Obituary for the Ticino entrepreneur and ice hockey patron

The brothers Sergio and Geo Mantegazza did their business all over the world. But the Mantegazza family was always present in Ticino. After Sergio Mantegazza, who died in February 2024 at the ripe old age of 96, he has now been succeeded by his brother Geo Mantegazza (born on November 12, 1928), who is one year younger, at the age of 95. He passed away peacefully on Thursday surrounded by his family, reports the HC Lugano.

The construction of the Mantegazzas’ fortune is like an American rags tale. It all started with her father Antonio Mantegazza renting out rowing boats on Lake Lugano. The small company later offered bus excursions.

In 1950, excursions to Rome, Venice and the French Riviera were added under the name Globus Viaggi. The travel agency then developed as Globus Travel Services into an international tour operator, operating first in the USA and then primarily in Great Britain.

River and pilgrimages

In 2004, Avalon Waterways, which specializes in river cruises, joined the group as a subsidiary under the group name Group Voyagers. Units for individual travel (Monograms) and religious travel (Globus Faith) also formed part of the global offering.

In 1968, the company founded the charter airline Monarch, based in Luton, England, which transported around seven million passengers in 2006. In 2008, according to an entry in the “Historical Lexicon of Switzerland,” the Globus Group employed 5,000 people worldwide and had a fleet of 34 medium- and long-haul aircraft. In 2014, the Ticino billionaire family separated from Monarch Airlines after investing around 150 million francs in the airline.

Engineering office benefits from the construction boom

While Sergio Mantegazza ran the travel empire’s business mainly from London, his brother Geo worked in Ticino, where he was responsible for the family’s real estate company. Geo Mantegazza studied civil engineering at ETH Zurich and founded the engineering firm Mantegazza & Cattaneo in 1954, which received large public and private contracts during the years of Ticino’s construction boom.

From 1968 the company specialized in sewage treatment plants. The real estate company Immobiliare Mantegazza SA is now chaired by Geo’s daughter Vicky Mantegazza.

In contrast to his brother Sergio, who liked to live large in the international jet set and invited Tina Turner onto his 64-meter-long yacht “Lady Marina” to sing a birthday serenade, Geo Mantegazza was comparatively modest, as his companions say. He didn’t like being in the spotlight as a donor at charity events.

 

With the green sweater at the ice hockey match

His passion was sport. He himself had already played football at the Rapid Lugano club before his interest shifted to ice hockey. From 1978 to 1990 he was president of the Lugano ice hockey club (HCL). He brought the legendary Swedish coach John Slettvoll to Lugano.

During his tenure, the HCL was promoted to the National League A and won four championship titles. Without the financial donations from the family assets, these successes would not have been possible. His presence in the green sweater at the games is well known, which he followed until the end – even in his old age.

On his 90th birthday there was a “Geo Day” in the Cornèr Arena in Lugano. And the “Presidentissimo” personally thanked the fans for the overwhelming reception. The daughter Vicky has been carrying on her father’s legacy as HCL President for years.

Kidnappers in the underground car park

But Geo Mantegazza’s life was not all fame and fortune. The businessman probably experienced his darkest hours in 1995. On December 18th, shortly before Christmas, he was kidnapped in the underground car park of his office building in Lugano Paradiso.

The billionaire’s kidnapping made international headlines. After just over a day he was released in Vaduz (Liechtenstein); he was in a confused and exhausted state. What exactly happened in those 30 hours remains a mystery to this day.

Even though the family denied it, a ransom of several million francs is said to have been paid. Curious: According to various media reports, the money was only handed over two months after the hostage-taking in the basement of the Zurich University Hospital. It is still suspected to this day that the “Russian mafia” was behind the crime.

One thing is certain: Geo Mantegazza has rarely been seen in public since the hostage-taking. Discretion was his commandment. This also applies to the sales and profits of the family empire, which are a “closely guarded family secret,” as the magazine “Bilanz” wrote, which estimated the brothers’ assets at 2.5 to 3 billion francs.

Glazed lakeside palazzo

Although Geo was at home in Figino, his official residence had been in Monaco for some time. This is also evident from entries in the commercial register, for example as a partner in Ticino Welcome Sagl in Paradiso, a PR company with a glossy magazine of the same name, which is run by his son Mario. Mantegazza had a total of five children, four of them from his first marriage and a daughter from his second marriage.

The legacy of the Mantegazza family in Lugano will live on. This is ensured not only by the children, but also by two iconic properties: the completely glazed Palazzo Mantegazza in Lugano Paradiso directly on the lakeshore, which, in addition to shops, offices and luxury apartments, also houses an event center, as well as a wing of the former Grand Hotel Palace, which is located in a luxury residence was converted and flanked by the LAC cultural center.