Jean Pigozzi

Jean Christophe "Johnny" Pigozzi (born 1952), is a French-born socialite, venture capitalist, and art collector with the world's largest private African art collection, The Contemporary African Art Collection. Pigozzi is known as a photographer for his large collection of selfies taken with celebrities since the mid 1970s. He is the son and heir of Henri Pigozzi, founder of the Simca automotive company.

Pigozzi later said he was relieved by his death and had been "terrified" of his father: "He was really tough on me, and what drove him crazy is that I was a bad student because I was dyslexic." Pigozzi has been an early investor in many technology companies, including Facebook and OpenAI. In 2025, his net worth was estimated at $350 million.

Other In 2007, Pigozzi founded LimoLand, a clothing and accessories line featuring bright colors and prints intended for those who "live to create". In 2010, LimoLine had a storefront in New York City and appeared in upscale department stores such as Bloomingdale's, Bergdorf Goodman, and Nordstrom. debuted September 3, 2014 on Esquire Network.

Lifestyle Pigozzi has been described as a "consummate playboy" in The New York Times. His lifestyle involves extensive luxury and travel; he attends what he refers to as "a circuit" of prestigious events, including the Wimbledon Championships, Art Basel, the TED conference (where he attended a "billionaires' dinner), and exclusive gatherings of superyachts in the Mediterranean. He owns a villa in Antibes, France. For many years he hosted an annual pool party at Cannes Film Festival with high-profile guests including Woody Allen, Uma Thurman, and Paul Allen.

He owns a villa in Cap d’Antibes in the South of France as well an acropolis in Panama and apartments in New York, Paris, London, and Geneva. It includes about 10,000 items that he selected along with the French curator André Magnin.

Though the collection is not on permanent display to the public, it has been exhibited at more than 60 museums and events around the world, including the National Museum of African Art, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Tate Modern, Grand Palais, Venice Biennale, and others. In July 2019, Pigozzi donated 45 works of contemporary African art to the Museum of Modern Art, including pieces by Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, Jean Depara, Romuald Hazoumè, Seydou Keïta, Bodys Isek Kingelez, Abu Bakarr Mansaray, Moké, Ambroise Ngaimoko, and Chéri Samba.

In 2006, Pigozzi also started the JaPigozzi Collection of Contemporary Japanese Art (japigozzi.com) by young Japanese artists. 2014: My World, Jean Pigozzi, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing 2016: Johnny's Pool, Jean Pigozzi, Gagosian Gallery, New York City, 2016; The Baker Museum, Naples, Florida, 2016: Galerie Gmurzynska, St. Moritz, Switzerland, 2017; Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin, Germany, 2017: Galerie Gmurzynska, St. Moritz (2017), and the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin. 2018: Scai The Bathhouse, Tokyo (2018), Immagis Fine Art Photography, Munich, and Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul