When Karim Aga Khan IV first saw the land he had purchased in Capriccioli, a coastal area in the northwest of Sardinia, there was practically nothing around it. Years later, he recalled that in 1960, it took several hours to travel from Capriccioli to Olbia, which was 25 kilometers away, and at that time, there was no potable water, and no phone service for miles around.

Today, that once poor and sparsely populated area, primarily inhabited by shepherds, is now the Costa Smeralda, one of the world’s most famous luxury vacation destinations. The transformation of this region is largely due to Aga Khan IV, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslims, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, who was among the wealthiest monarchs in the world.