Maurice Ostro He was at the center of the Argentine political and economic scene after his meeting with the president Javier Milei in the Pink House. Although his name is not widespread among the general public, the businessman is a recognized figure in the United Kingdom for his activity in the international gemstone business, for his links with the British political establishment and for an extensive investment network that he has expanded over the last few decades.
According to various media outlets, after the meeting with the Argentine president, the British businessman is analyzing landing with projects linked to digital centers for data processing, a sector that began to attract strong attention from foreign investors due to the growth of artificial intelligence and the global demand for technological infrastructure.
However, Ostro’s fortune has its origins in the gem business. The family history began with his father, Max Ostro, a Holocaust survivor who founded the company in 1960. Ostro Minerals, dedicated to the marketing of blue topazes and other luxury gemstones. Decades later, the heir assumed control of the company and expanded its international reach. The firm became a reference in the exclusive gem market, especially through the commercial exploitation of the so-called “Amazon Blue Topaz”, a stone discovered by the family in Brazil that achieved worldwide notoriety for its extraordinary dimensions.
A special aspect of visitor visibility is their patronage of culture. Years ago he decided to donate what is considered the largest blue topaz gem in the world today to the Natural History Museum in London. The piece, found in Minas Gerais, Brazil, weighs 9,381 carats, about two kilos, measures 15 centimeters long and has been exhibited in the mineral gallery of the British museum since 2016. Its value was never officially revealed. That donation ended up becoming an international letter of introduction for Ostro, who since then strengthened his profile as a collector, philanthropist and cultural promoter.
However, the gemstone business was not his only source of income. According to information released by the company itself and by different corporate profiles, Maurice Ostro founded, developed and subsequently sold companies in sectors as diverse as airline logistics, the food industry, dairy products and mass consumption businesses. This diversification allowed him to build a fortune that he later directed towards educational activities and the promotion of interreligious dialogue.
In the United Kingdom he is also known for his contacts within politics. Various English media indicated that he maintains a friendly relationship with the former prime minister. Boris Johnson, whom he met during his university days at Oxford. As revealed by The Times newspaper, Johnson even turned to Ostro in 2020 to try to improve the relationship between his government and British business sectors amid tensions derived from Brexit. This network of links is observed as one of the factors that facilitated subsequent contacts between the businessman and the Argentine government.
In addition to his business activity, Ostro developed an intense institutional agenda. He is a lawyer, studied at New York University and Harvard Business School, was vice-president of the Council of Christians and Jews of the United Kingdom and received distinctions such as the Order of the British Empire. Together with his wife, Katy Ostro, he also promoted projects linked to jewelry design and various charitable initiatives.
The meeting with Milei aroused special interest because it took place in a context in which the national government seeks to attract foreign investments with high added value. Sources cited by different media indicated that Ostro would be exploring opportunities to develop data processing centers in Argentina, an industry associated with digital services, information storage and artificial intelligence. Although no specific announcements or investment amounts have yet been made, the possibility of installing technological infrastructure appears aligned with the official strategy of attracting capital linked to the knowledge economy and taking advantage of the incentives that the Executive promotes for large productive projects.
The meeting at the Casa Rosada was not the first between the two. But, now, with the possibility of new investments in Argentine territory, the British businessman seeks to move from precious stones and philanthropy to a sector much more linked to the technological future, in a bet that the libertarian administration is closely following due to the potential economic impact it could generate.
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