyzer, family locator, data platform, e-commerce, social betting, microRNA detection, luxury mobiles, global consumer, blockchain, parenting tool, music, financials, global sustainable real estate (ecoprojects, hospitality, industrial, residential, commercial, retail, parking, land). The Group has its headquarter in Panama with presence in Miami, New York, San Francisco, San Juan, London, Zurich and Shanghai. The conglomerate disclosed several pre Ipo investments in companies like Uber, Airbnb, Pinterest, Spotify, Palantir, Dropbox, Docusign, Lyft and WeWork among others. The Group owns over 1,000 ha of land in Panama. Advisory board members include Mr. Dylan Taylor (executive), Global President of Colliers International, Mrs. Olivia Leland, founding executive director of Giving Pledge and former director of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr. Yan Yanovskiy, founder of First Nation Société Bancaire, Ms. Candice Beaumont, Chief Investment Officer at L Investments, Dr. Andres Simon Gonzalez-Silen, founder of Grupo Venemergencia. Sandro Salsano net worth is estimated between $250 millionand $1.1 billion

Board memberships

Salsano sits on the board of different companies as both a shareholder and as an advisor. He joined in 2016 the Advisory Board of The Family Office Association (FOA).and he is on the Steering Committee of 1640society, often referred as the Davos of the Hamptons, together with the Getty, Firestone, Kettering, Pitcairn, Bush, Kennedy & Forstmann families. Salsano is also part of The Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle

Salsano Films

Sandro Salsano is a producer with Nick Raynes and Julie Pacino (eldest daughter of actor Al Pacino) of The First, Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood.

Awards and achievements

Salsano has been honoured by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2014

He is often featured on several medias like CNBC, FT, Bloomberg, Forbes, CNN, IlSole24ore, Corriere della Sera.

He was regarded as one of the top 50 business leaders in Latin America under 40 (2014 and 2015).

Philanthropy

He has donated among others to the William J. Clinton Foundation., Raisa Gorbachev Foundation, Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF), Amfar, Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, Olga Sinclair Foundation, Ofrece un hogar. He set up Salsano Shahani foundation with his wife Johanna Shahani (www.gruposhahani.com) to improve kids education in Panama.

Sandro is the Chairman for Panama of Global Dignity, an independent, non-political organization. Their project is the universal right of every human being to lead a dignified life. The organization was established in 2006 by Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, John Hope Bryant and Pekka Himanen.

Salsano is also a Fellow at the Aspen Institute, an international nonprofit organization founded in 1950, headquartered in Washington, D.C., USA, and campuses in Aspen, Colorado (its original home) and at the Wye River in Maryland.

Salsano Group has announced a commitment totaling $15 million to promote the conservation of natural areas and protect working landscapes in the Republic of Panama in 2016.

He is also part of the academy of The Global Teacher Prize, founded by the Varkey Foundation.

Personal life

He got married to Johanna Shahani on the 14th of March 2014 in Panama City. 2,000 guests attended the wedding and were entertained by Latin Grammy winner duo Chino & Nacho among others. Sandro Salsano is an astronaut passenger with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and he will enter space on board SpaceShipTwo. Other astronauts include Angelina Jolie, Philippe Stark, Justin Bieber and Leonardo DiCaprio