Kirsty Bertarelli

Kirsty Bertarelli (born Kirsty Roper) is a songwriter, former Miss UK and a former wife of Ernesto Bertarelli, an Italian-born Swiss businessman who was the owner of biotech giant Serono until 2007 and winner of the America's Cup in 2003 and 2007 with his yachting syndicate Alinghi. In the Sunday Times Rich List 2017 ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK, her former husband's family were placed 6th with an estimated fortune of £11.5bn, making her Britain's richest woman. In Swiss BILANZ magazine's ranking of the wealthiest people in Switzerland, her former husband's family were placed 4th with an estimated fortune of over CHF11 billion. Born in the United Kingdom, Kirsty spent her childhood in Stone in Staffordshire. Her family formerly owned one of the world's major manufacturers of ceramic products, Churchill China. She was crowned Miss UK in 1988, giving her the right to compete in the 1988 Miss World pageant where she placed 2nd runner-up. After moving to London, she began to write music professionally and was signed on to Warner Records. Kirsty was married to Ernesto Bertarelli in 2000. The couple and their children live in Switzerland. Kirsty and Ernesto divorced in the summer of 2021, making her one of richest "divorced" women of the UK, with a total estimated worth of more than £400 million. She is a trustee of The Bertarelli Foundation, which works primarily in neuroscience research and marine conservation and science. Recent projects have included the sponsorship of the neuroscience research at the Centre for Neuroprosthetics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and also a joint programme between that university and Harvard Medical School. In marine conservation and marine science, the Foundation has supported the creation of a number of marine reserves, including in the British Indian Ocean Territory, Easter Island and the Turneffe Atoll in Belize. Kirsty Bertarelli leads her family's Foundation's community work in Stoke-on-Trent, the city close to where she grew up. This includes a bursary scheme worth £4,500 for disadvantaged student at Staffordshire University, a partnership with the city's YMCA, and support the annual Stoke-on-Trent Literary Festival.