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AGNELLI

The chauffeur never drives

The Nice police had to stop him every time and pull him over. Not only speed limits had outrageously been broken and red traffic lights ignored, but most significantly, the car he was driving, sleek and resplendent in its metallic green under the French Riviera light, was a truly exceptional Ferrari sports vehicle
Smiling with charisma, in his stylish sport jumper, a good-looking and refined man would open the door and invite policemen to have a look at the one-of-a-kind red leather interior of his brand new car. “Chauffer never drives” he would explain, and the gendarmerie could not help but let him go, for the respite of the terrified and ever-changing woman passenger who had been clinging to a Chanel bag at her seat, nervously biting her red lips.
Gianni Agnelli, the richest and most powerful industrialist in Italian history, is summarized in this very Italian anecdote: a flamboyant hi-life trendsetter, a worldwide socialite, a serial Playboy and real. The “Avvocato” (the lawyer), as everybody referred him to, proved to be the real King of Italy, despite the country being a Republic for almost a century: at some point, he managed more than 4% of Italy’s GDP, when Italy was a booming country.

Everyone tried to copy him by putting the watch on top of the shirt. I copied him myself.

Valentino Garavani, luxury couturier

The man who de facto ruled Italy from his sumptuous estate in Villar Perosa, near Turin, lived a lavish life in a perpetual motion of work and play, excitement and danger, firm and family. He ‘reigned’ for 50 years over the Piedmonts Agnelli family, a dynasty that nowadays stretches its branches over 200 members: a grand ‘un-anointed monarchy’ more than a powerful clan of billionaires. They were known as the ‘Kennedy of Italy’, and surely the American President JFK and his wife, Jacqueline Onassis Kennedy, did cherish the connection as the wind splashed foam of salty water on their warm parkas while sailing on Agnelli’s boats, or as they idling sipped espresso in splendid Amalfi coast. 
Aristocracy was in Gianni’s blood, son of aristocratic Donna Virginia Bourbon del Monte, from the San Faustino noble family granted by Pope Pius IX in 1861. She was an eccentric woman, to say the least: Virginia used to keep a leopard as a pet and, eventually, made her art lover husband Edoardo Agnelli the father of seven children. Power was an inevitable inheritance which, however, came with a dramatic twist of fate: Edoardo died when Gianni was only fourteen, tragically decapitated by a propeller of the seaplane he was flying after it capsized. Gianni was then raised by ‘the man he admired and feared the most’: his grandfather Giovanni, with whom he shared the same name, then shortened to Gianni. Giovanni Sr. was the co-founder of the glorious Italian carmaker Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (Fiat) in 1899. 

 

GIOVANNI, FIRST OF ALL…

Arguably, anyone would have felt intimidated (at best) by the military-educated Giovanni Sr. who served also as the mayor of his town, the same Villar Perosa, and was appointed senator for the National Fascist Party by Benito Mussolini himself. In the late 19th century, the Italian entrepreneur heard about the new horseless carriage and seized the opportunity to join a local group of industrialists to establish Fiat. He was as fast as their cars in moving up the company’s ladder from Managing Director to Chairman. At the same time the Lingotto car factory, a big plant in Turin’s outskirts, increased production from 24 cars (made by 35 staff) in 1900 to 1,149 by 1906.
Gianni’s grandfather withstood the harshness of two world wars, the ascent of Fascism and the fierce revolts of his workers. At some point, they even hoisted a communist red flag over the factory and tried to run it themselves, but they had to surrender in the face of their miserably failed attempt at ‘auto-gestione’ (self-management), and marched to their boss’s office to hand him back the keys. He built an empire spanning from cars (also the Ferrari brand), to banks and newspapers. As a truly 19th century “Steam Baron”, he also promoted sports, as entertainment for his employees. In 1923, a century ago, together with his son Edoardo, he bought a young local team which introduced a new sport, in Italy: soccer club Juventus Turin FC had been founded in 1897. 

My private life doesn’t count at all. What counts is being of service to Fiat at the right time, like now

Gianni Agnelli, circa 1960

LIKE FATHER, LIKE GRANDSON

The patriarch took his grandson under his wing. He offered an affluent and lush training ground to his young namesake who, to avoid any confusion, would become known as ‘Gianni’ and would in turn dedicate his whole life to the family business, always in style. In the sixties, Italy is buzzing and yielding the inebriating fruits of the economic boom. Life has finally become ‘sweet’ after the devastation of the war, and the round-roofed Fiat 500 embodies an economic miracle and mass transportation. Iconic “Topolino” (literally Baby Mice), was a new status symbol, featuring in the automotive world and on cinema screens: it’s La Dolce Vita age. In Rome’s nightlife made of sex, drugs and fast cars, Gianni is not missing a single chance: Anita Ekberg, Rita Hayward or Pamela Churchill Harriman, who even converted to the Catholic faith in the (naive) hope of marrying him, have all been his girlfriends.

I was going to Capri when countesses were doing whores, now that even whores are countesses it’s not fun anymore

After legendary mischiefs and shenanigans, including an allegedly flirt with JFK’s widow herself as well as being a regular in the inner circle of David Rockefeller and Henry Kissinger, the wild industrialist who leapt from Ferraris onto yachts, and jumping directly from helicopters down to his own ski slopes on the Italian Alps, is finally ready to land at Lingotto, at the steering wheel of Fiat as CEO. It’s 1966, Gianni is 45, and what follows is capitalism at its best, years of entrepreneurial excellence twisted together with politics and sport. On weekdays, communist factory workers would stand outside Lingotto striking and shouting against their capitalist boss, come Sunday they would all be inside the stadium in Turin with Agnelli, cheering Juventus: Panem et Circenses was invented in Italy, after all. 
Fiat’s rollercoaster, riding up and down the business charts, and the family's epic turns of success and scandals are a true tale of private power that is inextricably intertwined with Italy’s financial, political and cultural history.
"I was always present” - recounted Agnelli once – “There was a war and I, like many others, took part. Then there were other events such as closer relations with the Americans, and I was there. ... We had difficult moments such as terrorism, and I never pulled back. In the course of our lives, of our generation, there also have been happier moments".

You can do anything, but you can’t leave the family

Even a PlayBoy who was nicknamed “The Rake of the Riviera” by locals in Cote Azur, at some point needs to have a spouse. So Gianni picked up the refined Donna Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto, an aristocrat with a tall neck and the elegance of a swan. An exquisite and esteemed presence in elite circles, with the likes of Andy Wharol and Richard Avedon, Marella shared with Gianni the excitement and drama of a life filled with excesses, including his too many mistresses. At their opulent wedding in 1953, at Osthoffen, the village of the ancient royal German family, she was wearing a Balenciaga white dress, when the name was not a street fashion commercial brand but an exclusive couture. Every man in Italy looked at him as his untouchable idol: his clothing quirkiness (such as wearing the watch over the shirt or wearing suede sports shoes over elegant suits), his way of speaking (boosted by his r limp voice) was copied as a distinctive status symbol.
No surprise, then, in January 2003 an entire nation mourned his passing. Trumpet soberly played the notes of “silenzio”, in front of the Avvocato casket, inside Turin’s Cathedral the same hosting the famous Shroud. Adorned with white flowers, Gianni Agnelli’s coffin paraded the cobbled street of the Italian business capital in Piedmont, greeted by a wave of applause. Thousands had flocked to the funeral to have a final glimpse of the legendary jet-setter who had been the “uncrowned king of Italy”. 

Of such many ways to die, I don’t think accident is the worst

Gianni Agnelli

HELL IS AROUND THE CORNER

Tragedy always went along with fame and wealth for the family, drawing a spooky similarity to the same Kennedy they have often been referred to. On a foggy November morning in the year 2000, when the new millennium was spreading euphoria among people and stock markets, a Fiat Croma sedan is parked beside a tall concrete viaduct on the motorway between seaside Liguria and Turin: it belongs to Edoardo Agnelli. He bears the same name as his grandfather and is the heir apparent to Fiat’s throne, as the only male son of Gianni. Father and son, as often happens, couldn’t be more different though: as much Gianni was larger-than-life as Edoardo was shy and introvert, lacking the charisma and arrogance his future role would demand. The car is empty, two mobile phones (a rarity for the time) are on the backseat, but the driver is nowhere to be found: Edoardo tragically jumped to his death from the viaduct. His body would be recovered 80 meters below on a dry riverbed. At the same age his father took on the Fiat job, he decided to end his life. A former drug addict, a convert to Islam, at odds with his father, from whom he was overshadowed, Edoardo looked like the family’s black sheep. The world gasps at the news, but at the same time, the sad news does not come as a surprise.
A crown too heavy to bear is the global comment for the suicide of the man poised to inherit the biggest Italian industry, a post many would metaphorically die for. Edoardo was indeed too fragile for the role. But conspiracies, like money, never sleep: more than 20 years later that tragic event, rumours about a fake suicide are still going around. Truth is Edoardo was never meant to lead the family empire. The real heir to Agnelli’s throne had already been chosen in Giovannino Agnelli, son of Gianni’s younger brother Umberto. The young boy had been duly groomed for the role, cutting his teeth on mopeds rather than cars. He sat on the directors’ board of Piaggio, historic Italian brand owner of the iconic Vespa, the ultimate symbol of La Dolce Vita and Italian lifestyle. History had other plans, instead: Giovannino never made it to the throne at Fiat. He untimely passed away due to a rare form of cancer in 1997, aged only 33.
This was the ultimate push for Umberto, Giovannino’s father, to step out of the shadow of his glamorous younger brother Gianni. He pushed for a historic deal with American carmaker GM: the US corporation bought a “call option” to take over the company. At the same time, the family got a “put option” (a right to sell) Fiat to the American group. In the next years, Fiat’s crisis deepened so much that GM agreed to pay 1,9 billion Dollars just to avoid the option from the Italian family. A huge gain for the Turin clan, but Fiat was almost dead, anyway. With Gianni no more at the lead, it was Umberto’s time to shine and take the crumbling empire on his shoulders, a role he had been longing for his entire life, suffering for being the “spare”. Destiny has always a sick sense of humour: when Umberto finally gains access to the power room, Fiat is a dead man walking. Its share value was tumbling 80% from its peak in 1998. Now the older brother is the boss, at last, but there’s nothing left for him to do other than sell the company or, worse, shut it down. Umberto stayed in power for one year only as tragedy struck again: He died of cancer too, in 2004. Family and business seem to go side by side in reaching a tragic cliff: the dynasty was no more.

NEW CHAPTER, NEW NAME: IT’S THE ELKANN DYNASTY

History was repeating itself when in 1997, after Giovannino’s premature death, Gianni announced that his own grandson, John Elkann, 21-year-old son of his daughter Margherita, would be the future “king”. The young boy had very little time to get experience. In 2004 John is catapulted to the helm of Fiat, flanked by two old and trusted family advisors: long-time lawyer Franzo Grande Stevens and long-time manager Gianluigi Gabetti. They would tutor John until he is ready. Jaki, as everybody calls him, is the eldest child of Margherita (sister of the late Edoardo) and Italian-American writer Alain Elkann: her husband was not a Turin-born aristocrat but grew up between Britain, Brazil and France. John has two siblings, who took different lifepaths: Ginevra chose to work in the film industry, while his brother Lapo, an Italian celebrity very reminiscent of his grandfather, both in looks and in socialite attitude, was building himself as the new and fresh image of the cob-webbed Fiat brand. But he was suddenly forced into the limelight, away from the control room, after a series of sex and drug-related scandals. He re-emerged from oblivion, years later, establishing his own fashion company, Italia Independent, a sunglasses brand, which unluckily has never made a profit so far.

YOU JUST CALL OUT MY NAME: SERGIO MARCHIONNE

Power now takes the look of the angelic-faced manager, framed by unruly curly hair. The softly spoken Jaki, nevertheless, seemed unfit for the role: too young, too naïve for the biggest Italian company, on the brink of collapse also. But he, and his advisors, proved to be smart. They pulled a rabbit out of the hat: Sergio Marchionne, a hitherto unknown half Italian half Canadian manager, was summoned to try saving Fiat. The unappealing manager would show his appetite for complexity, risk and hard work. John Elkann brought Marchionne into the family, allowing him to change Fiat and the Agnelli dynasty for good. First, the new CEO adopted a new informal approach to his employees, introducing a very personal engagement. Then, he promoted a business model focused outside of Italy. In less than two years Marchionne turned Fiat’s destiny the other way around, making it one of the fastest growing companies in the car industry. So much so, he took advantage of the collapsing US car industry, after the Lehman Brothers crisis, to engage directly with US President Barack Obama in having Chrysler bought by Fiat. The new company would be FCA: Fiat, long-time joked about as the acronym for “Fix It Again, Tony”, disappeared.

A NEW DAWN FOR THE AGNELLI DYNASTY

Marchionne proved the best choice in decades for the family. Sadly, it did not last: the world-wide celebrated manager died from cancer in a Switzerland hospital in the summer of 2018. This time, it was John Elkann’s time, for real. The Agnelli’s heir managed to transform a family-run business into a global powerhouse: he merged FCA into Peugeot-PSA, creating Stellantis, the world's fourth largest automaker by sales, with 177 billion dollars in revenues. As the CEO of Exor, the Agnelli family’s company, he made the firm one of the largest diversified holdings in Europe: Exor owns Ferrari, truck-maker Iveco, agricultural equipment company CNH Industrial, real estate giant Cushman&Wakefield, luxury shoemaker Christian Louboutin, prominent weekly magazine The Economist, and Italian publisher GEDI: the total net asset value is almost 26 billion Euro. His grandfather would be proud of him. Gianni’s shadow, even after 20 years after his death, still looms over the dynasty: Margherita, which meanwhile divorced Elkann and then married a Russian nobleman, Sergei De Pahlen, which gave her the title of Countess, filed a lawsuit against her own children: she accuses all of them for having her ousted on purpose from Gianni Agnelli’s inheritance.  

Winning is not important, it’s the only thing that really matters

G. Boniperti, football legend and Agnelli’s best friend

FOOTBALL & SCANDALS

Besides family business and tragedies, football has been an equal source of joy and problems for the Agnellis. Juventus became the most successful Italian soccer club, thus enlarging the family’s prestige; and ultimately tying millions of fans in Italy, and around the world, to the Turin club. After decades of success and disgrace (with an ignominious relegation to Italy’s second division for a bribery scandal), another family member with the name Agnelli took over the club: Andrea Agnelli, younger son of the late Umberto and brother of the late Giovannino, regained Juventus an international prestige, signing superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, as much as hitting gossip headlines: he had an affair with Turkish model Deniz Akalin, Juventus top manager and Agnelli best friend’s wife. The love story came public and Andrea’s wife Emma Winter filed for divorce, after 11 years of marriage and two children. The long and winning Agnelli tenure at Juventus came to an abrupt end in November 2022; he resigned from the role of company’s chairman, as prosecutors are accusing the company of mismanagement. Rumour has it: John Elkann and Andrea Agnelli were at odds, another rift in the family. Does history need to always repeat itself?

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