Mark Ghiglieri

Mark Ghilgieri's Love Affair With the Ocean

2009-05-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

Listening to Mark Ghiglieri talk about his current flame in high performance boats, a 42" Reggie Fountain called "Shenanigans" with 2200 HP that moves at 100 miles per hour and holds 11 passengers comfortably, it's difficult to imagine that his first boat was a 12 foot Zodiac with a 9 point Mercury outboard engine.

Even though Shenanigans is used primarily for business purposes, he has come a long way since his little Zodiac, and he still remembers all of those boats he has loved in between.

Some of his fondest memories come from the summers of 1982 and 1983 when he captained a 17 foot "unsinkable" Boston Whaler. He was hired by the Rustic Motel on the Campbell River in British Columbia for 8 weeks of work each summer as a fishing guide. He was paid only $3,000 for the 8 weeks each year, but he would have done it for free for the experience alone.

The Rustic rests near the famed Seymour Narrows; a stretch of water so treacherous, even seasoned boaters will not brave it unnecessarily. The entier area however, of the Campbell River, and in particular where Seymour Narrows dumps into the river; the area teems with salmon and sturgeon.

Loving the Boston Whaler so much, Mark decided to captain two more in succession; first an 18 foot, then a 22 foot. He also drove a 12 year old Robert Jarvis Spectra before owning his first high performance power boat; a 22 foot Checkmate supercharged 454.

The long list of successors to that first gem include a 33 foot Reggie Fountain Executioner, a 42 foot Fountain Lightning with two Pratt and Whitney jet turbines (this boat incidentally threw 40 foot fireballs), a 46 foot Rough Rider Cigarette with twin Mercury 1000's and an American flag on the side of it (Mark says that this boat "roared"), and of course the current business use only 42 foot Fountain with 2200 horsepower called Shenanigans. According to Mark, this boat will throw a rooster tail of a quarter mile, and can cruise at 100 miles per hour while 11 clients sip champagne comfortably.

Although the boats in the past have been primarily used for fun, relaxation and entertainment, Shenanigans is used for the entertainment of clients to the art gallery that Mark Ghiglieri founded, owns, and operates, Masterpiece Investments, in Naples, Florida. The boat allows him to completely immerse his clients in the luxury of owning a work of art. Patrons of the gallery, and investors, are picked up by helicopter from the airport and immediately taken to the dock, given a glass of champagne, and placed on the 42 foot Fountain for a leisurely cruise around the Gulf.

Mark muses that someday he might own another boat for his own personal use, but for now, he is happy that he has the opportunity to enjoy the boat, while sharing the experience and thrill of riding in it with his clients and investors as well.
Mark Ghiglieri and his Fountain Edition on YouTube

Mark Ghiglieri's Passion for Powerful Toys

2009-05-21T11:26:00.000-07:00

For The Love of Speed ~ Mark Ghiglieri's Passion for Powerful Toys

Mark Ghiglieri does not fit the stereotype of the well-to-do playboy even a little. He leads a low-key lifestyle, in close proximity and contact with his parents and siblings, and maintains a strict schedule of business related endeavors. His demeanor is down to earth and friendly as well, and he talks with great nostalgia and pride of his childhood growing up on a ranch and almost exclusively in the outdoors.

In the past he has owned a variety of Lamborghinis, Porsches, and other valuable automobiles; yet remarkably his current favorite for just 'tooling' around is his F150 pick-up. It comes as a surprise then to hear Mark talk about some of the typical "playboy" type toys he has owned in the past.

One of the most enjoyable on the list he says, was his MTT Turbine Superbike or Y2K Turbine Superbike. Capable of reaching speeds of 300 miles per hour, the bike boasted a turbine jet engine on a motorcycle frame. First manufactured as early as 1999, Mark bought his from Ted McIntyre, the bike's creator, in 2000; at the time making him one of the first people to own it, along with Jay Leno.

Before he ever saw it, Ted asked him to check out the bike he built with a jet engine. Mark wasn't interested in a bike with a jet engine, believing it would be too unweildy to ride or just ugly to look at. He was back in his hotel room when he heard a noise outside that sounded like a jet engine idling in the lot. He said he "fell in love instantly" with the bike, and pretty much bought it on the spot. Mark also recalls how impressed he was with the overall engineering genius of the bike. The bike was so beautiful to look at, he envisioned it hanging on a wall as art.

Mark reminisces about riding down the street on the Y2K and how much fun it was to ride. The bike was so unique, it would draw people to it just so they could see it. Extremely impractical, the bike only ran a short time as it used a lot of fuel.

Ted McIntyre, the creator of the Y2K, would purchase the engines from jets that had logged as many hours as they could on them before the FAA made them change or rebuild them. It was easy to buy them inexpensively this way, and then modify them to use diesel for use on the bikes. Each bike sold for over $100,000 initially, and came equipped with a radar detector, rear mounted camera, and optional passenger seat.

Mark sold his Y2K when his riding partner decided to stop. "It was more fun with a buddy," he said. He still talks about the fun he had riding the bike though, and that he would not mind owning another one in the future.

In addition to the Y2K Superbike, Mark Ghiglieri has been the proud owner in the past of 12 Porsches of various models, 3 Lamborghinis, a Saline Ford, among others, and now drives around his favorite, a Ford F150 pick-up. He feels the Ford is perfect for just driving around town and day to day needs, though the Saline was a fun ride too he says.

Mark Ghiglieri on Facebook

How One Creative Idea Can Make Millions for Charities

2009-04-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

With a legacy of artistic ability and fame in his immediate family, there was no question that Mark Ghiglieri would have a life filled with the pursuit of both furthering his own and others artistic abilities, and making life easier through philanthropic pursuits involving the art community whenever possible.
From a young age Mark was involved deeply in the artistic community. Exposure to the medium of sculpture, through his father Lorenzo Ghiglieri's stunning and revered artistry, opened a unique dimension of creativity to Mark. Throughout the years of his childhood, Mark was given the opportunity to explore his world and allow his mind to thrive creatively. This broad spectrum of involvement allowed him to develop a strong talent for recognizing and assessing marketable artwork.
In the early stages of Mark Ghiglieri's lifelong plan to give back financially to the artistic community, he started a small company called Millennium Fine Arts. Mark's goal was to reproduce a selection of his father's paintings and purchase some of the molds from his bronze sculptures. Phillip Morse agreed to invest in the project with him, and together they bought the mold collection and the rights to nearly 20 of the elder Ghiglieri's original paintings. The company successfully employed over 30 workers at it's peak. Although he made a priority of gifting to charities, in 1996 Mark decided to sell his interest to his partner Phillip Morse, so that he could pursue an idea that was forming for a more direct 'charity-related' business model.
Mark made himself available within the artistic community by attending charity auctions; where he also watched as the bidding on some pieces rose quite high. His earlier ideas for a unique business model continued to take shape and form as he attended auctions and analyzed the results of the pieces that were sold and for how much. In 1998 Mark attended an auction where the price for an item that had been bought from him by a doctor and donated to raise money for the charity, reached over $60,000.
It was then that the idea for a philanthropic company that provided art to auction for profit and charity, grew into the foundation ideals of Provenance Fine Art.
The premise was simple, though unique in that it had never been done before; the company would offer pieces to charities for auction, and the profits would be split in half between Provenance and the charity. Everyone would win. Provenance would make enough money to continue to produce art and the charities would substantially gain financially in every single transaction.
Every new business venture comes with the risk of failure; every new idea must be tested, analyzed and retested again before a winning combination is eventually struck with consistency. And of course, with every brilliant new business idea, there must always be a few critics; a few people stuck on the sidelines yelling that it will never work, or that it cannot be done ~ for whatever reason they might find valid and plausible.
Fortunately, Mark Ghiglieri is not a man easily swayed by convention and criticism. Like most visionaries, he has the fortitude to stay with a project even in the face of those who would counter his genius with sarcasm, acidic words, or personal barbs against his character. He has such a tremendous desire to perpetually enhance his ability to give to charities through any mode possible, that he ignores those who would see him fail simply to prove him wrong, and pushes forward to try again no matter what.
A man is not made a success however, by his friends, luck, or money. It is the measure of a man's drive that settles his successes in this life. Every successful business venture, big or small, was first met with setbacks, either from circumstances or from those who pushed against it, those who said it could not be done.
Mark's family has always stood solidly by him and provided him with beautiful artwork to continue the family tradition of giving back to the community. Mark has sold over $100 million of his family's art in the process of building his charity-driven business model. His father Lorenzo Ghiglieri is of course famous for his stunning sculptural works displayed in some of the most prominent establishments on the globe, including The White House, and the Vatican. Mark, his brother Laran, and sister Rebecca, are also remarkably gifted artists in their own right; talented in mediums from sculpture to oil painting as well.
The elder Ghiglieri, who infused his children with the ideals of philanthropy, had stated with regard to Provenance's business model that they were donating a lot of money to charity, and that was what really counted.
Sadly, but true to the structure of our society, Mark Ghiglieri is no stranger to the harsh voice of critics who have chosen to focus their strength upon deteriorating whatever he seeks to build. Auspiciously, for those charities who have benefited by more than $2.5 million dollars from his business model, Mark has more than enough stamina to take down his opponents by sheer willpower, and his ability to rise above criticism and focus on the importance of his goals; to provide not only profits for artists, employees, and investors, but to continue to give as much as possible to charities of all kinds.

Source: http://www.mark-ghiglieri.com/