Gerber was born in Sölvesborg, Sweden, the son of the merchant Axel Wilhelm von Gerber and his wife Ida (née Nilsson). His brother, Tage von Gerber, was born two years later, on 8 February 1885. Gerber passed studentexamen in Kristianstad on 10 June 1902 and graduated with a degree in trade from the Gothenburg Business Institute in 1903. After trade practice in Germany until May 1907, he boarded the SS Andros (Deutsche Levante Linie) and arrived in Alexandria, Egypt, on 27 May. On Christmas Day 1908, he founded his company in Egypt in the timber trade. On 1 February 1925 he laid the foundation for his palace at the Corniche in Alexandria.
