# Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio

Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio (born 30 April 1953) is an Italian billionaire businessman. He is the former Executive Chairman of Silversea Cruises, a company founded by his father. In June 2018, he sold two-thirds of the company to Royal Caribbean for US$1 billion, retaining a one-third stake in the company. Currently he is the Executive Chairman of Abercrombie & Kent Travel Group, the travel conglomerate that owns Abercrombie & Kent, Crystal Cruises, Ecoventura Galapagos, Cox & Kings. As of August 2023, his net worth was estimated at US$1.6 billion.

## Biography

Lefebvre d'Ovidio grew up in Rome, one of four children born into an Italian family. The son of Antonio Lefebvre d'Ovidio, legal professor and Italian jurist, and Eugenia Beck, of a German family, he was involved in a variety of family businesses from an early age and in 2001 became chairman of luxury cruise line, Silversea Cruises.

## Career

His father's background in maritime law, among other industrial interests, led to the family's involvement in shipping and ultimately, in the cruise industry. In 1988 they purchased control of Sitmar Cruises from the Vlasov family and in 1989, merged it with P&O's Princess Cruises unit. Silversea Cruises was founded in 1994 by his father with two ships purpose-built for the line, the Silver Cloud and the Silver Wind. Lefebvre d'Ovidio led Silversea through his board position before being named chairman in 2001. By that time, it added two more vessels (Silver Whisper and Silver Shadow) making it a four ship fleet.
As of 2017 Silversea operates nine vessels on worldwide itineraries that call in all seven continents. It has been recognized as one of the World's best with multiple awards from Condé Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure magazines as well as other travel publications and organizations.
He was the sole owner of Silversea, until June 2018, when Royal Caribbean agreed to pay about US$1 billion for a two-thirds stake in the company. In August 2018, Bloomberg assessed Lefebvre d'Ovidio as a billionaire.
Manfredi Lefebvre D'Ovidio retained sole control of the Silversea from 2001 until June 2018, when Royal Caribbean bought two-thirds of the company's shares. He later stepped down as chairman when the complete takeover was completed, remaining a 2.5% shareholder in Royal Caribbean In 2021, he has executive buyouts in Arqit Quantum, a NASDAQ-listed quantum cryptography company.[14] In June 2022, the Lefebvre D'Ovidio family's Abercrombie&Kent Travel Group (A&K Travel Group) bought Crystal Cruises and its two ocean vessels, Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony. In the same plan, A&K acquired Cox and King, the world's oldest tour operator and Ecoventura, a company operating its own fleet in the Galapagos Islands. In the same years, the financial group controlled by the Lefèbvre family, Heritage Group, acquired various stakes including 75% of Bucksense Inc, New Cleo, Avatera, Quintessential Beverages, TT, V Dyne, Arqit, Habitas.

## Personal life

He resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco, where Silversea is headquartered. He is divorced, with one daughter, Costanza.

## Cruise industry advocacy

Lefebvre d'Ovidio was a key driver of the unification of the European cruise industry as chairman of the European Cruise Council (ECC) since 2010.
He led the merger of that association with the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) of which he has served on the board of directors until 2013. He remains on the board of CLIA Global and serves as chairman of CLIA Europe. He is also active in promoting international tourism efforts as the vice chairman of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), in charge for Europe and a member of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Crystal Ships could belong to him.