Florida International University just named its stadium after Riccardo Silva, an Italian entrepreneur whose holdings include soccer teams, modeling agencies, restaurants and a real estate investment firm.
Silva, the owner of Silva International Investments, has donated more than $3 million to the FIU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics since 2015, a spokesperson told The Real Deal.
Silva is the co-owner of the Miami professional soccer team Miami FC, which made its debut in the 2016 season of the North American Soccer League. The Miami FC will play all of its home games at Riccardo Silva Stadium.
In February, Silva International made its first real estate investment in the United States, in Mast Capital. He told TRD at the time that the investment was in the “seven figures,” and would be used toward various Mast Capital assets. The company’s current projects include Louver House, a 12-unit condo project under construction at 311 Meridian Avenue in Miami Beach; Treasures on the Bay, a residential complex in North Bay Village; and 3900 Alton, a condo in Miami Beach. Mast Capital also owns an historic French chateau site at 1500 Brickell Avenue, which will be the site of Bianconi, an Italian eatery by Italian restaurateurs Fabrizio and Diana Bianconi, planned to open later this year.
Silva International is based in London, but has offices in Monaco and Miami, where Silva owns a home and spends much of his time. His wife Tatiana Silva is overseeing another investment, Forte Dei Marmi, a new Italian restaurant and arts club that the couple opened in January in Miami Beach’s South-of-Fifth neighborhood, in the space formerly occupied by the shuttered Cavalli Miami.
In addition to the restaurant, Riccardo Silva is a major shareholder and president of MP & Silva, a London-based global television rights distribution firm. He’s a member of the Silva family, one of the most prominent and historic families in the Italian chemical industry, according to his company’s website. MP & Silva has offices in Miami and New York, as well as in various cities in Europe, Asia and Africa. The Silva family moved to Miami in 2007, and Silva has been splitting his time since then between Miami and London, according to the website.
Silva’s other businesses include MP Milan, MP Miami and MP Paris, agencies that manage celebrities and models. He is also among the owners of Flamengo, the popular Brazilian soccer team.
The stadium at FIU recently installed a new playing surface and a new video board, replacing the existing scoreboard. Built in 2008, the stadium, at 11200 Southwest Eighth Street in Miami, holds 20,000 spectators and houses 1,500 club seats.