Who is Paul-Charles PC Valmorbida? Melbourne art dealer seen with Mary-Kate Olsen
He’s heir to a wealthy Italian smallgoods dynasty in Australia, yet little else is known about Paul-Charles ‘PC’ Valmorbida, the art entrepreneur linked to Hollywood’s elite.
Before he was a flashy New York art dealer photographed alongside international glitterati, Valmorbida was a Melbourne schoolboy and a third generation scion of a family with a $500million fortune.
The Valmorbida family dynasty arose in the 1950s importing Italian staples to Australia; Lavazza coffee, La Gina canned tomatoes and Sirena Tuna.
PC, his sister Nikki and brother Andy were all educated at Wesley College, a co-educational school on St Kilda Road in the inner Melbourne suburb of Prahran.
Casual lunch outing: Mary-Kate Olsen joined the Australian art dealer for a bite to eat at a hotspot called Sant Ambroeus Madison near Central Park
The Australian hunk has been romantically inked to rock royalty Theodora Richards
The siblings grew up on prestigious Hopetoun Road that straddles Toorak and Malvern; an exclusive boulevard that hosts many of the city’s finest homes.
The family’s custom-built mansion boasted six bedrooms, multiple formal and informal living areas across its three levels as well as a pool, media room, gym and cellar.
Following their parents’ split, the children followed their mum Maria to the United States, where she was to be re-married to Australian-born private equity investor Phil Cohen, whose EZCorp owns a third of Cash Converters.
First trying his hand at photography before becoming a gallerist at the age of 24, PC launched Prism, a 10,000-square-foot art gallery that played host to many pop-up shows that attracted as many celebrities as they did art buyers.
Despite their wealth, and a penchant for the finer things in life, most family members from the tight-knit Valmorbida family have kept a low profile.
The family, are a regular on the BRW Rich List, has a vast network of businesses in food importation, retail and fashion and an extensive portfolio in commercial and residential real estate.
Valmorbida grew up in one of Melbourne’s most exclusive post codes before moving to the US
PC Valmorbida in bed with model sisters Cara and Poppy Delevigne
Red Hot Chilli Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis and PC Valmorbida at PRISM gallery
Brothers PC (pictured left) and Andy Valmorbida took the art world by storm in the mid 2000s
Last week, the now 37-year-old PC was photographed with actress-turned-designer Mary-Kate Olsen in New York City, with their friendship having spanned more than a decade.
In 2011, Olsen and her twin Ashley attended the Valmorbida brothers artist exhibition at PC’s then owned PRISM gallery.
The Melbourne-raised art impresario is no stranger to celebrity circles having been romantically linked to Theodora Richards – the daughter of rock and roll legend Keith Richards and model Patti Hansen – with the pair attending Melbourne Spring Racing carnival together in 2008.
He’s been photographed alongside Red Hot Chilli Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis, Paris and Nikki Hilton and counts model sisters Popppy and Cara Delevigne as close friends.
While PC rarely makes headlines, older brother Andy shocked the art world in 2021, where he was accused of frauds involving multimillion-dollar artworks by Francis Bacon and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
He reached a confidential settlement with hedge fund manager Christian Hore, who had earlier sued him in the Royal Court of Jersey in the Channel Islands.
Andy fashioned a career as a multimillion-dollar art trader throwing grand pop-up exhibitions that toured through New York, London and Moscow.
In 2014 he married socialite Zara Simon, daughter of Peter Simon, the retail tycoon behind British fashion empire Monsoon.
The New York Times in 2012 described him a “young pop-up exhibitionist and cocky Australian-born art entrepreneur”. The New York Post’s take was ‘Australian playboy’.
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