Carlo Agliardi, who pioneered the idea of a transatlantic brokerage, yacht-management, and charter firm with Fraser Yachts, has died. He was 74 years old.
Agliardi was born in Milan in 1950. Although details of his early life remain unknown, he co-founded the yacht-brokerage firm Italyachting in 1983 with longtime business partners Alex Mazzoni and Antonio Pozzi. He additionally met his wife Loredana Deambrosis through the company. Together, the four grew Italyachting into a successful firm. In fact, Agliardi was responsible for the sales of two significantly large superyachts for the time. Firstly, he brokered the new-build contract for Maupiti, a 141-foot (43-meter) Amels explorer yacht delivered in 1993. (On a related iside note, Maupiti featured diesel-electric propulsion and a version of dynamic positioning, both unheard of in yachting in that era.) Secondly, he introduced the owner for a new-build Christensen, the 125-foot (38-meter) Fifty-One. She launched in 1991.
Simultaneous to these successes, however, Italyachting faced challenges from economic and political issues in Italy, including corruption scandals. The high transactional value of megayachts attracted criminal behavior, too, damaging the country’s brokerage industry. Agliardi and his partners moved Italyachting to Monaco, which was growing in prominence in yachting. Soon after, the partners merged their company with Althaus International Yachting. The newly expanded company became United Yachting Monaco.
Agliardi continued moving quickly, too. The deal for the build of the Christensen yacht Fifty-One opened the door to what would become Agliardi’s future with Fraser Yachts. The broker representing Christensen Shipyards in that deal was the late Jane Buffington. United Yachting Monaco identified the United States as a prime target. “We wanted a global reach,” Agliardi told Fraser Yachts’ in-house magazine editor in 2017. Fraser Yachts had a solid bi-coastal stateside presence in the early 1990s, but no European foothold. In 1992, United Yachting Monaco bought Fraser Yachts Florida, the headquarters for the firm, and the rights to use the Fraser Yachts name. Agliardi became CEO.
Fraser Yachts’ transatlantic teams were an anomaly for the yacht-brokerage community. So, too, was the expansion into yacht management and charter, divisions that arose in the late 1990s. Pozzi and Loredana Agliardi ran the yacht-management division, while Mazzoni ran the charter division. Referring to yacht management, Carlo Agliardi shared with Fraser’s magazine editor, “We had to remove the headaches owners associated with owning a large yacht.”
Further acquisitions followed in the next decade. The Azimut-Benetti Group acquired the majority interest in Fraser Yachts in 2004, with VShips holding a minor stake. All the while, Agliardi remained as CEO of Fraser Yachts, holding the position until 2007. He stayed with the company as its president until 2010.
Although no longer active in Fraser Yachts’ oversight, Agliardi remained close with his former colleagues, many of whom became friends. He and his wife entertained them at an organic vegetable farm they opened in Tuscany in 2009. Among its dozens of acres, it featured olive groves and vineyards. The couple and their two children, Lorenzo and Margherita, additionally welcomed visitors from around the world who wanted to learn about organic farming.
On its website, Fraser Yachts pays tribute to its former CEO and president. “Fraser has more than doubled in size since Carlo left, but his vision remains central to the company’s structure and its success.” It also notes how Fraser staffers relished visiting the farm, “to enjoy Lory’s splendid cooking and reminisce over dinner.” Together, they enjoyed “the same digs, prods and parries, and perhaps a bit too much of Carlo’s delicious Tuscan wine!!”
Leave a Reply