As owners of some of the world’s biggest cruise ships, the Van der Vorms turned up at galas with artists, politicians and Dutch royalty. In 1984, Martijn’s late father, Nico, popped up in the New York Times to mark a cruise ship’s completion.
“The highest form of bliss is living with a certain degree of folly,” he said when asked why he built the vessel, quoting 16th-century Dutch philosopher Erasmus.
Holland America
Holland America Line, which dates to 1873, became part of the family’s holdings when Rotterdam businessman Willem Van der Vorm saved the company from bankruptcy during the Great Depression. Its ships carried millions of Europeans to North America, many with one-way tickets.
Nico Van der Vorm eventually became the company’s chief executive officer and was pivotal in shaping the family’s fortune. Before his death in 1995, he moved Holland America’s headquarters to Seattle and its holding company to Curacao. Three decades ago, he accepted Carnival founder Ted Arison’s offer to buy the company.
The family remains active in Seattle real estate. It has acquired more than two-dozen properties in the area over the past quarter century, including one it sold last year for $20.5 million that dates to the city’s founding.
The Van der Vorms’s buy-and-hold strategy has also proved lucrative for others. Melchers’s 17.4% stake is worth $2.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index.
“The family dares to make big bets on companies and also dares to stick with their investments for a long time,” said ABN Amro’s Berkelder. “It’s family wealth, so they are not out there to maximize the return within a year.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.