Rafaela Aponte-Diamant

Meet the world’s richest self-made woman.

Rafaela Aponte-Diamant is worth $38.9B.

She didn’t inherit a fortune.

She didn’t IPO a tech startup.

She co-founded Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).

And turned a single cargo vessel into a global logistics empire that now controls over 20% of the entire container shipping market.

In the late 1960s, Rafaela took a ferry from Naples to Capri.

The captain was Gianluigi Aponte.

They fell in love.

And in 1970, they went into business together.

With a $200,000 loan from a friend named Dominique Denat, they bought their first ship, a secondhand cargo vessel named Patricia.

One year later, their second ship was named Rafaela.

They took the routes no one wanted: less trafficked shipping lines between Europe and Africa.

They kept costs low by buying used vessels.

By 1979, they already had a fleet of 17 ships.

In 1988, they took a bet: they expanded into holiday cruises.

That same year, they launched MSC Cruises, which would later become the world’s third-largest cruise company.

They kept going, adding more layers to the MSC empire:
- Medlog, an inland logistics firm (est. 1988)
- Terminal Investment Limited, a container terminal operator (est. 2000)
- Bolloré Africa Logistics, acquired in 2022 for $6 billion

Today, MSC is a privately-owned giant.

923 cargo ships. 675 offices across 155 countries. 150,000 employees. More than 520 ports served.

And they’ve never gone public.

Never diluted ownership.

Rafaela and Gianluigi each still own 50%.

He is Executive Chairman.

Their son, Diego Aponte, is Group President (and former CEO).

Their daughter, Alexa Aponte Vago, is the company’s CFO.

Rafaela, now 80, doesn’t hold a formal operational title, but her impact runs deep.

She oversees the design and interiors of MSC cruise ships.

She also sits on the board of the MSC Foundation, launched in 2018 to coordinate global conservation and humanitarian efforts.

By 2022, the Foundation had donated $12.9 million.