"Sir" Anthony Ritossa
Prof. Sir Anthony Ritossa is the founder of the eponymous Family Office Investments Summits, where "all the world's richest family offices and top startups gather to discuss future of the planet, and, perhaps more importantly, discuss and close investment deals."
The Ritossa family has been associated with investment excellence for generations with a family history spanning six centuries. Originating from the Veneto region of Italy, with deep roots in the Middle East, the family is recognised as one of the world's most respected leaders in the family office community, with headquarters in Dubai.
Prior to establishing his Family Office, Sir Anthony built a reputation for his distinguished Wall Street career in New York. He has held senior executive positions at Nomura, Barclays Capital, Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, and Bankers Trust (acquired by Deutsche Bank).
(from the website of Al-Khalifa Business School, emphasis added).
Besides, Sir Anthony is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Arts, a knight (hence Sir), a professor, who studied at Harvard and comes from an old wealthy family who made their first money 600 years ago from olive groves in Istria. Member of the Order of Malta.
Let’s have a closer look at these honorary titles one by one.
Harvard Education.
You won’t find Ritossa’s last name in the Harvard Directory, the online list of Harvard alumni. All his Harvard education is two online seminars in 2020–2021 he took after he was accused of misrepresentation:
- Webinar “Coronavirus in the USA: facts, fictions and practical tips” (apparently free )
- Online course “Mastery of Negotiation”: $1,750 32-hour online course, self-paced.
Here are Mr. Ritossa’s diplomas:
Ritossa's Harvard medical diploma
Ritossa's Harvard Business School diploma
Obviously, these short online courses, available to anyone without any examination, are not what people consider Harvard education.
In fact, he graduated from the not-so-famous Newcastle University in “beautiful” southwestern Australia, a region famous for its coal mines. An odd choice for a wealthy heir to olive groves?
Olive groves.
Ritossa heads Ritossa Family Office which manages his family money, originally earned using family olive groves in Istria. “Ritossa olive oils represents the distillation of 600 years of history — of a grove, a family and a region. The gnarled roots of the Ritossa groves have persevered through war and natural disaster.” — this is how Ritossa presents himself.
Indeed, Ritossa-branded olive oil exists. But it is manufactured by subcontractors and has no relation to non-existent family groves.
It is bought from Agrolaguna (Mr. Paulisic, Director) and MIH (Mr. Kadum, Director). MIH is Ritossa’s “Best Trading Partner”. In the US, customs data is available to verify who the real manufacturer is, for example from here: https://panjiva.com/Ritossa-Olive-Oil/4534943. Mr. Ritossa’s “olive empire” was previously registered in … Australia, and then moved to the New York house of his first wife’s father.
So, Sir Anthony has no relation to Istrian olive groves. And no family money, therefore.
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Mr. Ritossa is so proud to be a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts that he appends it after his name next to the “honorary doctor of business administration” he received from Manuel Freire-Garabal y Núñez (more on that below).
FRSA title was merit-based 50 years ago or so, but today it is available to anybody willing to pay 3900 british pounds and declare that he/she agrees with the principles and goals of the society.
A Knight of Malta.
Ritossa also calls himself a Knight of Malta, the title he received from the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of the Maltese Knights of the Federation of Autonomous Monasteries (KMFAP). Here is this “order”: http://www.kmfap.com/. Their website doesn’t even have an SSL certificate.
The real Order of Malta Knights lists the other four Orders of St. John which are recognized as orders of knighthood. You will not find the name of the order that accepted Ritossa there. But you can find their name someplace else. In the list of (they are directly called) scammers and fakes, who illegally, but with clear goals use the name of the real Order. There is more aboutt these "knights" in the post about Milan Krajnc.
Wall Street career.
Yes, a person named Ritossa is famous on Wall Street. He has been one of the most influential figures in foreign exchange during 2002–2012, and he is credited with the rise of Barclays as a leading foreign exchange market player. But it is another Ritossa - Ivan, not Anthony.. (UPDATE - we have been alerted to the fact that they are brothers)
Anthony Ritossa did a short stint as a junior analyst at Morgan Stanley. The rest of his Wall Street career is a plain deception.
Sir.
Sir is a formal honorific address for men, used for men titled as knights. However, Queen Elizabeth did not knight Mr. Anthony. He received his “knighthood” from His Highness Prince Mahmoud Salah Al Din Assaf, another piece of our puzzle. Please tale a look ath the article aboit him and decide for yourself whether you think that person can give out such titles.
Professor.
Ritossa and his entire inner circle received his professorship in the same place — Al-Khalifa Business School, owned by the same His Highness Prince Mahmoud Salah Al Din Assaf. The founder and the chairman — His Excellence Prof. Sir Manuel Freire-Garabal y Núñez, who
“holds different knighthoods and high civil honours from Religions, Congresses, National, Regional-Federal and Local Governments from countries such as the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Peru and Madagascar.”
“He is also a registered Senior Lieutenant at the All-Russian Public Organisation for the Development of the Cossacks — “Union of Cossacks Warriors of Russia and Foreign Countries”.
In fact, this business school is an LLC chartered in the UK with two real employees. It exists only online, and after a small payment gives out (to the gullible) “courses” — pdf-files and “diplomas” that are not recognized anywhere.
You will find around thirty international locations on their website (no HTTPS), but all of them only show sales representatives. Images used to illustrate premises are stock photos.
Left to right — Ritossa, Freire-Garabal y Núñez, Prince Assaf
According to the university, it gave 700,000 scholarships, and 70,000 people graduated:
From the school's website. Note spelling of the word "remarCable", perhaps they should invest in some basic English proficiency.
But only 14 people on LinkedIn are proud of studying at the university. And the 14 include the Prince Assaf’s personal photographer.
School's LinkedIn profile
The school claims to make a global impact in impowerished countries:
But the images posted as the proof are easy to track and do not relate to the "school" at all:
So, it is at this school that Ritossa received the title of professor — and his honorary (that is, without a reviewed thesis or a dissertation) doctorate degree:
Ritossa professorship letter
As a confirmation of its caliber, the university boasts of an article about it in “Washington Mail” — not Washington Post. We never heard of this newspaper, but apparently it costs just $50 to get your article in.
The founder, Freire-Garabal y Núñez is also the President of the Private Council of His Highness Prince Mahmoud Salah Al Din Assaf , where he also serves with Mr. Ritossa — note that the council website also does not have an HTTPS certificate.
The “university’s” dean is His Excellence Prof. Sir Igor Olegovich Eleferenko. Sir Eleferenko’s career looks exactly what a covert Russian FSB agent looks like: Russian Information Agency chief in Havana, Head of the Bureau of RIA Novosti in Argentina; Deputy General Director, General Director of CJSC Russian Channel — Worldwide Russian Television. Cossack chieftain. Graduated from “the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute named after M. Teresa” (!). Naturally, a knight of the same Maltese pseudo-order. But looks like at some point he went off the rails:
His Excellence Prof. Sir Igor Olegovich Eleferenko
Order of Merit of the Star of Liberland.
Sir Anthony Ritossa is proud of his award — the Order of Merit of the Star of Liberland. Liberland is a fictional (and unrecognized) state with a population of zero (Wikipedia). Its “president”, Vít Jedlička, often appears at Mr. Ritossa’s conferences. Ironically, Liberland’s purported currency is called “merit”, just like Ritossa’s order. Another Ritossa colleague also boasts the same award — Prince Michel de Yugoslavie:
Liberland Star of Merit bestowed upon H.R.H. Prince Michel de Yougoslavie
The Forbes Council.
Mr. Ritossa is a proud member of the Forbes Council, "an elite, invitation-only group of industry leaders". What is it exactly, though? It appears Forbes Council, together with their 30 under 30 and other lists is a scheme to make a quick buck akin to a scam. The perks accepted members supposedly receive are getting their articles published in Forbes, peer matchups, a special concierge service, and health insurance options. Membership is $2000 a year.
“As the media landscape has continued to shift, not only has the number of full-time journalists decreased, but mainstream Tier 1 publications have chosen to decrease their “unbiased” editorial coverage in pursuit of more lucrative opportunities, such as native advertising (code for “pay-for-play”). According to Everything PR, “after speaking to multiple agency professionals across a variety of marketing disciplines, we are getting the feeling that the Forbes Council is a scheme and scam.”
“This is all about Forbes’ licensing their name. They’ll give you a web badge to proudly display the Forbes name on your website. Sounds like a desperate way for a publisher to make money — while exploiting a great brand name.”
“We are still wondering what Forbes was thinking when they put this deal together. Why would they put their high-quality and exceptional brand name on what appears to be a scam to bring in a few dollars? We think they are better than that, but apparently they don’t.”
References:
Why Forbes Councils aren’t going to make you a thought leader | ARPR
Forbes Agency Council: A Scam, Money-Making Scheme - PR
So, Ritossa’s sitting on “the Forbes Council” (we’re going to use quotes from now on) is not a lie, but the title itself is a cheap pay-for-a-badge scheme, like FRSA.
By the way, "articles about Ritossa on Bloomberg" are also bought very cheaply. We talk about this in more detail in the post about Julia Tanner and her Platon Life companies, but in short, all you have to do is to dissemniate a press reliease via a newswire company such as PR Newsire or Businesswire at $350 or so.
Update October 20, 2022
And, to top it off, Mr. Ritossa has been repeatedly jailed in Europe (Croatia and the UK) and in the US there is (as of Oct 2022) an outstading warrant for his arrest. (Vanity Fair)
The Verdict.
With no family money and deception in every possible detail - it is beyond naive to count that Mr. Ritossa would be able to deliver on any of his grand promises. Our scam rating - 100% scam.Our verdict:
