Billionaire Aspires to Sainthood and Right-Wing Future for France
Investor Pierre-Edouard Sterin is making waves in his home country with a political project backing free-market and socially conservative causes.
French billionaire Pierre-Edouard Sterin is seeking to leverage his political influence.
Photographer: Stephane Lagoutte/Challenges-REA/Redux
Billionaire Pierre-Edouard Sterin has a clear-eyed view of his life goals ahead: turbocharge his fortune, give it all away and remodel France’s political landscape. Then, to cap it all, achieve sainthood in death.
The 51-year-old French tax exile is betting on ambitious growth at his private equity-driven investment firm Otium Capital to propel him toward his three secular goals. While funneling cash into philanthropic ventures from education to culture, he’s also courted controversy at home with a deeply conservative project aimed at boosting French right-wing parties.