Heir to a wealthy Italian retail dynasty in Australia, little else is known about Paul-Charles “PC” Valmorbida, the art entrepreneur associated with Hollywood’s elite.
Before he was a flashy New York art dealer photographed alongside international glitterati, Valmorbida was a Melbourne schoolboy and third-generation scion of a $500 million family.
The Valmorbida family dynasty emerged 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 mixed school on St Kilda Road in Prahran, a suburb of Melbourne.
Casual lunch outing: Mary-Kate Olsen joined the Australian art dealer for a bite to eat at a hot spot called Sant Ambroeus Madison near Central Park
The Australian hunk is romantically inked to rock royalty Theodora Richards
The siblings grew up on the prestigious Hopetoun Road which straddles Toorak and Malvern; an exclusive boulevard where many of the most beautiful houses in the city are located.
The family’s custom townhouse featured six bedrooms, multiple formal and casual living areas over three levels, as well as a pool, media room, gym, and basement.
After their parents’ divorce, the children followed their mother Maria to the United States, where she would remarry Australian-born private equity investor Phil Cohen, whose EZCorp owns a third of Cash Converters.
He first tried photography before becoming a gallery owner 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 celebrities and art buyers alike.
Despite their wealth and a taste for the finer things in life, most members of the tight-knit Valmorbida family have kept a low profile.
The family is a regular on the BRW Rich List, has an extensive network of food import, retail and fashion companies and an extensive portfolio of commercial and residential real estate.
Valmorbida grew up in one of Melbourne’s most exclusive postcodes 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, detailing their friendship spanning more than a decade.
The weeknight outing comes two years after Mary-Kate finalized her divorce from ex-husband, Olivier Sarkozy.
In 2011, Olsen and her twin brother Ashley attended the Valmorbida brothers artist exhibition at PC’s then PRISM gallery.
The Melbourne-raised art impresario is no stranger to celebrity circles, having been romantically linked to Theodora Richards – the daughter of rock ‘n’ roll legend Keith Richards and model Patti Hansen – with the pair co-creating the Melbourne Spring Racing- carnival attended in 2008.
He has been photographed alongside Red Hot Chilli Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis, Paris and Nikki Hilton and counts model sisters Poppy 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 multimillion-dollar artwork fraud by Francis Bacon and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
He reached a confidential settlement with hedge fund manager Christian Hore, who had previously sued him in the Royal Court of Jersey in the Channel Islands.
Andy built a career as a multimillion-dollar art dealer who organized major pop-up exhibitions that toured New York, London and Moscow.
In 2014, he married socialite Zara Simon, daughter of Peter Simon, the retail magnate behind British fashion empire Monsoon.
The New York Times described him in 2012 as a “young pop-up exhibitor and cocky Australian-born art entrepreneur”. The New York Post’s opinion was ‘Australian playboy’.
