Gianni Agnelli Agnelli family

gianni agnelli (1934–2003) oldest son of industrialist , principal family shareholder of italian car company fiat, edoardo agnelli. after wwii earned law degree in law @ turin university , nickname l’avvocato. head of fiat 1966 2003 , made company important company in italy , 1 of major car builders of europe. gianni fiat ceo. 1956 had become richest businessman in modern italian history. in 1960s , 1970s fiat produced millions of modest cars including tiny 500 , 600 hatchbacks. mirafiori plant in turin, built 600,000 autos year.

in 1970s gianni , umberto agnelli hired cesare romiti, known il duro or tough guy. during time fiat s production in italy peaked in 1970, when employed on 100,000 people there , made 1.4 million cars. romiti led firm 28 february 1996 22 june 1998. romiti instrumental in company s return profitability during period. paolo fresco succeeded him in aforementioned post.

february 1992 saw start of mani pulite (clean hands) judicial inquiry tangentopoli, nationwide corruption large number of politicians, bureaucrats , entrepreneurs involved including senior fiat executives.

in 1996 when gianni reached mandatory retirement age of 75 after serving fiat chairman 30 years, romiti replaced him chairman. year after romiti took on chairman of fiat, convicted of having falsified company accounts, committing tax fraud , making illegal payments political parties. romiti 1 of prominent people convicted since start of italy s campaign against corruption in 1992. though gianni agnelli not implicated magistrates, believed had lacked judgement in not denouncing italy s endemic corruption , in downplaying fiat s responsibilities. gianni agnelli in fact had defended actions of romiti , co-accused francesco paolo mattioli, fiat s chief financial officer. 1997 article published in economist quoted gianni agnelli confidence in turin 2 s innocence , concluded business attitudes among italy s powerful ancien régime left unchanged since scandal of tangentopoli (“bribesville”) emerged. mr. romiti , mr. mattioli had approved series of slush funds 1980 through 1992 provide fiat s illegal political contributions , had falsified accounts hide payments.

while fiat family-controlled company, gianni agnelli alone held family’s controlling stake 60 years. fiat individual privately-owned oligopoly. giovanni agnelli & c. (ga&c), family’s limited partnership gianni s command center. 2003, when died, ga&c partnership worth 1.3 billion euros, , assets consisted of listed holding companies istituto finanziario industriale (ifi) , istituto finanziaria di partecipazioni (ifil), through family controlled fiat , ifil’s stakes in other companies.

by time of gianni agnelli s death in 2003, agnelli family controlled fiat through chain of 3 separate holding companies. giovanni alberto agnelli, gianni s nephew, died of cancer in 1997, had been in line take control of family companies. in 1997 gianni publicly announced grandson, john elkann, 21, succeed him head of family empire. edoardo agnelli, gianni s first-born son died in 2000.

he died @ age of 81, after prolonged battle prostate cancer . @ 1 time agnelli assets represented 4.4% of italy s gdp. @ prestigious 2008 photography exhibition in rome entitled gianni agnelli: extraordinary life, agnelli family , italian government honoured l’avvocato. gianni agnelli married marella agnelli (1927-) had 1 son edoardo agnelli , 1 daughter countess margherita agnelli de pahlen.

according independent fiat survived first years of twentieth century generous government subsidies paid italian taxpayers. 2002, italy accounted more third of fiat’s revenue, , company built more 1 million vehicles @ 6 plants in country.

giani agnelli considered prominent spokesperson representing italian economic elites.

giani explained popularity in italy saying present. there war , i, many others, took part. there other events such closer relations americans, , there.... had difficult moments such terrorism, , never pulled back. in course of our lives, of our generation, there have been happier moments.

professor gaspare nevola of università degli studi di trento, explained italian society celebrated common sense of belonging , national identity through collective identification @ gianni agnelli s funeral.

at end of 1990s sergio garavini claimed that, fiat seems austro-hungarian empire on of first world war.... when big push came, fell pieces while royal court continued fight on succession. avvocato s death associated closing of chapter commentators, politicians, , institutional representatives.