He was a successful CEO at Julius Baer. As an investor, he significantly boosted EFG International. Now, Boris Collardi is trying his luck in football. His goal is nothing less than finding the next Kylian Mbappé.
As an investor, Boris Collardi has been extremely successful with EFG International. Within two years, the value of his stake increased from 80 to 140 million francs. Now he aims to achieve similar success in the football business with other investors. «We are working on moving talent scouting to an electronic platform and democratizing it in this way,» he said in an interview with «NZZ am Sonntag» (in German only). Among the investors is Swiss national coach Murat Yakin.
Under the name Footbao, they have launched a social network in Brazil. This network currently has over 500,000 users. According to Collardi, the threshold of one million users is expected to be reached by the end of the year. On the platform, young, talented players can register their data and upload their videos.
New Approach to Talent Scouting
Kylian Mbappé (Image: Shutterstock)
Collardi soon plans to expand the system to other countries. «The most important task is to find young talents. But how do I discover the next Kylian Mbappé? There are still few proven methods for this today, and the search mostly runs through agents. This is precisely where my other football investment comes in.»
Successful With Serie A Club Lecce
Football is not unfamiliar territory for Collardi. He already holds a stake in the Italian football club Lecce and has made a significant impact there. Shortly after his involvement, the club was promoted to Serie A and has remained in the top Italian league ever since. «The emotions the club generates throughout Apulia are truly impressive,» says Collardi.
Collardi's father's family comes from Lecce. However, the contact with the investors happened rather by chance, says Collardi: «Even though football rarely pays off financially, I agreed out of passion.» He was particularly attracted by the fact that, unlike other top Italian clubs, Lecce is not dominated by foreigners but by local people. «We have the lowest wage bill in Serie A and still play convincing football.»
Further Bank Mergers Inevitable
Regarding the rumors of a possible merger between EFG International and Julius Bär, Collardi said in the interview: «Talks always take place, whether between EFG and Julius Bär or with other banks. We know and appreciate each other. But I will not comment on any rumors.»
He also ruled out a return to a CEO role. «The part of my career where I am operationally active is over. Some more energetic people are competent to do such a job,» says Collardi. However, he sees further mergers among Swiss banks as inevitable. «Bank revenues have been under pressure for over ten years, and the industry will consolidate. When I started my career, there were 300 banks, now there are only 100,» he says.
