Education
He later studied shipping in Plymouth, England, before returning to Caracas, Venezuela, to set up his own small shipbroking firm.
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Wilmer Ruperti
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Since 2003, he has captured a major share of the market in physically exporting oil from Venezuela to the rest of Latin America, and has become one of Venezuela’s wealthiest persons. Lloyd"s List International described Ruperti in 2004 as a man who transformed himself from a shipping master into a leading player in Venezuela’s billion-dollar oil business, and that “everything Wilmer Ruperti touches appears to turn to gold”. Ruperti’s career began in 1987 as a tanker master for Venezuelan oil company, Maraven, South America, an industry affiliate of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, South America (PDVSA).
PDVSA strike
Ruperti"s big break in the shipping business came in late 2002 when he shipped gasoline to Venezuelan ports, using tankers chartered from Russia, during the Venezuelan general strike of 2002–2003, which featured a strike by thousands of employees at PDVSA. The strike by PDVSA staff, which was designed to overthrow Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, severely reduced oil production and exports, and cut domestic fuel supplies, before it failed.
As a result of his successful shipping arrangements, Ruperti was able to consolidate his business relationship with PDVSA and the government. Although his business acumen earned him the disdain of the PDVSA employees who went on strike and were later dismissed, Chávez decorated Ruperti with the Star of Carabobo, a Venezuelan medallion usually awarded to military officers for distinguished service.
Shipping Company
Recent business expansion
Ruperti has recently moved into other areas of business. He owns a private television channel in Venezuela called Canal i, formerly called Puma television
