The Business Method: Interviewing Billionaires, Billion Dollar Founders & the World’s Most Successful People 🎧�‪�‬ Chris Reynolds

Listeners welcome back to the pod - today we will dive deep into the life of one of the most influential figures in the cruise line and maritime world. Our guest is a titan of the cruise line industry, a visionary entrepreneur, and a lifelong champion of global tourism his name is Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio. 
Manfredi has transformed his family business into a global leader in luxury cruising. Under his leadership, Silversea Cruises expanded its company offering travel experiences across all seven continents around the world. In a strategic partnership with Royal Caribbean Manfredi orchestrated the sale of a ⅔ stake in Silversea for a whopping $1 billion in 2018. This strategic partnership not only elevated Silversea's brand but also marked one of the most significant deals in the cruise industry's history. And lastly, Manfredi is the Chairman of The Heritage Group which is a private equity company that acquired 85% of one of the biggest luxury travel companies in the world Abercrombie & Kent - whose founder Geoffrey Kent was on the podcast just last month. 
Today we are going to dive into the life and mind of Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio. 
 
00:12: Who is Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio?
03:42: Manfredi’s Recommended Books     
05:56: Manfredi’s Starts a Cruise Line
13:01: How this Billion-Dollar Founder Spends his Time
15:05: The Biggest Challenge Manfredi Experienced was September 11, 2001. 
18:56: Manfredi Takes Over the Family Business
21:18: Manfredi Pioneers the Luxury Cruise Industry. 
24:39: Why Manfredi Loves Being an Entrepreneur
26:13: Manfredi’s Career Chapters
29:59: Manfredi Orchestrated the Most Significant Deal in the Cruise Industry. 
32:47: Manfredi & Geoffrey Kent Built the First Expedition Cruise Ship
34:59: Manfredi’s Daily Routine
37:13: Advice Manfredi Would Give His Younger Self
37:58: Things to Look for in Executives and Partners When You Bring Them On 
40:25: What is Manfredi Most Proud Of?
 
Contact Info:
https://www.manfredilefebvre.com/
https://heritagemonaco.com/
https://www.silversea.com/
Transcript:
 
[00:00:12] Chris: Listeners, welcome back to the podcast today, and we will dive deep into the life of one of the most influential figures in the cruise line and maritime world. Our guest today is a Titan in the cruise line industry, a visionary entrepreneur, a lifelong champion of global tourism, and his name is Manfredi LaFavre D'Ovidio.
Manfredi has transformed his family business into a global leader in luxury cruising. Under his leadership, Silver Sea Cruises expanded its company, offering travel experiences across all seven continents around the world. In a strategic partnership with Royal Caribbean, Manfredi orchestrated the sale of a two third stake in Silversea for a whopping 1 billion in 2018.
This strategic partnership not only elevated Silversea's brand, but also marked. One of the most significant deals in the cruise industry's history. And lastly, Manfredi is the chairman of the heritage group, which is a private equity company that acquired 85 percent of one of the biggest luxury travel companies in the world, Abercrombie and Kent, whose founder was actually on the podcast last month.
So if you haven't listened to that interview yet, make sure you check it out. And today we're going to dive into the life and mind of Manfredi. Listeners, welcome to the show. Manfredi, welcome to the show. How are you doing today?
[00:01:34] Manfredi: Not too bad. Not too bad. Can I add something to what you said?
[00:01:38] Chris: Please do. Add or take away.
Whatever you like.
[00:01:41] Manfredi: Well, what happened is that as soon as I did my deal with Royal Caribbean, I did buy, uh, Abercrombie Kent, which recently I brought up to 100 percent shareholding, and I sold to Royal Caribbean subsequently one further that I owned, uh, in, uh, Silver Sea in exchange of Royal Caribbean shares and acquired another cruise line, which is called Crystal Cruises.
[00:02:04] Chris: Ah, I

Listeners, welcome back to the podcast today, and we will dive deep into the life of one of the most influential figures in the cruise line and maritime world. Our guest today is a Titan in the cruise line industry, a visionary entrepreneur, a lifelong champion of global tourism, and his name is Manfredi LaFavre D'Ovidio. 
Manfredi has transformed his family business into a global leader in luxury cruising. Under his leadership, Silver Sea Cruises expanded its company, offering travel experiences across all seven continents around the world. In a strategic partnership with Royal Caribbean, Manfredi orchestrated the sale of a two third stake in Silversea for a whopping 1 billion in 2018.
This strategic partnership not only elevated Silversea's brand, but also marked. One of the most significant deals in the cruise industry's history. And lastly, Manfredi is the chairman of the heritage group, which is a private equity company that acquired 85 percent of one of the biggest luxury travel companies in the world, Amber Crombie and Kent, whose founder was actually on the podcast last month.
So if you haven't listened to that interview yet, make sure you check it out. And today we're going to dive into the life and mind of Manfredi.
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[00:00:00] Chris: Hey listeners. Have you ever met somebody that's built his own cruise line and, or shipping company? I think that's really interesting because it's an industry that doesn't get a lot of PR there's literally massive shipping companies that are keeping the infrastructure of this world going and , operating on a regular basis.
And there's some founder out there that built this massive company. Also with a cruise line. There's some founder out there that have, that is built Royal Caribbean
and all the cruise lines out there that you can imagine. And they're operating on a regular day-to-day basis. What's very interesting with the gentleman that I just interviewed. He is the founder of not only a cruise line, but he's a founder of a shipping company as well.
So he's been in this industry, his entire life. He grew up around it and now he's operating these massive billion dollar companies on a day-to-day basis. And I got to interview him.
His name is Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio and he's an Italian entrepreneur that lives in Monaco, not only does he have his own cruise line and shipping company,
but he's also a majority owner in one of the biggest luxury travel brands that that's out there today. Sounds like a busy guy. But the awesome thing about Manfredi and talking to him is his philosophy around money. And when I got to interview him Manfredi talked about. How money is an instrument of freedom. Now, what I thought was fascinating is that a gentleman at this level is built. Multi-billion dollar company is a billionaire himself. Still believes that money is an instrument of freedom.
Now you think most of us entrepreneurs out there, . Or freelancers or people just trying to do something online to make a buck we're using this muse. As an opportunity to have more freedom in our lives. And here you have a gentleman that has been an entrepreneur for somewhere around 50 years and he still believes that in his core, that money is an instrument of freedom.
And I asked Manfredi, what is most important to you to be known as an entrepreneur? And he said, no, not to be known, but to be an entrepreneur. And there's a difference in that he doesn't care that he's known as an entrepreneur when he is an entrepreneur, he can make choices and have those freedoms in his life. Now, one thing that was really unique is when I dug deeper with Manfredi, he talks about how bein

The gentleman that we have on this show was literally born while his parents were on a safari! He then went ahead and built one of the world's first, most successful luxury adventure travel companies. His name is Geoffrey Kent, and the name of the company is Abercrombie & Kent.
Not to be confused with Abercrombie & Finch. It was founded in 1962. Geoffrey founded it with his parents and over this past six decades, he built this company to be one of the most lavish and And successful travel companies in the world. They have 56 offices all over the world in 30 different countries with 2, 500 employees.
Abercrombie & Kent was sold in 2016 for a whopping 412 million. It was then reacquired and then sold again to where Geoffrey still plays a significant role in the company. 
This is a true testament to focusing on one thing for the long-term will produce massive rewards!
00:12: Who is Geoffrey Kent?
03:38: Where Did the Name Abercrombie & Kent Come From?
06:11: Has Geoffrey Ever Had Trouble with the Name Abercrombie & Kent?
08:11: The start of Geoffrey’s Entrepreneurial Career
10:09: Geoffrey Starting What Became the World’s Leading Luxury Safari Companies
10:41: How the Founder of Multi-Billion-Dollar Company Stays Focused
12:21: The Time it Takes to Built a Billion-Dollar Company
19:36: Geoffrey’s Thoughts on Quitting
28:45: Making the Richest Man in the World a Client
37:10: Why Geoffrey Doesn’t Like Business and Marketing Plans
41:42: Ideating on Post-It Notes
43:57: The Thinking Process of a Billionaire
45:43: Geoffrey’s #1 Book Recommendation
51:04: Geoffrey Advises His Younger SelfContact Info:https://www.abercrombiekent.com/

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2-10 minute high-performance clips delivered to you Monday & Friday from our top interviews
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Apple Podcasts: bit.ly/TheBusinessMethod
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Amazon Music: bit.ly/AmazonTheBusinessMethod

2-10 minute high-performance clips delivered to you Monday & Friday from our top interviews
Contact Info:
Website: thebusinessmethod.com/
Apple Podcasts: bit.ly/TheBusinessMethod
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