From Airport Terminals to Real Estate Empires: How Valeria Petza is Disrupting Luxury Investments Across Borders
At the intersection of luxury, innovation, and global investment, Millionaire International Realty is discreetly redefining the real estate landscape. Based in Dubai, this boutique advisory firm focuses not on traditional properties but on unique assets with no direct competition, including private islands, aviation-connected resorts, and fully managed hospitality developments.
At the helm of this venture is Valeria Petza, a property specialist who is equally at home in boardrooms as she once dreamed of being on construction sites. For her immense contribution to the real estate industry, Petza has now been featured on The Women Achiever magazine’s ‘Top 10 Women CEOs to Watch in UAE’. As a cross-continental certified International Property Specialist, Petza is not only guiding Millionaire International Realty but also pioneering a new approach to alternative investments. She combines real estate, technology, and tourism into high-yield, hands-off portfolios.
Breaking Ground, Breaking Stereotypes
Petza’s story began far from Dubai, in Sardinia, Italy, where she was born and raised in a family of construction workers. But though her childhood dreams tended toward cement-stained work boots and hard hats, the path was anything but direct.
“Leaving a safe job at the VIP Terminal of the Costa Smeralda Airport caught everyone off guard. It let down many, my mother,” she explains. “But I knew that I had to create my future on my own, not inherit another person’s expectations.”
With no background in real estate, she made a drastic change, diving deep into studying at places like Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and Harvard Business School. Acquiring the high-end CIPS designation in the process, she gradually established a niche at the intersection of hospitality and investment.
Building Scarcity into Strategy
Millionaire International Realty today operates as a private doorway for sophisticated investors in search of asset-class rarity. Consider: an ultra-high-end nautical hotel concept on 100 hectares in Sardinia, or a 57—key property in Thailand featuring its own airstrip. Every project is poised for exponential return with minimal duplication.
But Petza is not resting on her asset-curatorial laurels. Her next leap? Technology.
“We are deploying an AI-powered real estate booking platform to decode Dubai’s opaque off-plan market,” she says. “It’s about transforming investor uncertainty into confidence, giving them full-spectrum insight through data-backed intelligence.”
The platform will combine a real-time investor dashboard with AI-driven curation, allowing buyers and developers to navigate the market’s complexity with clarity.
PropTech Disruption and Leadership Evolution
With AI, blockchain, and big data disrupting real estate, Petza believes the very idea of leadership must evolve too. “We are no longer just decision makers. We are architects of ecosystems where tech and human instinct coexist,” she says.
Four key traits mark her leadership playbook:
- Global vision and local precision
- Resilience in the face of doubt
- Interdisciplinary agility
- Masterful, multilingual communication
This mindset allows her to straddle vastly different cultural and regulatory landscapes, from Italy’s property codes to Dubai’s developer-led markets.
The Future is Fully Integrated
Petza’s vision for the next chapter of Millionaire International Realty is ambitious: an all-in-one portal that manages every stage of a property’s life cycle, from sourcing and acquisition to post-sale and blockchain-enabled exits.
“This is not only about purchasing property,” she said. “It is about providing a smooth, guided journey; from the initial handshake to the last resale, with AI doing the heavy lifting.”
While currently raising a funding round to enhance the platform’s AI capabilities, improve the user interface, and introduce new features, the company is positioning itself as the world’s leading luxury off-plan marketplace.
Note to Emerging Women Leaders
Petza’s advice for women in leadership aiming to break through combines determination and elegance. “Never wait for permission. Your divergence from the norm is your edge. I studied while others partied. I turned doubt into drive. That mindset-built Millionaire.”
Industry Quote:
“The future of real estate lies in a seamless convergence of AI, advisory, and lifecycle support—where investors move with confidence, and assets evolve intelligently.”
Valeria Petza
Chief Executive Officer
MILLIONAIRE INTERNATIONAL REALTY
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